What does a Supply Chain Manager do and who do they interact with?
The Supply Chain Manager is responsible for the organization of a company’s supply chain. Together with the SCM team, they are responsible for planning, managing, monitoring and verifying all the operations and the flows that are necessary to assure the internal logistics of a company.
The Supply Chain Manager collaborates with suppliers to purchase at a competitive price all the necessary raw materials and resources necessary to produce what customers order; collaborates with the Production Manager to ensure that the produced quantity of finished products meets customer needs; collaborates with the Quality Unit and with carriers in order to deliver the exact quantity required on time and in compliance with quality and safety requirements; coordinates logistics operations in the production and warehouse departments.
What are the duties of a Supply Chain Manager?
There are many tasks that the Supply Chain Manager must deal with. My main target is to coordinate two teams of people that collaborate with each other and manage various activities with great passion and enthusiasm.
One team manages the procurement of raw materials and packaging, researches and selects suppliers, maintains relations and partnerships with them; plans the various production lines in terms of quantities and delivery times requested by customers, and maintains relationships with the various production departments. Another team is more focused on organizing and tracking the flow of raw materials, intermediates and packaging throughout all production steps, managing storage, as well as organizing the shipments and transportation of the finished goods to customers.
Finally, the Supply Chain Manager is responsible for supporting and observing the rules and requirements of colleagues in both Finance and the Quality Unit.
What impact has COVID had in the last year on pharmaceutical supply chain management, and how has this challenge been addressed in SUANFARMA Italy?
The impact of COVID on Supply Chain Management has certainly been, and still is, very challenging. The availability of any type of resource, the limitations on the movement of people and the health risks connected with this virus have led us to strive to be as flexible as possible. The SCM team has faced this challenge by working on several fronts: we have worked to plan the production rhythm to meet customer’s demands, maintaining a close partnership and trust with our internal and external suppliers, and our logistical support in order not to prevent a shortage of raw materials in our production lines.
At the same time, we collaborated closely with all production departments so that planning was shared and supported by everyone. We kept our customers constantly and strictly informed to improve collaboration and transparency; moreover, the entire Supply Chain department was able to manage this difficult situation by working remotely, ensuring a continuous virtual presence and continued support to colleagues.
One year later, I can say that we have achieved an excellent result. This was possible thanks to all SUANFARMA collaborators who worked towards the goal of keeping drugs available to patients who need them, while remaining vigilant about preventing the propagation of this virus that has forced us to change our lifestyle and the way we work.
What characteristics must a Supply Chain Manager have to be successful in their job?
We currently live in a time of unprecedented global trade, not to mention continuous technological innovations. I believe that to be successful you need to be able to effectively combine people, digitalization processes and new technologies to meet customer needs accurately and precisely, but without waste.
Certainly, the ability to adapt to various market situations and trade policies, combined with the ability to align planning and production, operate according to a “plan-to-produce” model, is a winning characteristic of those who manage the daily flows of the supply chain.
What characteristics must a supplier have in order to work with SUANFARMA Italia?
The research, qualification, and periodic monitoring and auditing of suppliers are important activities that our company constantly performs.
During the qualification of a supplier, we gravitate towards suppliers who know how to combine quality of products and service, transparency of information, flexibility and the ability to be our partner in all market situations.
3 nouns to describe SUANFARMA Italy
Flexibility, Adaptation and Collaboration
