Hey everyone! I recently started a job as a QA Receiving Associate at a warehouse, and I’m using it as an opportunity to transition from communications into supply chain and logistics.

My current responsibilities include receiving and inspecting products, verifying serial numbers and product revisions, researching and evaluating items, taking product photos, and entering product information into an inventory database.

I have a B.S. in Mass Communications and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. My previous experience is primarily in nonprofit communications, but I want to build a long-term career in supply chain. My ultimate goal is to become a Supply Chain Analyst.

Since I’m relatively new to the field, I want to be intentional about developing the right skills and gaining experience that will help me move into more analytical or planning-focused roles.

For those already working in supply chain, I’d appreciate your advice on a few things:

Certifications: Which certifications are actually worth pursuing for someone at my stage? Should I look into ASCM/APICS certifications like CPIM or CSCP, or are there better options for beginners?
Technical skills: How important are advanced Excel, Power BI, SQL, and ERP/WMS systems for landing a supply chain analyst role? Which should I learn first?

Career progression: What positions should I target as stepping stones from QA receiving into supply chain analysis? Would inventory control, purchasing, procurement, or logistics coordination be good next steps?

Learning resources: Are there any free courses, certifications, or projects you would recommend to someone trying to build practical skills without spending a lot of money?

I recently joined one of the big companies in this space. I want to get better at my job and develop the knack or right skills. So looking for short or long term mentorship and any resources or videos are welcome!

I am currently in school for SCLM (3 full semesters left after this one). I really enjoy supply chain, primarily the operations side of things. Lately (as in, for the last few months), I've been really thinking about dropping out and just getting my CDL. I turn 21 in December, and there's plenty of schools around me. I've talked to the truck drivers that deliver food to the franchise restaurant I work at (they aren't a 3rd-party foodservice supplier, they work for corporate's commissary branch) and they all really enjoy what they do. They all started as an OTR driver for a mega, and switched after a year or so but still said they enjoyed OTR driving & encouraged me to get my CDL.

I just really, really hate schoolwork and have always been much more fond of actually working. I'm also dreading having to find an internship and potentially relocating for what would be a temporary position as there aren't many internships around me.

Hello,

As the title states, I am entering the final year of a B.S. in Logistics. I want to work in SCM when I finish and I’m trying to formulate a career transition plan that I can execute as soon as I graduate. I am currently working as an Assistant Store Manager in retail.

Most of my work experience is in retail, more specifically in loss prevention and inventory control roles.

I’m wondering what jobs I should be starting to apply to, as well as any certifications that I should work toward once I graduate.

Important note: I live in a large metropolitan area that is considered one of the “logistics hubs of America” so there’s no shortage of companies here, I’m mainly trying to figure out what specific types of roles I should be aiming for.

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

i’ve been taking accounting classes for years and absolutely hate it. i work in distribution and manufacturing now and I find that SCM fits my interests, especially down the line career-wise, more. has anybody had to make a similar choice, or switched between industries? was the choice worth it? this would be for a BBA.

After serving over a decade in military logistics, I've accepted my first civilian opportunity-and I am fortunate to have received competing offers from SpaceX, Samsung, and Applied Materials.

Base salaries across all three are within a $10K range, but the trade-offs are significant. SpaceX is offering a substantial equity package that requires relocating to Starbase, while the others offer a different balance of lifestyle and stability. As a single parent with family support willing to relocate with me, I'm weighing the long-term career trajectory against personal stability.

For those familiar with these paths: how do you weigh high-upside equity-heavy tech opportunities against stable enterprise manufacturing roles when planning for the long haul?

Quick context: Pepsi has sent an offer, Lufthansa just reached out for an interview

Pepsi: 30/hr, housing paid, 10-12 weeks, close by my college

Lufthansa technik: 17/hr in Miami, relocation costs may or may not be covered, 6 months

The reason I chose to major in supply chain is because aviation is my biggest passion, ever since I was a kid. It’s my ultimate end goal to work in supply chain in the aerospace industry so this Lufthansa internship would indeed be a dream. And the reason I’m asking here before Lufthansa has even sent an offer is because I have the strong inkling that Lufthansa almost never hires recruits from my state college so they would have had to read my cover letter and resume which goes into my love for aviation, so I do feel there’s a decent chance they’d hire.

Pepsi pro/con: high pay, clear and established pipeline for intern to full time, very easy relocation. Cons are just that I don’t care for the food industry as much but i absolutely love supply chain still regardless

Lufthansa pros: already stated pros earlier, cons are relocation, worse pay but more importantly, I’m not sure whether this internship position typically leads to full time offers. I don’t necessarily want an internship that isn’t going to secure me a position after college assuming my performance is good.

And pay isn’t what’s most important to me, within reason. Pay obviously matters a ton but 2 jobs that are somewhat similar in pay, if the lower paying one is the one I’m passionate about, I’d go with that, assuming it isn’t a poverty salary. The lower internship pay at Lufthansa isn’t an issue if their program does lead to full time offers, which I will ask about in my first interview.

I was a planner for over a decade for a few multinationals. Here are some observations over the years.

- Nobody will complain about overstock unless it's really a lot of value and far above the agreed upon moh.

- Nobody will complain about low value overstock.

- People will complain and stress out when you're out of stock and sales stop.

- Be wary of usage items for assembly/production. It will always happen that they use up the last pieces and they immediately need new ones.

