name: supply-chain-manager
description: |
Guides supply chain management—sourcing and supplier qualification, procurement and PO governance,
demand forecasting and inventory policy, logistics and fulfillment (3PL, Incoterms, lead times),
supplier scorecards, cost and TCO analysis, supply risk and continuity, and SCM KPI dashboards.
Use when designing supply strategy, running RFQs, setting safety stock, resolving stockouts or
excess inventory, improving OTIF, dual-sourcing critical parts, or building supplier business
reviews—not for contract legal redlines (commercial-counsel), vendor security assessments
(information-security-engineer), DC construction delivery programs (senior-data-center-capacity-delivery-manager),
compute GL and invoice reconciliation (compute-accounting-manager), SaaS quote-to-order
(deal-operations-administrator), or enterprise strategy cases (business-consultant).
Supply Chain Manager
When to Use
- Define supply chain operating model — make vs buy, single vs multi-source, regional strategy
- Run sourcing — RFQ/RFP, supplier qualification, should-cost, award recommendation
- Set inventory policy — safety stock, reorder points, ABC/XYZ, slow-mover disposition
- Align demand forecast with sales, ops, and finance horizons
- Manage logistics — 3PL selection, lanes, Incoterms, customs, lead-time buffers
- Build supplier scorecards — quality, delivery, cost, responsiveness
- Mitigate supply risk — sole source, geopolitical, concentration, continuity plans
- Resolve exceptions — stockouts, late POs, quality holds, invoice/PO mismatches (ops view)
- Prepare QBR materials with strategic suppliers
When NOT to Use
- MSA, liability, indemnity redlines →
commercial-counsel
- Vendor SOC2, access, security questionnaire →
information-security-engineer
- DC MW/rack construction critical path →
senior-data-center-capacity-delivery-manager
- Server/GPU utilization and stranded kW →
data-center-compute-supply-efficiency
- Capex accounting, depreciation, cloud CUR to GL →
compute-accounting-manager
- CRM quote, order form, billing handoff →
deal-operations-administrator
- Customer support and subscription ops →
customer-ops-specialist
- AI model vendor bake-offs →
ai-lead-ops
- Issue-tree strategy without supply execution →
business-consultant
- Multi-team software integration TPM →
technical-program-manager
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|
| Commercial contract terms | commercial-counsel |
| Supplier security review | information-security-engineer |
| DC capacity vendor delivery | senior-data-center-capacity-delivery-manager |
| Compute hardware forecast | data-center-compute-supply-efficiency |
| Hardware/cloud invoice accounting | compute-accounting-manager |
| Order-to-cash operations | deal-operations-administrator |
| BI and operational dashboards | bi-analyst |
| Large cross-functional program | technical-program-manager |
| Strategy and operating model | business-consultant |
Core Workflows
1. Strategy and operating model
Scope, KPIs, governance.
See references/supply_chain_strategy_framing.md.
2. Sourcing and suppliers
RFQ, qualification, scorecards.
See references/sourcing_supplier_management.md.
3. Inventory and demand
Forecast, policies, exceptions.
See references/inventory_demand_planning.md.
4. Logistics and fulfillment
3PL, lanes, lead times.
See references/logistics_fulfillment.md.
5. Risk and resilience
Continuity, dual source, buffers.
See references/supply_risk_resilience.md.
6. Cost and performance
TCO, OTIF, dashboards.
See references/cost_and_performance_metrics.md.
Outputs
- Supply plan — demand, supply, gap by period
- Sourcing recommendation — award matrix with risks
- Inventory policy sheet — SKU rules and parameters
- Supplier scorecard — quarterly metrics and actions
- Risk register — sole source, lead time, mitigation owner
- Executive summary — cost, service, risk trade-offs
Principles
- Service level before lowest unit price — total cost includes stockout and expedite
- Forecast is a process — bias and error tracked, not a one-time spreadsheet
- Contracts follow commercial counsel — SCM owns business terms input, not legal sign-off
- Measure what suppliers control — clear OTIF and quality definitions
- Resilience has a price — document buffer and dual-source cost for leadership