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Supply chain planner skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Priya Nagaraj,

Daniel Stanton

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical supply chain planner skills. We ranked the top skills for supply chain planners based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 16.9% of supply chain planner resumes contained supply chain as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a supply chain planner needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 supply chain planner skills for your resume and career

1. Supply Chain

A supply chain is a network or a sequence by which finished products of a company are distributed to retailers and then supplied to the end-users. The distribution of products and services from the production line to the final buyers is carried out in a series of steps including; manufacturing, transportation, and their distribution. The whole supply chain consists of different entities including; manufacturers, transportation, warehouses, suppliers, and retailers. The entities ensure that the products retain their originality while also minimizing the cost of delivery.

Here's how supply chain planners use supply chain:

Provided Leadership in Business Unit towards Customer Service and Supply Chain goals providing constant priority visibility and influencing material flow methodologies.
Planned and steered innovative supply chain activities to improve the supply chain metrics and performance standards for internationally recognized billion-dollar products.

2. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how supply chain planners use customer service:

Work closely with Project management/Packaging engineering/Quality/Customer service/3P Contract Packaging/Logistics.
Analyze pull system generated demands to effectively support production plan while consistently exceeding customer service objectives and minimizing corporate inventory investment.

3. Supply Chain Planning

Here's how supply chain planners use supply chain planning:

Developed and implemented visual supply chain planning board that improved tactical organizational efficiency and eliminated waste across all PET's.
Revised entire supply chain planning process to eliminate unnecessary overtime shifts, improving site budgets.

4. Logistics

Logistics is a complete organization and implementation of a problem. Logistics are often considered in a complex business operation, as some works need detailed plannings. Logistics are also used in military action.

Here's how supply chain planners use logistics:

Maintain supplier relationships in collaboration with Strategic Procurement to drive operational excellence through all phases of logistics process.
Worked with global logistics teams to maximize transportation efficiency from Asia production sites to regional distribution Hubs.

5. Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of improvement of products, services, and processes with the help of innovative ideas. It is an organized approach that helps an organization to find its weaknesses and improve them.

Here's how supply chain planners use continuous improvement:

Led continuous improvement efforts aimed to increase vendor's performance, forecast accuracy and warehouse inventory levels.
Identify continuous improvement opportunities in forecasting, planning, reporting, and execution of demand/supply plan.

6. Demand Planning

Demand planning is the process of forecasting demand for a product or service and implementing an operational strategy throughout the supply chain to meet it. The goal is to find a balance between having enough inventory to meet customer needs without overstocking. Demand planners work in different departments of an organization to make sales forecasts, adjusting inventory levels to seasonal demand, materials planning, and procurement forecasts.

Here's how supply chain planners use demand planning:

Work closely with Demand planning/Marketing to understand business shifts and improve forecast accuracy.
Managed capacity and demand planning in addition to raw material procurement.

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7. Purchase Orders

Here's how supply chain planners use purchase orders:

Determined purchasing requirements and issue purchase orders to suppliers by developing weekly and monthly demand plans for manufacturing.
Schedule and place purchase orders simultaneously working to improve inventory turns, minimize excess and obsolete inventory.

8. MRP

MRP is an abbreviation of Material Requirements Planning and refers to the control system which is implemented in the planning and management of the activities related to manufacturing. Through MRP, manufacturers can easily schedule the production and it can also be used for inventory. MRP systems are mostly software-based but the process can also be carried out manually.

Here's how supply chain planners use mrp:

Reviewed daily reports maintaining 100% MRP accuracy correct inventory levels, ensuring sufficient mortality while minimizing obsolescence.
Analyzed MRP actions, determined material availability, and developed production schedule based on firm orders and forecasts.

9. ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is computer software used by major corporations and organizations for conducting their management and accounting tasks efficiently. ERP systems bind different business processes with each other allowing smoother flow of data between them resulting in swift project assessment and completion.

Here's how supply chain planners use erp:

Allocated material to production orders for metal deck group and handled item entry of all items into ERP system.
Reviewed inventory data in ERP system to select the best EOQ and cost effective price to meet production requirements.

