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Supply Chain Managers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Direct or coordinate production, purchasing, warehousing, distribution, or financial forecasting services or activities to limit costs and improve accuracy, customer service, or safety. Examine existing procedures or opportunities for streamlining activities to meet product distribution needs. Direct the movement, storage, or processing of inventory.

Related: Industrial Production Managers Logisticians Logistics Analysts Logistics Engineers Transportation, Storage, & Distribution Managers

Industries: Transportation & Storage Wholesale/Commercial Sales Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Design or implement plant warehousing strategies for production materials or finished products.
Design, implement, or oversee product take back or reverse logistics programs to ensure products are recycled, reused, or responsibly disposed.
Locate or select biodegradable, non-toxic, or other environmentally friendly raw materials for manufacturing processes.
Negotiate prices and terms with suppliers, vendors, or freight forwarders.
Appraise vendor manufacturing capabilities through on-site observations or other measurements.
Evaluate and select information or other technology solutions to improve tracking and reporting of materials or products distribution, storage, or inventory.
Identify or qualify new suppliers in collaboration with other departments, such as procurement, engineering, or quality assurance.
Monitor forecasts and quotas to identify changes and predict effects on supply chain activities.
Evaluate and select information or other technology solutions to improve tracking and reporting of materials or products distribution, storage, or inventory.
Conduct or oversee the conduct of life cycle analyses to determine the environmental impacts of products, processes, or systems.
Document physical supply chain processes, such as workflows, cycle times, position responsibilities, or system flows.
Participate in the coordination of engineering changes, product line extensions, or new product launches to ensure orderly and timely transitions in material or production flow.
Meet with suppliers to discuss performance metrics, to provide performance feedback, or to discuss production forecasts or changes.
Diagram supply chain models to help facilitate discussions with customers.
Develop or implement procedures or systems to evaluate or select suppliers.
Analyze inventories to determine how to increase inventory turns, reduce waste, or optimize customer service.
Review or update supply chain practices in accordance with new or changing environmental policies, standards, regulations, or laws.
Confer with supply chain planners to forecast demand or create supply plans that ensure availability of materials or products.
Manage activities related to strategic or tactical purchasing, material requirements planning, controlling inventory, warehousing, or receiving.
Identify opportunities to reuse or recycle materials to minimize consumption of new materials, minimize waste, or to convert wastes to by-products.
Develop or implement procedures or systems to evaluate or select suppliers.
Analyze information about supplier performance or procurement program success.
Investigate or review the carbon footprints and environmental performance records of current or potential storage and distribution service providers.
Determine appropriate equipment and staffing levels to load, unload, move, or store materials.
Design, implement, or oversee product take back or reverse logistics programs to ensure products are recycled, reused, or responsibly disposed.
Select transportation routes to maximize economy by combining shipments or consolidating warehousing and distribution.
Determine appropriate equipment and staffing levels to load, unload, move, or store materials.
Design or implement supply chains that support environmental policies.
Design or implement supply chains that support business strategies adapted to changing market conditions, new business opportunities, or cost reduction strategies.
Design or implement supply chains that support environmental policies.
Forecast material costs or develop standard cost lists.
Design or implement supply chains that support business strategies adapted to changing market conditions, new business opportunities, or cost reduction strategies.
Monitor suppliers' activities to assess performance in meeting quality or delivery requirements.
Implement new or improved supply chain processes to improve efficiency or performance.
Define performance metrics for measurement, comparison, or evaluation of supply chain factors, such as product cost or quality.
Design or implement plant warehousing strategies for production materials or finished products.
Develop procedures for coordination of supply chain management with other functional areas, such as sales, marketing, finance, production, or quality assurance.
Define performance metrics for measurement, comparison, or evaluation of supply chain factors, such as product cost or quality.

Speaking
- Talking to others.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.

Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

5 years or more work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

131620/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

63.28/hr

Currently Employed

3,720

Yearly Projected Openings

370

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

Leadership
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Cooperation
Analytical Thinking
Dependability

Laser fax machine
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Radio frequency scanners

Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Data base reporting software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Financial analysis software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Inventory management software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Medical software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Procurement software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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