Supplier management

The methods and techniques to ensure that external services and configuration items, which are necessary for the service delivery, are available as requested and as agreed at the service level.

knowledge

sector-specific

Supplier management is an essential knowledge of the following occupations:

Purchasing manager: Purchasing managers are in charge of buying goods, equipment and services for their company, and try to ensure the most competitive prices. They are also responsible for negotiating contracts, reviewing the quality of products and analyzing suppliers , and the use and resale of goods and services.
Resource manager: Resource managers manage resources for all potential and assigned projects. They liaise with the different departments to see that all various resources are met, in a timely manner, and communicate any resourcing issues that may impact scheduled deadlines.
Supply chain manager: Supply chain managers plan, manage and coordinate all activities related to the sourcing and procurement of supplies needed to run manufacturing operations from the acquisition of raw materials to the distribution of finished products. The supplies can be raw materials or finished products, and it can be for internal or external use. Moreover, they plan and commission all the activities needed to be performed in manufacturing plants and adjust operations to changing levels of demand for a company’s products.
Forecast manager: Forecast managers have a deep understanding of the operations of the company, the inventory levels, production batches, requirements and costs of production per product, and trends in the demand levels. They use all that information in combination with forecasting software in order to define production orders aiming for the most efficient production combinations.

Supplier management is optional for these occupations. This means knowing this knowledge may be an asset for career advancement if you are in one of these occupations.

Picture archiving and communication systems administrator: Picture archiving and communication systems administrators manage picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). They store images taken by various types of medical equipment, such as X-rays, in order to enable easy access to these images for medical. PACS administrators ensure the day-to-day management and maintenance of the system.”
ICT documentation manager: ICT documentation managers are in charge of managing the documentation development process in accordance with legal requirements, standards, organisational policies and goals. They schedule, control and direct the resources, people, funding and facilities of the documentation department (including establishing budgets and timelines, risk analysis and quality management). They also develop documentation standards, structuring methods and media concepts to effectively communicate product concepts and usage.
Specialised goods distribution manager: Specialised goods distribution managers plan, coordinate and manage the distribution of specialised goods to various points of sales. They oversee employees and ensure that operations run efficiently such as the storage, transportation and delivery of specialised goods.

References

1. Supplier management – ESCO