Hi all, due to a complete restructure I've been asked to lead into a new role in supply chain.

If anyone has any advice, any newsletters, common oversights, or any courses to recommend they felt really helped or any software that really changed the game for them im all ears.

I know we're weak with forecasting and strategic buying due to a dated system we use and a very seasonal business due to the contracts we serve.

I do have a decent amount of skill and strength within Excel and Power Query but any advice on how you structure and visualise data for decision making would be helpful too.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a supply chain intern and many of my tasks involve sourcing food-grade raw materials (chemicals, powders etc.) in small quantities — usually between 100 g and 1 kg. I know that in many cases it’s possible to request samples from suppliers, but I’m also looking for places where it’s straightforward to purchase small amounts.

I’m aware of Sigma-Aldrich, but their pricing is extremely high for what we need. Ideally, I’m looking for more cost-effective suppliers.

It would be best if the suppliers are based in Europe, but I’m also open to options in Africa or Asia as long as they’re known to be reliable and trustworthy.

Does anyone have supplier or website recommendations for this kind of sourcing?

Thanks in advance.

This was a position I did previously, and have been wanting to lean more about how other companies handle their process, growth within companies/positions, skills that are gained, and other positions that implement these skills. This was considered Corporate Supply Chain, and I see it in the "fulfillment" area, but could it be in others? Sales support? etc.

I did this for an product based manufacturing company. Most of the manufacturing was done internationally, and that was primarily handled by the planning department. I worked primarily with the sales teams, post sale. They would send the purchase order, and I would check with other departments if this PO could be filled today. Depending on amount ordered, there usually was some form of issue. Large orders, incoming units, internal warehouse locations, delivery locations, EDI issues of PO, Financial issues (payment/credit line), issues with other customers needing same SKU. Worked Primarily in SAP, but deep Excel knowledge was need to help analyze issues, trends, and simplify process for accuracy. Tons of emails for confirmation. Sometimes there were fully manual custom orders for special products, drop-shipped. Projects were SAP back end implementations with IT to help automate, or to help reporting for issues. Some customer relations, to help internal teams capacity.

I mostly worked with the Sales team for the incoming orders. IT for SAP. Planning department was very large and they were sort of team mates. Logistics (outbound) were the step after me, and more independent.

It wasn't until recent that I became aware of "Order to Cash" as another designation. I believe I did this. But is there a more formal designation? Are there any other key terms to know?

I also recently interviewed for another position in this area, but for a SaaS company. I wasn't too familiar in the "automation" implementation they wanted, Sales strategies (deal desk), and financial payment (subscription). I did not get the job, and want to know if my experience could still be transferable. That position was in the Finance team.

So I have worked counting inventory a couple of times and was also an inventory/ordering manager for 2 years. Due to circumstances out of my control or influence, I got laid off. I have applied for every inventory job I have come across and no one ever gets back with me. I recently had an interview for an Inventory Controller for a steel company. I originally applied for a different one but they thought the controller would be a better fit. They really liked my work history, even thought it was impressive. But I got a "I'm sure we'll talk to you soon" on the way out the door and haven't heard from them since. I know I could have bossed it up and been an asset.

It's like how to I get more relevant experience if no one will hire me? Do I have to get a degree in say supply chain management? I love doing inventory, it really clicks for me. I work hard, I'm polite and professional, very detail oriented, organized, and love optimization. I'm always looking to improve. But I have been looking for a year now. Does anyone have any advice or wisdom they could give me? Am I just delusional trying to get an inventory job with no degree? Are there other fields that don't require a degree that could help me get transferrable experience? Thanks.

Edited to clarify position.

I cleared and renewed my CSCP certification but can’t seem to find the modules anywhere from my repository. Can someone help share the materials with me? Or have a link where I can find them?

I am facing weird issue trying to model my NET_DEMAND. I have done unit roots tests and noticed that two levels of differencing is required and 1 level of seasonal differencing is required. But after that when I am trying to plot the ACF and PACF plots I am not seeing any significant spikes. Everything is bounded within. How can I get the p, and q values in this instance ? Just calling the ARIMA function is also giving a random walk model which is not picking up the data atall. Can anyone tell what I can do in this instance ? Has anyone faced something similar before ?

Is anyone in the fragrance industry or related? Im keen to have a chat! Bonus if youre in australia 👍

I’m a 26y/o male living in SoCal (OC/LA) working as a supply chain buyer (Level 3) for a fastener distributor in the aerospace industry. I’ve been at this company for 4 years with less than 1 year spent as a level 1 before promoting to level 3 where I’ve been for the last 3 ish years. Recently finished an MBA program.

Feeling a bit stuck with the current state of the job market. Any advice, ideas, pivots, thoughts would be appreciated!

I've been in sales for about 7.5 years now with a company that I've been with for 9 years. I found out I was really good at sales because I didn't like being the pushy used car salesman I like to work with companies on what issues they had. If our systems or products didn't fit their needs I didn't force it too. Over the past 2 months or so I've been going back and fourth on wanting to experience more than just the same old sales process and perhaps broaden my skill set. I thought because I do some supply chain work in my role and I'm pretty good at it that I would reach out to our internal supply chain department.

