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The Power of Supply Management
Records show that as early as the 13th century B.C., supply management played an important role in business.* Today, it would be difficult to find an organization, large or small, that doesn't understand the importance of supply management, and how successful implementation of supply management principles can have a positive impact on its overall success. It is one of the six major functions common to many types of organizations:
- Engineering
- Finance and Accounting
- Human Resources
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- Marketing
- Purchasing and Supply Management
- Research and Development
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The Goal of Supply Management
The overall goal of supply management is to impact the organization's bottom-line in a positive way. While it involves a number of actions, the objectives of supply management can be summarized around nine major goals:
- Accomplish the purchasing objectives at the lowest possible level of administrative costs.
- Achieve harmonious, productive working relationships with other functional areas within the organization.
- Find or develop competent suppliers.
- Improve the organization's competitive position.
- Keep inventory investment and loss at a minimum.
- Maintain and improve quality.
- Purchase required items and services at lowest total cost.
- Provide an uninterrupted flow of materials, supplies, and services required to operate the organization.
- Standardize, where possible, the items purchased.
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(Source: Leenders, Michiel R., and Fearon, Harold E., Purchasing and Supply Management, 11th edition, Irwin, Chicago, 1997)
Supply Chain Management Career Opportunities:
- Contract Management
- Customer Relationship Management
- Customer Service
- Distribution Managerment
- Inventory Management
- Logistics
- Materials Analysis
- Materials Management
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- Production Controls
- Purchasing
- Quality Management
- Strategic Sourcing
- Supplier Management
- Supplier Relations
- Traffic Management
- Vendor Quality Assurance
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In some organizations, supply management professionals work on cross-functional/inter-functional teams with the organization's design, engineering, financial planning, product or marketing sales, and planning groups on such issues as determining operational requirements and meeting customer needs. In manufacturing organizations, the supply management department may be responsible for spending 50 to 60 percent of the gross revenue. The supply management professional's impact is felt in all industries, including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, services, hospitality, government/public administration, education, and agriculture. Purchasing and supply management can exert tremendous leverage on an organizations profitability and operational success. It can also be a tremendously rewarding career.
Supply Chain Management Careers:
Entry Level Positions:
- Assistant Buyer
- Assistant Commodity Manager
- Assistant Transportation Manager
- Contractor Officer
- Customer Service Representative
- Export Compliance Coordinator
- Inventory Analyst
- Logistics Analyst
- Materials Data Analyst
- Planner/Scheduler
- Procurement Analyst
- Purchasing Agent
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Higher Level Positions
- Commodity Specialist/Manager
- Customer Service Specialist/Manager
- ERP Consultant
- Global Demand Planning Analyst
- International Logistics Specialist/Manager
- Inventory Control Specialist/Supervisor
- Materials Specialist/Manager
- Operations Supervisor
- Purchasing Agent/Buyer
- Supply Chain Coordinator
- Transportation Specialist/Manager
- Warehouse Supervisor
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