Supply chain manager

Description

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.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to supply chain manager:

supply chain procurement manager
supply chain project manager
supply chain specialist
supply and distribution manager
global sourcing manager
supply chain managers
supply chain coordinator

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as supply chain manager. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Supply chain manager is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Supply chain manager career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to supply chain manager.

forecast manager
purchasing manager
resource manager
ICT vendor relationship manager
project manager

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of supply chain manager. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of supply chain manager with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of supply chain manager.

Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.
Supply chain principles: Characteristics, operations and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to the customer.
Supply chain management: The flow of goods in the supply chain, movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.
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.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of supply chain manager.

Manage supplies: Monitor and control the flow of supplies that includes the purchase, storage and movement of the required quality of raw materials, and also work-in-progress inventory. Manage supply chain activities and synchronise supply with demand of production and customer.
Order supplies: Command products from relevant suppliers to get convenient and profitable products to purchase.
Maintain relationship with customers: Build a lasting and meaningful relationship with customers in order to ensure satisfaction and fidelity by providing accurate and friendly advice and support, by delivering quality products and services and by supplying after-sales information and service.
Strive for company growth: Develop strategies and plans aiming at achieving a sustained company growth, be the company self-owned or somebody else’s. Strive with actions to increase revenues and positive cash flows.
Maintain relationship with suppliers: Build a lasting and meaningful relationship with suppliers and service providers in order to establish a positive, profitable and enduring collaboration, co-operation and contract negotiation.
Analyse logistic changes: Assess the financial impact of possible logistics changes such as shipping modes, product mixes or volumes, carriers and means of product transportation.
Analyse supply chain strategies: Examine an organisation’s planning details of production, their expected output units, quality, quantity, cost, time available and labour requirements. Provide suggestions in order to improve products, service quality and reduce costs.
Assess supplier risks: Evaluate supplier performance in order to assess which suppliers do or may not perform adequately, stick to the agreed contracts, meet the standard requirements and desired quality at all times or who may pose future risks.
Manage inventory: Control product inventory in balance of availability and storage costs.
Analyse supply chain trends: Analyse and make predictions about trends and evolutions in supply chain operations in relation to technology, efficiency systems, types of products shipped, and logistical requirements for shipments, in order to remain at the forefront of supply chain methodologies.
Estimate costs of required supplies: Try to value the amounts and costs of required supplies such as of food items and ingredients.
Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
Follow company standards: Lead and manage according to the organisation’s code of conduct.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of supply chain manager. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Warehouse operations: Know the basic principles and practices of warehouse operations such as goods storage. Understand and satisfy customer needs and requirements while effectively utilising warehouse equipment, space and labour.
Labour legislation: Legislation, on a national or international level, that governs labour conditions in various fields between labour parties such as the government, employees, employers, and trade unions.
Transportation software related to an erp system: Business management software to collect, manage and interpret data related to shipping, payment, inventory, manufacturing applied in transportation and distribution.
Pricing strategies: The techniques, theories, and commonly accepted strategies regarding pricing of goods. The relation between pricing strategies and outcomes in the market such as profitability maximisation, deterrence of newcomers, or increase of market share.
Financial forecasting: The tool used in performing fiscal financial management to identify revenue trends and estimated financial conditions.
Multimodal transport logistics: Understand logistics and multimodal transport as the planning and control of the movement of goods or people, and all related logistical supporting activities.
Risk management: The process of identifying, assessing, and prioritising of all types of risks and where they could come from, such as natural causes, legal changes, or uncertainty in any given context, and the methods on dealing with risks effectively.
Project management: Understand project management and the activities which comprise this area. Know the variables implied in project management such as time, resources, requirements, deadlines, and responding to unexpected events.
Geographical routes: The interpretation of geographical information such as locations and distances between them.
Statistics: The study of statistical theory, methods and practices such as collection, organisation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data. It deals with all aspects of data including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments in order to forecast and plan work-related activities.
