Author: Mr. Manish Kumar Gupta, Founder & CEO, IndoGlobal Institute of Supply ChainManagement
Most of the times the term supply chain management seems to be confusing and people may wonder what exactly supply chain management is.
For many people, the term supply chain management is like a jargon that could only be meaningful to those working in certain industries, but in reality, supply chain management is something that affects almost everyone in the world and we can find the concept in the manufacturing and distribution of any product that we use today. If simply put in, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the process of managing the supply chain of an organization.
So here the question is, what a supply chain is all about? A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer.
Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer.
The first impression that a layman may draw from the term supply chain management may be the management of the movement of goods. But obviously the term is much above that inference.
The overall scope of Supply Chain Management typically includes many factors, such as: procurement, planning, logistics and transportation management, freight and inventory management, materials handling, order fulfillment and more.
Supply Chain Management deals with the coordination of resources in an organization. Logistics management focuses on the organization as a whole and not to individual units and departments. It is about the planning and allocation of resources which may be in the form of men, machines, materials, money and time.
Need for Supply Chain Education
Companies around the world, engaging in supply chain operations, prefer to hire someone with formal training in the area of supply chain management for related roles.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much human power to satisfy the needs. There arises the importance of skilling and training the people to occupy such roles and to fill the gap in the supply chain industry.
Formal supply chain education is the stepping stone in that process which enables the students to put their basic platform to dig into the ocean of supply chain management.
Supply Chain as a Career has already started during the industrial era, but now due to the clubbing of the supply chain with technology, as a result scope for Supply Chain Education became prominent creating a huge demand among management graduates and also among technical graduates.
By knowing the vast area of supply chain many organizations are providing education on supply chain. Top companies always look forward to keep their goods and services flowing to marketplace effectively, quickly, and cost effective as possible.
That’s why, they are relying on the skills on supply chain professionals with the right amount of skills. So supply chain management is a bright spot those who want to build to make a promising career. It opens up the golden opportunities for growth and financial freedom with freeness of mind and social status.
But the question is how can an aspiring supply chain manager prepare for a career in this growing, competitive and complex field? What you gonna need is not only an outstanding communication skills, but also a leadership and negotiation skills/abilities along with competent core basic knowledge in supply chain management.
In addition to that wide range of specialized knowledge in areas like lead-time management, logistics, import and export, globalization and risk management will serve you well to grow up to an amateur level.
That is why, the professionals in supply chain operations are in rush to enroll in professional Supply Chain courses which will update them as industry ready resources so as to capture the aspiring opportunities in this field.
Career Opportunities in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Entry-level positions may include such titles as Operations Assistant, Warehouse Executive, Transportation Assistant, Transport Coordinator, Warehouse Binner, E-commerce Delivery Executive, Assistant Buyer, Assistant Purchasing Agent and inventory clerk and the like.
Some mid-level positions requiring additional experience and training are Warehouse Supervisor, Warehouse Manager, Transport Controller, Materials Manager, Procurement Specialist and Purchasing Analyst. Leadership roles may include Strategic Planning Director, Contracts and Procurement director and Vice President of Supply Management.
After acquiring a degree in supply chain management, graduates no need to worry about to start their career. Latest 2016 Agility Emerging Market Logistics Index shows that, logistics and supply chain executives consider India as the top emerging market with the most growth potential.
The good news is there is no need for our SCM graduates to fly outside India for looking a career, and it is for the first time supply chain professionals surveyed by agility ranked India in this top rank, beating china.
A developed globalized logistics and supply chain management system is also vital for the success of the government of India’s ‘Make-In-India’ plan. Hence SCM as a career in India is not just a hope, it is going to real. Make sure you are on the right spot.
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