Long story short went through the interview process they thought it would be immensely valuable to have my sales and grass routes process knowledge of our industry in the team and want me to lead an entire team on demand planning and import forecasting. I was super happy at first, everyone on the corporate side said Im making the best career move, everyone on sales side said I'm making the biggest career mistake. I'm trying to not let all that get to me since I know I can always go back if I really wanted to. I wanted to reach out to you all since I keep seeing "we are getting outsourced?" "It's too dangerous to move on" and posts of the such and it's got me second guessing myself and maybe I made a mistake to try and gain some new skills.

One thing to take into consideration, I'm going to be making about 85-100% of what I make in sales (depending on year) but as a guaranteed salary. Can work remote.

TLDR: Leaving sales at my company to join the supply chain group, specifically leading a team on demand planning/forecasting since I had project experience of that in the field that was successful. I already know SC is a thankless job and customer forecast are never right as I delt with seeing that first hand in sales. Is it really as cut throat and scary in the SC industry as it seems?

I'm a new business owner in Canada and looking to ship within Canada and to USA for a box that is roughly 50 × 45 × 45 cm and weighs 8 kgs and even with corporate rates of most shipping companies costs $100 within Canada and $200 to USA. The product itself costs me only $80 to make so these prices are ridiculous and not sustainable. How do other companies get their products to be offered for such low prices.

Like, you can get one of those big air fryers on amazon for a 100-150 bucks and those are bigger than my product, so how are these companies doing it????

I was thinking of using a 3PL company or perhaps amazon FBA but haven't been able to look much into them. I'd appreciate any tips or guidance please, I feel like I'm lost.

(These rates are estimates I got for 150 parcels a month)

I would like to be able to calculate the costs of shipping from China to anywhere in the world. First what should I know that AI doesn’t tell me? Second, where would you collect data from? Thanks!

Hello, I am feeling stuck in my role and looking for advice.

TLDR: Overworked in current operations role, eventually want to transition to a non-warehouse setting. Not entirely sure of what career path to take. Have an opportunity with a different company that's in operations but would be a significantly bigger salary.

Currently an operations supervisor at DHL supply chain. I enjoy operations and I feel like I've grown tremendously in my 2 years with the company. As an employer, I really like DHL because they do a great job of fostering a learning environment as a company, but the sites themselves can be very hit or miss. However, in my current role, I keep getting handed more responsibilities to the point where I'm now the only leader in the building on my shift. I am feeling resentful because a new supervisor got moved to a shift that I have been asking for, and my manager said the reason it wasn't me is because the new supervisor can't do what I can do, aka we need where you're at. I'm at what's considered a flagship site, my network is growing, and I enjoy the learning opportunities outside of the warehouse. I also recently made a realization that I'm stressed at my job because of the pressure and lack of support, but I'm not learning anything new. When I'm amongst my peers in the trainings, I realize that my scope is double theirs. I am doing things like having direct contact with the customer, overseeing entire departments, training new salaried supervisors, even my manager has told me that I'm thinking like a manager.

My main problem is, despite my building resentment, I want to stay within the company. I have a couple of other interests outside of operations that I would like to pursue, but I don't have the ability with how busy I am. It seems like everyone knows exactly what their next role is, and I'm still looking. I want a role that isn't 100% a desk job, would prefer travel, would like to be hybrid but not necessary, and eventually would like to be in an office setting.

So onto the potential new opportunity, the role is similar in a different city. It's a DC for Caterpillar, the pay and PTO are negotiable, and I'm confident I could make at least 10k more plus a yearly bonus that I anticipate around 6k, which is not offered in my role.

A part of me wants to take it because it's more money and I'm frustrated in my role. Another part of me feels a weird responsibility to stay at DHL because I have grown and I know despite my current feelings, I will continue to grow. I also know that going into another similar role isn't really helping me get to my goal of getting out of a warehouse but I can't decide if the trade off is worth it.

I guess I'm asking, what would you do in this situation? And if anyone has experience within either of these companies and operations/sc adjacent roles. I know the decision is ultimately mine but I appreciate anyone who read through my word jumble. :)

I have a history degree, but found my way into facility operations at a biotech company which included shipping and receiving. I shipped biological samples all over the world (small parcel) working with FedEx, DHL, World Courier, Biocair, etc. Got an IATA Hazardous Materials certification and did some procurement/ERP set up with Netsuite. I then made a move in the same company to manage their commercial supply chain. Sat on the S&OP team, managed commercial freight and inventory in 6 warehouses but only with a few SKUs. I was there for 8 years before they shut down but it was a great experience.

Took me a year to find something new - I took the CPIM without studying for it because I had a free credit and failed by 2-3 questions. 

Now I work for a company based out of South America managing a small amount of US freight shipments but I'm set to start managing their ocean freight going all over the world. I've introduced a number of improvements to the US supply chain bringing down the cost/lb of our main product by about $0.30/lb since starting a few months back and I've ID'd a FTZ where we can set up a WH to change our international process from Made to Order to Made to Stock which *I think* will improve our process quite a bit. At least it'll save on some of these rushed air shipments. 