Economics: Economic principles and practices, financial and commodity markets, banking and the analysis of financial data.
Quality standards: The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.
Conflict management: The practices concerning the resolution of conflicts or disputes in an organisation or institution. It encompasses reducing the negative aspects of a conflict and increasing the positive outcomes of it by learning from the errors made.
Business strategy concepts: The terminology related to the design and implementation of major trends and aims which are taken by an organisation’s executives, while keeping in mind its resources, competition and environments.
Market pricing: Price volatility according to market and price elasticity, and the factors which influence pricing trends and changes in the market in the long and short term.
Human resource management: The function in an organisation concerned with the recruitment of employees and the optimisation of employee performance.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of supply chain manager. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Advise on risk management: Provide advice on risk management policies and prevention strategies and their implementation, being aware of different kinds of risks to a specific organisation.
Identify suppliers: Determine potential suppliers for further negotiation. Take into consideration aspects such as product quality, sustainability, local sourcing, seasonality and coverage of the area. Evaluate the likelihood of obtaining beneficial contracts and agreements with them.
Forecast sales over periods of time: Calculate and estimate the expected sales of products and services over different periods of time in order to determine their profitability.
Study sales levels of products: Collect and analyse sales levels of products and services in order to use this information for determining the quantities to be produced in the following batches, customer feedback, price trends, and the efficiency of sales methods.
Monitor ingredient storage: Monitor ingredient storage and expiry dates via weekly reporting leading to good stock rotation and reduction of waste.
Manage budgets: Plan, monitor and report on the budget.
Manage human resources: Conduct employee recruitment, helping employees to develop their personal and organisational skills, knowledge, and competencies as well as providing feedback and performance appraisals. It includes motivating employees, by implementing rewarding systems (managing pay and benefit systems) in order to maximise employee performance with regard to employer’s strategic objectives.
Analyse market financial trends: Monitor and forecast the tendencies of a financial market to move in a particular direction over time.
Visit suppliers: Visit local or international suppliers to get an accurate understanding of their services and report back to clients on that basis.
Carry out tendering: Place the request for a quotation to the organisation requesting a tender, then perform the work or supply the goods agreed with them during the tendering process.
Plan future capacity requirements: Develop a solid business plan for future capacity requirements; determine whether or not a company is capable of meeting demands for its products or services.
Control financial resources: Monitor and control budgets and financial resources providing capable stewardship in company management.
Track price trends: Monitor the direction and momentum of the product prices on a long-term basis, identify and predict the movement of prices as well as identify the recurring trends.
Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
Control trade commercial documentation: Monitor written records containing information related to commercial transactions such as invoice, letter of credit, order, shipping, certificate of origin.
Apply change management: Manage development within an organisation by anticipating changes and making managerial decisions to ensure that the members involved are as less disturbed as possible.
Analyse business objectives: Study data according to business strategies and objectives and make both short-term and long-term strategic plans.
Monitor stock level: Evaluate how much stock is used and determine what should be ordered.
Calculate purchasing levels of raw materials: Estimate the adequate quantities of raw materials to be purchased and required to meet the production objectives based on the prospects and forecasts.
Recruit employees: Hire new employees by scoping the job role, advertising, performing interviews and selecting staff in line with company policy and legislation.
Programme work according to incoming orders: Schedule tasks based on incoming work; anticipate the total amount of resources required to complete the work and assign them accordingly. Assess the required working hours, pieces of equipment, and workforce needed taking into account the available resources.
Attend trade fairs: Attend exhibitions organised to enable companies in a specific sector to demonstrate their latest products and services, study the activities of their competitors, and observe recent market trends.
Estimate profitability: Take various factors into account to calculate the cost and potential revenues or savings gained from a product in order to evaluate the profit that could be generated by the new acquisition or by a new project.
Analyse economic trends: Analyse developments in national or international trade, business relations, banking, and developments in public finance and how these factors interact with one another in a given economic context.
Coordinate purchasing activities: Coordinate and manage procurement and renting processes including purchasing, renting, planning, tracking and reporting in a cost efficient way on an organisational level.
Promote sustainable management: Contribute to planning and policy development for sustainable management, including input in environmental impact assessments.
Forecast products’ demand: Collect, analyse and calculate the demand of products and services based on reports and purchasing activity of customers.
