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18 The PCB Magazine • July 2015 SUPPLy CHAIN IN THE 21 ST CENTURy continues Feature Supply Chain Management Roles There are many roles in supply change man- agement, but the two primary ones are sourcing manager and supply chain manager. Suppliers often have a common misconception that they are synonymous, which they most decidedly are not. Where the confusion comes is that most small companies do not have the resources for dedicated positions and both are frequently handled by a purchasing manager-type position. The Role of the Sourcing/Commodity Manager The sourcing manager is the strategic arm of a materials/supply chain group and directs the team responsible for overall management of the supply chain. This includes new supplier identification and often qualification, contract negotiation, and assessment of quality, technol- ogy, and Lean. Depending on the commodity expertise in the team, they are often the liaison between the company's manufacturing and the supplier's quality and engineers when quality issues arise. As the top escalation point, sourc- ing/commodity managers are also the "ham- mer" when the tactical folks hit a performance wall (buyers, planners, quality, etc.). Job Description: Sourcing/Commodity Manager • Direct material commodity strategies to support existing and new sources of supply • Partner with R&D, quality, purchasing, operations, supply chain and other key stakeholders to lead the development of forward-looking sourcing strategies and contingency plans for assigned commodities • Design and maintain a supplier categorization process along with a method to communicate vendor status among the supply base • Identify, evaluate & quality new supplier sources • Develop and negotiate performance-based supply agreements and related contracts with key suppliers • Lead periodic business reviews with key suppliers • Monitor latest supplier & market trends, technology, and innovations • Negotiate price reductions • Provide monthly status reports of annual goals and budget • Overall supplier management and development responsibility Job Description: Supply Chain Manager Supply chain managers are primarily con- cerned with things like variability modeling, lo- gistics, minimizing risk, economic order quanti- ties, and inventory levels. Some of the very best supply chain managers I have worked with have been "Mr. Wizard" math nerds; they really do need to think differently. They have also been some of the smartest folks I have worked with. Developing a supply chain solution that takes a customer's forecast that has 200% variability, long lead-time BOM parts, and a customer that wants a 98% service level requires a lot of sci- ence (and/or black magic). Here is a short list of what supply chain mangers do: • Material resource planning • Enterprise resource planning • Demand & variability modeling • Supply chain design • Monitor supplier lead-times and constraints • Minimize risk (inventory & availability) to both the customer & supplier • Create metrics and tools to monitor and adapt supply chain models under constant variability • Assist supplier lean initiatives to drive cost-saving initiatives • Negotiate and manage supply chain program contracts Supply Chain Management Concepts: The Seven Rights There are as many supply chain management concepts as there are experts in the field, but when all is said and done is it simply about get- ting it right, or more specifically, the "7 Rights of SCM." The Cliff Notes version is highlighted in Figure 3 as getting the right product, to the right customer, with the right quality & quantity, at the right place and time, for the right price.