Customer Supply Manager jobs
Maintaining a supply of stock is vital in retail and manufacturing. With retail, a lack of stock can result in empty shelves or inability to monopolise on promotions. In manufacturing, failure to supply vital components can bring a production line to a halt, with potentially disastrous results for supplier and manufacturer alike.
The customer supply manager’s job will be at the bare minimum to ensure that such events never happen. But it will also be about much more. It will be to ensure regular and timely delivery to meet the customer’s needs, communicate with the customer regularly to be updated on shifting needs which can either be predictable (e.g. seasonal demand or national festivals) or in reasonably short timeframes (e.g. something sparked by unseasonable weather or product recall replenishments). It will also to ensure that efficiency is built into the whole process.
Modern supply management can involve a good deal of automated ordering via direct-channel communication between sales departments, stock rooms and supplier. It is still essential to keep on top of the supply needs and manage forecasts and fine-tuning however, and since this might form only a part of the supply effort, there could be a good deal of juggling between this and the traditional means of identifying supply needs.
The skills required
With regular contact with customers an essential part of the job, the customer supply manager will need to possess first rate communication skills over any channel or face to face. Errors in ordering that are down to bad communication or overly complex instructions will not be tolerated in almost any supplier/customer relationship.
Since you might have a good deal of autonomy in the role, you’ll need to demonstrate an ability to make actionable decisions and see them through to fulfilment without constant reference to senior management. In high volume customer supply, such as in supermarkets, the supplied goods could be diverse and numerous, so you’ll need to be on top of all their stats from an early stage.
You’ll also need to be completely at ease using software solutions that are relevant to the type of supply you’ll be engaged with. A good all-round ability to pick up and master novel IT solutions will stand you in good stead, as many suppliers will have their own systems in operation.
Customer Supply Manager Jobs in Aylesbury
The county town of Buckinghamshire is Buckingham, right? Wrong. It's actually Aylesbury, a town about as close to the centre of the county as it's possible to be. It is roughly in the centre of a circle formed by London 33 miles (53 km) to the south east, Stevenage, Bedford, Northampton, Banbury, Oxford and Slough, going anticlockwise.
The town was traditionally a market town, where the surrounding farms and traders from more distant towns would congregate to sell their wares. Aylesbury still has a market four times a week, but this is by no means its main business. The town did have a strong milling industry until the mid-1800s, and it was the home to some food-related industry until quite recently, but nowadays its main employers are retailers and small businesses, as well as entertainment and the concentration of local government that accompanies any county town. Although Aylesbury was never a formal New Town, it did get redeveloped after the war, with displaced Londoners moving in and the old town being largely demolished to make way for new business properties.
Aylesbury is right in amongst the commuter belt for London, and houses a reasonably economically active population of around 70,000. The north west of the town is dominated by a large industrial estate with light and medium industry, retail and car showrooms. The town's diverse and largely affluent population, modern infrastructure and a decent amount of industry mean that Customer Supply Manager jobs are often being created in Aylesbury, so please get in touch if you are in the area and seeking such work.
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Cast UK’s supply chain opportunities
Cast UK’s founder members and consultants all come from the logistics, procurement and supply chain sectors, so we know what employers and candidates are looking for in their staff and careers respectively. Cast UK is growing in this part of the UK recruitment industry, mainly because these are the only sectors we deal with, which means that many employers come to us first to create a candidate shortlist because they know we’re tightly focused on delivering the best people to them.
People approach us for many reasons, whether seeking more job fulfilment or simply relocating with the family, so it’s good to know that we always have the complete range of positions available nationwide.
Please see what’s available in your region and if you’ve seen something you’re interested in, do get in touch – whether it’s today or tomorrow, we might have the ideal position for you.
To find out more about how Cast UK can help you recruit a Customer Supply Manager for your business or find you a job as a Customer Supply Manager then contact one of our consultant team on 0333 121 3345.
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