What does a supply chain planner do?
The job of supply chain planners, or logisticians, is to plan, develop, and schedule project management tools in support of an organization's operations. They are responsible for managing and monitoring inventories, forecasting production and sales levels, and tracking response time and delivery performance. Other duties include analyzing the levels of finished products, developing and monitoring production plans, and generating reports. Supply chain planners are also responsible for supervising other team members and ensuring that customer service best practices are followed.
Supply chain planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real supply chain planner resumes:
- Manage communication among freight forwarders, trucking companies, and warehouse representatives.
- Manage the preparation and analysis of material forecasts, interpreting MRP output and negotiating purchases.
- Maintain the accuracy of BOM, inventory and other product attributes as identified with SAP/MDM/Impulse (ERP systems).
- Administer ERP data for manufacturing, shipping, materials and quality control; run variance reports and reconcile variances.
- Monitor and analyze all opportunities to reduce logistics costs and improve efficiency.
- Select applicant will analyze technicaldata and reports to determine spares and support equipment provisioning requirements.
- Change distribution strategy, eliminating LTL's and introducing direct plant shipments reducing total transportation costs.
- Order management, logistics cost optimization, inventory level and order frequency optimization, developing supply plans.
- Analyze MRP actions, determine material availability, and develop production schedule base on firm orders and forecasts.
- Conduct full reports using various data visualization techniques on client's areas of vulnerability, inefficiency, and opportunities for improvement.
- Aggregate and incorporate incremental sales impact of promotional events and new item launches into macro forecasts by division and ops study.
- Povide single-point accountaility and leadership for FG and raw and package materials throughout the product life cycle.
- Maintain a WIP support, capacity feasible demand signal to the factories that maximizes sales while minimizing excess inventory.
- Interface with sales to establish new customer accounts, NPI, and ECO implementation.
- Mitigate material management risks and identify global cost saving opportunities for technical commodities.
Supply chain planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Supply Chain Planners are proficient in Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Supply Chain Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer service skills, Organizational skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Supply Chain Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Supply Chain, 17%
Provided Leadership in Business Unit towards Customer Service and Supply Chain goals providing constant priority visibility and influencing material flow methodologies.
- Customer Service, 8%
Work closely with Project management/Packaging engineering/Quality/Customer service/3P Contract Packaging/Logistics.
- Supply Chain Planning, 7%
Developed and implemented visual supply chain planning board that improved tactical organizational efficiency and eliminated waste across all PET's.
- Logistics, 7%
Maintain supplier relationships in collaboration with Strategic Procurement to drive operational excellence through all phases of logistics process.
- Continuous Improvement, 5%
Led continuous improvement efforts aimed to increase vendor's performance, forecast accuracy and warehouse inventory levels.
- Demand Planning, 4%
Work closely with Demand planning/Marketing to understand business shifts and improve forecast accuracy.