10. Strong Analytical

Here's how supply chain planners use strong analytical:

Demonstrated strong analytical and organizational skills.
Leveraged vendor relationships and strong analytical skills to mitigate geopolitical supply chain risks in Japan, China and the UK.

11. Inventory Management

Here's how supply chain planners use inventory management:

Inventory Management: Developed inventory plan based on historical data and Lean concept, making trade-offs between effectiveness and efficiency.
Created an inventory management tool that aided in stock level management and gave greater visibility to potential inventory issues.

12. Process Improvement

Here's how supply chain planners use process improvement:

Analyzed and examined Key Performance indicators - pinpointing and implementing process improvements with on-time delivery, lead times and safety stock.
Performed global root cause analysis on customer supply demand concerns that identified areas for order management and process improvements.

13. Lean Six Sigma

Here's how supply chain planners use lean six sigma:

Root Cause Analysis o Frequent use of Lean Six Sigma principles to discover root cause.
Implemented and managed new production scheduling process using Lean Six Sigma principles.

14. Inventory Targets

Here's how supply chain planners use inventory targets:

Analyze inventory targets, production plans, and demand forecasts to determine inventory requirements for distribution centers.
Balanced production plan to balance inventory targets, service requirements, and raw material availability.

15. Master Data

Master data is the consistent, cohesive identifiers and extended attributes that describe the core entities of a company, including customers, prospects, citizens, vendors, locations, hierarchies, chart of accounts, and the objects around which a business is conducted. Master data enhances and improves data quality and can help eliminate data maintenance across multiple sources. Centralizing all master data enables companies to configure dedicated data governance and compliance processes.

Here's how supply chain planners use master data:

Collaborated with design engineer in updating product dimensions in SAP master data, resulting in accurate utilization calculation.
Frequent item transitions and safety stock analysis require master data integrity.

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What skills help Supply Chain Planners find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What supply chain planner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Priya Nagaraj

Professor of Economics and Global Business, Website

One of the most important factors is some experience in the industry. An internship working in the logistics or supply chain area is a plus. Sometimes students' internships are not specifically in logistics, in such cases, it helps to have worked on a project in class that mimics real-life situations.

What type of skills will young supply chain planners need?

Daniel Stanton

CEO, Mr. Supply Chain

Of course, supply chain professionals need to understand the basics of logistics, procurement, and operations. But if I had to pick just three skills that I think are going to be critical for supply chain graduates in the years ahead, I'd say 1) Data Analysis, 2) Systems Thinking, and 3) Project Management. The amount of data that's available is growing quickly, and we need people who can access and analyze it. Then, we need to understand what that data means, and how it affects all of the different functions within our supply chains. And finally, in order to use that data to make changes, supply chain professionals need to be able to launch and manage projects effectively.

What technical skills for a supply chain planner stand out to employers?

Jason Hewitt Ph.D.

Lecturer, Pennsylvania State University - Behrend, Erie PA

Zoom for every industry. Industry-specific software is of course important as well. Communication skills, both internally as well as customer facing, are essential in these times of uncertainty.

Do you want to know more?

List of supply chain planner skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a supply chain planner resume and required skills for a supply chain planner to have include:

Supply Chain
Customer Service
Supply Chain Planning
Logistics
Continuous Improvement
Demand Planning
Purchase Orders
MRP
ERP
Strong Analytical
Inventory Management
Process Improvement
Lean Six Sigma
Inventory Targets
Master Data
Lean Manufacturing

Production Planning
Customer Demand
Product Availability
Capacity Constraints
Master Production Schedule
On-Time Delivery
APO
Distribution Centers
Capacity Planning
Product Line
Inventory Control
KPIs
Customer Orders
JDA
Cycle Management
Cost Savings

Goods Inventory
Corrective Action
Customer Satisfaction
Lifecycle Management
OEM
Cost Reduction
FDA
BOM
QA
DRP
Manugistics
Shared Services
Enterprise Resource Planning
Shipping Receiving
Kanban
POS

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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