Author: bkennedy

The role of a Supply Chain Manager carries the responsibility of overseeing and managing every stage of the production flow for a company. This includes purchasing raw materials, delivering those materials to various points, ensuring the company makes enough product to meet customer demand, and delivering the final product to the right destinations on time and within budget.

The range of possible responsibilities for the position title of Supply Chain Analyst can be very broad and may be found in every part of supply chain and in every industry. This position naturally concentrates on understanding supply chains, but may be applied to purchasing/sourcing, production/operations, or logistics/distribution. A supply chain analyst needs to be able to access, interpret and leverage data to help companies make decisions for the sourcing, production, and distribution of products. They ensure that the company’s materials and products keep flowing and that supply meets the internal or customers’ demand, is delivered on time, and keeps the company on budget. They may evaluate supplier pricing, product mixes, or transportation costs, or possibly a blend of all these across the supply chain.

If you’re producing and moving goods, you need a transportation manager. These individuals handle and understand how goods are moved throughout the supply chain and all modes of transportation therein.

A Continuous Improvement Director position drives implementation across the supply chain including development, planning, and execution of strategies and metrics for Lean principles. A Continuous Improvement Director leads the company initiatives to save cost, eliminate waste, prove customer satisfaction, reduce product defects and increase market share through the use of Lean Six Sigma tools and continuous improvement technologies. This role is responsible for managing and facilitating all Continuous Improvement initiatives and strategy for the company.

Top-tier companies that are successful in meeting demand with supply and maximizing profitability more than likely have a Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process that is actively managed. S&OP has grown into a major business process in order to manage the balance and trade-off between conflicting preferences of the supply and demand side of the supply chain. It is one of the most critical business processes used to achieve “best in class” performance for companies to consistently outperform competitors. The S&OP process integrates demand, supply, and financial planning into a forward-thinking plan based on input from the organization’s key functional areas, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and finance. S&OP links strategic plans to operational plans and strives to develop the most beneficial product portfolio and product mix to maximize sales and profit. The best S&OP processes include superior cross-functional participation and engagement from across the organization, working as a team with a specific person in the role of owner. Similar Job Titles: Sales Planning/Planner Supply Planning/Planner Demand Planning/Planner Demand/Supply Forecasting

In order for a company to stay on top of its game, it needs to be constantly looking at ways to perform more efficiently. Current processes need to be analyzed and changes made where improvements will optimize the organizational performance. A Continuous Improvement Specialist has this responsibility. A Continuous Improvement Specialist analyzes a company’s processes and makes suggestions on how to improve them, working with the Operations and Supply Chain teams in recognizing opportunities, making and implementing changes, and sustaining improvements. This position is most often found, but not exclusively, in a manufacturing company.

A Solutions Specialist works for suppliers or vendors of supply chain hardware and software solutions to help customers improve their supply chain operations. Solutions Specialists work closely with their own supplier company teams and with client teams to develop and install those solutions. The S&OP process integrates demand, supply, and financial planning into a forward-thinking plan based on input from the organization’s key functional areas, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and finance. S&OP links strategic plans to operational plans and strives to develop the most beneficial product portfolio and product mix to maximize sales and profit. The best S&OP processes include superior cross-functional participation and engagement from across the organization, working as a team with a specific person in the role of owner. Similar Job Titles: Sales Planning/Planner Supply Planning/Planner Demand Planning/Planner Demand/Supply Forecasting