Most supply chain planners use their skills in "supply chain," "customer service," and "supply chain planning" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential supply chain planner responsibilities here:
Customer service skills. One of the key soft skills for a supply chain planner to have is customer service skills. You can see how this relates to what supply chain planners do because "logisticians must know the needs of their customers in order to coordinate the movement of materials between suppliers and customers." Additionally, a supply chain planner resume shows how supply chain planners use customer service skills: "create work orders for production and mastering service requisitions apply and manipulate erp systems, ms dynamics system tool. "
Organizational skills. Many supply chain planner duties rely on organizational skills. "logisticians must be able to keep detailed records and simultaneously manage several projects in a fast-paced environment.," so a supply chain planner will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways supply chain planner responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "ensured organizational compliance with inventory management policies while meeting contractual requirements and governmental regulations. "
Problem-solving skills. supply chain planners are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to supply chain planner responsibilities, because "logisticians must handle unforeseen issues, such as delivery problems, and adjust plans as needed to resolve the issues." A supply chain planner resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "managed the replenishment processes for suppliers, distribution centers and restaurants including issue resolution and reallocation decision processes. "
Communication skills. A big part of what supply chain planners do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to supply chain planner responsibilities because "logisticians need strong communication skills to collaborate with colleagues and do business with suppliers and customers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical supply chain planner tasks: "lead communications coordinator for 9 of 36 distribution centers. "
The three companies that hire the most supply chain planners are:
- Church & Dwight Co.14 supply chain planners jobs
- BlackHawk Industrial12 supply chain planners jobs
- Zebra Technologies9 supply chain planners jobs
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Compare different supply chain planners
Supply chain planner vs. Procurement analyst
Procurement analysts procure favorable contracts by acting as liaisons between suppliers and their employers. They are hired by organizations that rely on supply chain management to analyze and evaluate potential suppliers, prepare reports about monthly supply costs, and negotiate contracts. With good critical thinking skills, these procurement analysts who are also known as purchasing analysts, evaluate vendors and suppliers based on the speed of delivery, quality, and price. They use quantitative methods to support fact-based decision-making to become competitive and to ensure cost-efficiency and high quality of the products and services.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a supply chain planner are more likely to require skills like "supply chain," "continuous improvement," "demand planning," and "chain planning." On the other hand, a job as a procurement analyst requires skills like "supplier performance," "data analysis," "procurement policies," and "price analysis." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Procurement analysts tend to make the most money working in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $66,395. In contrast, supply chain planners make the biggest average salary, $83,980, in the technology industry.The education levels that procurement analysts earn slightly differ from supply chain planners. In particular, procurement analysts are 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a supply chain planner. Additionally, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Supply chain planner vs. Procurement agent
A procurement agent develops profitable measures to save the client money and ensure the quality of goods supplied. Procurement agents obtain the purchased items through suppliers, monitor them, and expedite the orders. They oversee the activities and performance of the suppliers for compliance. Their duties include the verification of item receipts, resolving shipment-related problems, and authorizing purchase payments through documentation. The necessary skills for this job include being accomplished, decisive, and strong communication skills.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real supply chain planner resumes. While supply chain planner responsibilities can utilize skills like "demand planning," "chain planning," "lean six sigma," and "inventory targets," procurement agents use skills like "supplier performance," "project management," "supplier management," and "commodities."
On average, procurement agents earn a lower salary than supply chain planners. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, procurement agents earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $76,921. Whereas supply chain planners have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $83,980.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Procurement agents tend to reach similar levels of education than supply chain planners. In fact, they're 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Supply chain planner vs. Senior buyer
The job of senior buyers, or also known as purchasing agents, is to meet the material needs of an organization. They are responsible for finding suppliers, arranging the distribution to several retail outlets, and supervising other purchasing agents. They also look for new product streams and establish procurement strategies. Senior buyers typically begin their careers as assistant buyers or junior purchasing agents. Most employers usually prefer those with college degrees in marketing, business, and economics.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from supply chain planner resumes include skills like "demand planning," "strong analytical," "chain planning," and "lean six sigma," whereas a senior buyer is more likely to list skills in "supplier performance," "commodities," "product development," and "project management. "
Senior buyers make a very good living in the hospitality industry with an average annual salary of $81,144. On the other hand, supply chain planners are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $83,980.Most senior buyers achieve a similar degree level compared to supply chain planners. For example, they're 4.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Supply chain planner vs. Buyer
A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between supply chain planners and buyers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a supply chain planner might have more use for skills like "supply chain," "continuous improvement," "demand planning," and "strong analytical." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of buyers require skills like "supplier performance," "commodities," "rfq," and "supplier relationships. "
Buyers enjoy the best pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $59,735. For comparison, supply chain planners earn the highest salary in the technology industry.buyers reach lower levels of education compared to supply chain planners, in general. The difference is that they're 7.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of supply chain planner
Updated January 8, 2025