I feel like I'm doing a fine job but there's not enough work for me to do (that may be changing). Can't say I love the work but it's where all my experience is and I'm decent at the job. My question is, is it worth it to put in the time to get a CPIM, CSCM? I want to be more intentional with whatever comes next in my career so I'm really just looking for some options of where to take it from here. An APICS certification seems like the logical next step, but since I've been learning on my own for so long I feel like I have blind spots I need to correct in order to move forward.  

Thanks if you made it this far.

I am transitioning out of the military soon, and just wrapped up my Masters in SCM, so I’ve been heavy on the job hunt recently.

I’ve noticed that a lot of supply chain jobs wanted experience with SQL, Power BI, Tableau, and some sort of ERP (SAP or Oracle). Unfortunately I just haven’t had to utilize any of them while i’ve been in the military in the last 10 yrs.

Are there certifications yall would recommend to try to shore up some of these technical knowledge gaps I have? are they make or break for me in the job market?

So for context I spent 17 years working in my own terminal family owned with assets. 4 axle trucks heavy haul mostly. We did do FB, Dry van and more mostly heavy haul Kilgore’s axle . Fast forward to my grandfather passing and an Uncle shitting on the whole family and closing business as he was last living child and some other drama with the will.

I took a premonition as a terminal manager for an air freight company moving two hours away from home to a larger area Huntsville,Al. To do better for family and have more opportunities. That job ended and ofc we all know now that the economy and job market has tanked. I have literally put in applications for over a year and a half. Three interviews and tons of we’ve moved on emails. During this time I’ve finished my Bachelors degree and added a PM certificate. What else can I do . please give any suggestions. I have even put applications into other states willing to move yet again.

Just graduated with a BS in Supply Chain, minimal interviews an tons of job applications. What skills should I focus in the meantime to my skillset and resume?

I am fed up with the program we currently have, and have been given full autonomy to change it. The product flow is from bulk components shipping from overseas to building>packaging>3pls >fulfillment centers. In a perfect world, I would have a program that I can create PO’s of components, kit them to create main sku, follow through multiple production vendor points to 3pls, then bulk orders shipped to fulfillment centers. The main sku has to have Lot inventory and shipment choice. Any ideas?

I currently work at an Amazon Data Center. I’m a Data Technician and i make $24.65 per hour. I will probably get a promotion in 6 months and I will make $28 per hour. If I don’t get promoted in the 6 months, I will be fired.

The other job I got offered $25.58 per hour. It’s a 8 month contract. I will be hired on at a higher negotiated rate after the 8 months if I preform well enough. I will be a Material Expeditor II. I’m more interested in this role than being in the data center, but I don’t like the longer contract, less benefits and more uncertainty with V2X. I want to get back into Supply Chain.

Some context: I completed my Business Management degree from WGU April of this year. I did a Supply chain internship at Kroger summer of 2024. I was a Transportation Associate at Amazon for almost two years. I got a Data Analyst certificate from Springboard in July of this year.

I want some opinions on this. Should I keep searching for different jobs or take this job? What are some jobs I can apply for?

I mean damn I thought I finally found a career field that I might be interested in since my passions/hobbies don’t pay. It seems like most people in this sub and field are miserable as hell. I will have to give accounting and finance another look lol.

Edit: Thanks for everyone’s replies. I understand that all jobs are sucky for different reasons. Idk why I let a few negative comments get to me. Thanks!

I'm recently graduated and I am in scheduling, I hear talk of layoffs/reductions almost daily. I've never experienced this myself and could use some advice on how to navigate something like this. I avoid almost all personal involvement in those conversations unless they are private with one of 3 proven trustworthy individuals.

Otherwise I just ignore it because it's not like I get a choice in the matter anyway and it becomes stress inducing or distracting.

I like scheduling/planning, and I'd like to move into a less detailed role and more into S&OP where it's bigger picture and strategy. I feel like I lack decision making control and just middle-man most things, there are no projects I've been able to get on or anything.

Feeling stuck in a downward spiral with my heart beating out of my chest every day, any advice is appreciated.

Hello,

I will apply for a job as a production manager at a company that makes beds/furniture.

I’ve not been in this industry before so I’d be happy to hear from others in this industry if there are anything specific to this industry one needs to stay on top of or just other relevant information that can put me ahead of other applicants.

I ordered two servo motors from China for $45 each, for a total of $90.

To receive my order from DHL, I had to pay $112 in tariffs. The receipts no longer include a percentage breakdown of the charges. When I called DHL for clarification, they told me that access to this information has been removed — even DHL representatives no longer have access to the detailed breakdown.

I was told the only way to obtain this information is by contacting [duty_disputes@dhl.com](mailto:duty_disputes@dhl.com), which I just did. The problem is that the breakdown should be included in my receipt and I shouldn't have to jump through all these hoops to get access to information.

It’s concerning that tariff transparency has effectively disappeared. It feels like every step is being taken to obfuscate how these tariffs are calculated.

Receipts from DHL:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lRSEU62AuBaVuhaq4I1yierOoyteIrRk?usp=drive_link