GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
How Would You Explain Supply Chain Management to a First Grader?
YOU’RE TURNING 7 AND HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY. You need cake, balloons, and party hats. These are at different stores. Supply chain management makes sure the right people get the things you need from the different stores at the right time, so you’ll have everything you need for your party. –Scott Sangster General Manager, Global
Supply chain management = how your Pokemon cards go from pulp, to paper, to showing up in stores for your parents to buy. –Brian Malinowski SVP, Business Development, TA Services
Logistics Service Providers, Descartes Systems Group SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IS LIKE MAKING A PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY
SANDWICH. Farmers grow nuts, berries, and grains; factories turn them into peanut butter, jam, and bread; and trucks deliver them to stores where families buy them. The supply chain helps make sure we have all the things we need to eat and enjoy every day. –Richard Howells Vice President, ERP, Finance and Supply Chain, SAP IT’S LIKE A BIG ADVENTURE. Supply chain management is the way things we need, like toys or food, are made and brought to us. –Nick Osbern President, Shipstore THINK ABOUT THAT TOY CAR you love playing with. There are a lot of people who help build that toy car. Someone builds the wheels, the body of the car, and someone even paints that toy car. Supply chain management is making sure all of those helpers work together so you can get a toy car when you want it. –Jeff Goins Director, Carrier Sales, Circle Logistics
PICTURE A CANDY FACTORY — supply chain managers help make sure the factory has all the sugar, chocolate, and boxes it needs, but no more than it needs. They also make sure the candy gets to you in time for Valentine’s Day. –Brian Dean President, Managed Transportation RXO IMAGINE MAKING A DELICIOUS PIZZA. The supply chain is like all the steps to get the ingredients to you: growing the wheat for the dough, raising the cows for the cheese, and bringing them all to the pizzeria. Logistics is how those ingredients get there—the trucks that carry the cheese, the boats that bring the tomatoes, and ensuring everything arrives on time. –Jason Minghini
IT’S LIKE RUNNING A RACE. Sometimes, you’re running with the wind, and sometimes you’re running against the wind, but the goal is to always keep moving no matter how difficult it is. –Bill Heaney Chief Commercial Officer, Odyssey Logistics SAY YOU WANT A • A farmer grows wheat for flour, gets eggs from chickens, and milk from cows. • A factory turns milk into butter and wheat into flour. Another makes sugar and chocolate chips. • Trucks bring the ingredients to the store. • You buy the ingredients and bring them home. • Now the cookies can be baked! –Josh Dunham CEO and Co-founder, Reveel COOKIE , but you don’t have all the stuff to make it. Here’s how it works:
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Solutions Kenco
6 Inbound Logistics • February 2025
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