Ensure equipment availability: Ensure that the necessary equipment is provided, ready and available for use before start of procedures.
Negotiate sales contracts: Come to an agreement between commercial partners with a focus on terms and conditions, specifications, delivery time, price etc.
Analyse consumer buying trends: Analyse buying habits or currently prevalent customer behaviour.
Analyse logistic needs: Analysing the logistic needs of all the different departments on the organisational level.
Forecast workload: Predict and define the workload that needs to be done in a certain amount of time and the time it would take to perform related tasks.
Manage contracts: Negotiate the terms, conditions, costs and other specifications of a contract while making sure they comply with legal requirements and are legally enforceable. Oversee the execution of the contract, agree on and document any changes.
Manage logistics: Create logistic framework for transporting goods to customers and for receiving returns, execute and follow up the logistics processes and guidelines.
Handle conflicts: Mediate in conflicts and tense situations by acting between parties, such as service users, important others like families, and institutions, striving to effect an agreement, reconciliate, and resolve problems.
Forecast dividend trends: Forecast the payouts corporations make to their shareholders in the long term, taking into account prior dividends, the corporation’s financial health and stability, stock market trends, and shareholders’ reactions to those trends.
Manage sub-contract labour: Oversee work and the labourers hired to carry out part or all of the responsibilities of someone else’s contract.
Maintain contract administration: Keep contracts up to date and organise them according to a classification system for future consultation.
Manage rented goods returns: Organise the return of rented goods to the distributor.
Forecast future levels of business: Predict how the business will perform in future, potential expenditures and revenues to project situations for future periods
Use sales forecasting softwares: Operate sale forecasting softwares in order to help in determining demand levels for products with higher levels of accuracy.
Ensure cross-department cooperation: Guarantee communication and cooperation with all the entities and teams in a given organisation, according to the company strategy.
Accurately estimate work hours: Assess the necessary work hours, equipment, and skills required to successfully complete a task.;
Carry out statistical forecasts: Undertake a systematic statistical examination of data representing past observed behaviour of the system to be forecast, including observations of useful predictors outside the system.
Develop professional network: Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities.
Apply for government funding: Gather information on and apply for subsidies, grants, and other financing programmes provided by the government to small- and large-scale projects or organisations in various fields.
Negotiate supplier arrangements: Reach an agreement with the supplier upon technical, quantity, quality, price, conditions, storage, packaging, send-back and other requirements related to the purchasing and delivering process.
Perform project management: Manage and plan various resources, such as human resources, budget, deadline, results, and quality necessary for a specific project, and monitor the project’s progress in order to achieve a specific goal within a set time and budget.
Assist in planning production scheduling: Contribute to the planning of the production schedule with information on previous periods of production as to avoid waste and increase efficiency.
Estimate duration of work: Produce accurate calculations on time necessary to fulfil future technical tasks based on past and present information and observations or plan the estimated duration of individual tasks in a given project.
Issue sales invoices: Prepare the invoice of goods sold or services provided, containing individual prices, the total charge, and the terms. Complete order processing for orders received via telephone, fax and internet and calculate the customer’s final bill.
Train employees: Lead and guide employees through a process in which they are taught the necessary skills for the perspective job. Organise activities aimed at introducing the work and systems or improving the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings.
Forecast production quantities: Determine the most adequate production levels of products according to forecasts and analysis of historic consuming trends.
Assess financial viability: Revise and analyse financial information and requirements of projects such as their budget appraisal, expected turnover, and risk assessment for determining the benefits and costs of the project. Assess if the agreement or project will redeem its investment, and whether the potential profit is worth the financial risk.
Manage standard enterprise resource planning system: Collect, manage and interpret data relevant for companies related to shipping, payment, inventory, resources and manufacturing using specific business management software. Such software as Microsoft Dynamics​, SAP ERP, Oracle ERP.
Forecast economic trends: Gather and analyse economic data in order to predict economic trends and events.
Perform resource planning: Estimate the expected input in terms of time, human and financial resources necessary to achieve the project objectives.
Manage warehouse operations: Manage warehouse operations such as delivering orders and maintaining stock; control safety and risk prevention in the warehouse; follow plans to maximise efficiency of the supply chain.
Negotiate buying conditions: Negotiate terms such as price, quantity, quality, and delivery terms with vendors and suppliers in order to ensure the most beneficial buying conditions.

ISCO group and title

1324 – Supply, distribution and related managers

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Supply chain manager – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022