Supply Chain and Operations Manager Capabilities

Name: Supply Chain and Operations Manager Capabilities
Author: Debra Foland

Discover the skill sets and transactional functions involved in supply chain and operations management.

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Course: On-Demand

Let's focus on key elements of a supply chain and operations manager career, and the skills you can practice that will make you the best possible supply chain and operations manager. We'll cover the following areas of responsibility. Strategic sourcing and logistics. Demand and supply planning. Planning, production and distribution. Information technology. And analytics, metrics and flexibility. Strategic sourcing and logistics strongly impact how a company spends money to create value in its products and services. Both categories are considered spend functions and value is obtained through establishing strategies to minimize cost while improving quality and reliability through desired outcomes. We'll examine each category individually and show how they can interact to meet the company's financial objectives. Strategic sourcing is the process used to procure goods and services. The key steps in this process are data collection and analysis, supplier discovery, negotiations and contracts, and supplier relationship management during the product lifecycle. Before a company can start identifying key suppliers, they must fully understand the cost impact based on certain requirements. This is done through data collection and analysis, which is a key component during the product design phase. Product design includes cost structures for both purchased and manufactured products, as well as the technical specifications to meet the customers' needs. Make versus buy decisions are made during the design phase. When a component needs to be purchased, the data is collected and analyzed to identify the needed types of supplier capabilities that will meet the component criteria. This step involves a cross-functional team that generally includes representatives from engineering, purchasing, sales, quality and finance. Additionally, this data has to be comprehensive and fully vetted based on the product line's financial objectives. Keep in mind that cost is a key driver in this process, so it's a best practice for the team to continue to work toward material cost reductions as new technologies command higher costs. Once the data has been collected and analyzed, the team will research the potential suppliers that can meet the criteria. The goal of supplier discovery is to develop an approved supplier list for the product. Critical considerations for creating an approved supplier list include: international trade sanctions, prior supplier performance, minority-owned suppliers, and new supplier identification. Companies maintain a list of countries prohibited from doing business with them. Countries can be sanctioned based on if they support terrorism or if they are involved with human trafficking or human rights violations. Additionally, companies have to know where suppliers source raw materials as those suppliers may be located in sanctioned countries. Oftentimes, companies will reuse suppliers based on prior contracts and proven capabilities. This is ideal because those suppliers have existing relationships with the companies and can meet their customized needs. Strategic sourcing has made many improvements in empowering minority-owned suppliers. This process has given enormous opportunities to minority-owned startups. You can see the benefits in communities through better schools, local economic growth and overall quality of life. Much research goes into identifying potential new suppliers to add to the approved supplier list. Trade publications, networking, supplier visits, digital information sharing and other avenues are all used to identify new suppliers that can meet the new product specifications. Potential new suppliers are required to provide extensive data and in some cases, sample products prior to approval, which will be added to the list of approved suppliers. This is the list the sourcing team will review when making sourcing decisions for specific products or commodities.

Intermediate Provider : Debra Foland 7 Lessons · 36m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

This course explores the key responsibilities of supply chain and operations management personnel. It discusses key functions, including supplier sourcing, negotiations, and demand planning and supply planning. It also discusses production control, production scheduling, and the use of KPIs to track company performance.

What You'll Learn

Apply strategic sourcing and logistics to understand how a company spends money to create value
Manage supplier sourcing, negotiations, and demand and supply planning
Explain how production control contributes to the overall production process
Identify the inputs that can be used to build a production schedule
Describe the role of information technology in supply chains
Use KPIs to track company performance

Key Takeaways

Supply chain and operations management personnel are responsible for key functions including supplier sourcing, negotiations, and demand and supply planning.
Strategic sourcing and logistics influence how a company spends money to create value.
Production control contributes to the overall production process, and various inputs can be used to build a production schedule.
Information technology plays a defined role within supply chains.
KPIs are used to track company performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for supply chain and operations management personnel and explores the key responsibilities of these roles.

What topics does this course cover?

The course covers strategic sourcing, negotiations and logistics, demand and supply planning, planning and production, distribution, information technology, and analytics, metrics, and flexibility. It discusses key functions including supplier sourcing, negotiations, demand planning and supply planning, production control, production scheduling, and the use of KPIs to track company performance.

What skills will I gain from this course?

You will learn how strategic sourcing and logistics influence how a company spends money to create value, how production control contributes to the production process, what inputs can be used for a production schedule, the role of information technology in supply chains, and how KPIs are used to track company performance.

What lessons are included in the course?

The course includes lessons on Strategic Sourcing; Negotiations and Logistics; Demand and Supply Planning; Planning and Production; Distribution; Information Technology; and Analytics, Metrics, and Flexibility.