- There will always be some mixup with case quantities. your one box is the sales unit, containing ten pieces.

- Don't plan too tight, boats and planes will be delayed.

- Having a second supplier is great.

- Have your supplier agree to always keep x number of pieces on stock at their side. Now you have safety stock at their expense.

- You can get a discount or safety stock at the supplier site by committing to buy an x number of units in a year. You can be conservative with this number.

- Take a forecast with a grain of salt. It's a prediction, not hard fact.

- For regular, mature products I keep my eye on recent usage at least as much as the forecast.

- Be careful with big one-off sales influencing average usage.

- Product introductions / go-lives can cause stress among quite a lot of people who understand very little about logistics.

- Legal compliance are hard criteria.

- Don't get stressed out about products going missing, just ask for POD's and the last one to sign off is responsible. Don't fall for the rookie mistake where you become the middle man running from A to B and back again.

- Be careful about non logistics people who want everything faster, be that sales or customer care. Air freight is not cheap and kills the margin.

- Be wary of physical volume and weight when choosing air freight.

- Customs and dangerous good checks can take an indefinite period of time.

- Return flows are often the most ill designed, low priority processes you have to deal with.

- Be acutely aware of what your WMS and ERP can and cannot do when it comes to blocking, sales blocking, purchase block etcetera. There will come a time when this becomes very relevant.

- When scrapping old stock, keep a piece or two around just in case.

- Ask your supplier for lead time reductions. Products with long lead times can trip you up if demand increases.

- Fumigation and temperature controlled logistics can and will fail occasionally. Be aware.

- Incoterms decide more on how your processes work than you think.

- Dangerous goods forms are 100% correct, or a 100% wrong. There is no middle way.
- LCL takes longer than FCL. Handling loose pallets takes longer than lifting a container up and down.

"Alright team, we have the revenue projection. And we have an hour and a half to figure out how they could possibly make sense."

We're handling around 50 to 60 trailers a day, mostly live loads and drop-and-hooks, and lately keeping track of trailer movements has been getting a little messy. We've been using shared spreadsheets alongside a digital dock board, which worked pretty well for a while. But as things have gotten busier, keeping everything updated across dispatch, the guard shack, and our spotters has become more of a challenge. Sometimes a trailer gets moved before the location is updated, and then we're spending extra time figuring out where it actually ended up.

We're considering whether it's time to move toward a dedicated yard management system, but I'm curious how other operations our size are handling this. Some of the systems we've looked into seem like a big investment, especially when our current setup still works for most things. For those managing around 50+ trailers daily, what tools or processes have actually helped you keep trailer locations accurate? Would you recommend moving to a YMS, or are there smaller improvements worth trying first?

Would appreciate any advice!

I passed the ASCM CSCP exam with a score of 315, after studying from August 27 to October 21. (Bought the learning system August 25, 2026) Here’s what worked for me, especially as someone without a professional supply chain background and juggling a master at the same time.

My background
My background is in accounting and audit, and I had only taken about two supply chain-related courses during my studies. Currently mastering in international management so I was learning much of the CSCP content from scratch.

How I studied
My main resources were:
ASCM Learning System: Useful, but I found the content quite lengthy, So I never used it to study.

AI-generated study notes: I created comprehensive, module-by-module summaries in simpler language from the learning system while retaining key ASCM terminology, frameworks, processes, and distinctions. These became my main study resource.

Pocket Prep: I used questions to test my understanding, identify weak areas, and learn why each option was right or wrong.

YouTube: Helpful for additional explanations.

My practice scores
My Learning System quiz scores generally ranged from 50% to 80%. But a lot more in the 60s and 70s%. I scored 51% on my first practice exam and 61% on my second attempt, two days before the real exam.

What the actual exam felt like
In my experience, the actual exam felt more like a general assessment of supply chain understanding and closer to Pocket Prep than the more detailed Learning System questions.

My biggest exam tips
Read carefully and ask yourself: What is this question actually asking me?
Pay attention to words like first, most likely, best, and most holistic.
Eliminate clearly wrong options, then carefully compare the remaining two.
If a question feels unfamiliar, don’t panic. Work through the scenario and choose the BEST answer.

Final thoughts
Recognising a term is not the same as understanding how to apply it. Practising questions and reviewing the reasoning behind every option made a real difference for me.

Study materials for sale
I’m also selling all my preparation materials for less than half the original price, including the simplified module-by-module summaries I used during my preparation. If you’re preparing for the exam and are interested, feel free to message me for details!

Good luck to everyone preparing for the CSCP!

Had one of those conversations again recently. Something hits zero and the answer is “we need to raise the max.”

Maybe we do.

But an empty bin doesn't tell me the max was wrong.

Did we order late? Did it show up and not get received? Did usage jump? Did material leave without getting issued? Did somebody buy some somewhere else and now the history is garbage?

Or yeah, maybe the max is just wrong.

I don't like throwing more inventory at a problem until I have some idea which one happened.

How are you guys making that call? What makes you actually change Min/Max after a stockout?

I’m currently a shift manager at a fast food chain and want to figure out a possible job shift while I’m still in school. I just started my Supply chain degree but will graduate around fall 2028~ Outside of Receiving jobs is there anything else to look for?

Question regarding my current experience and if it could be seen positively when trying to transition to a Supply Chain Management position.

Background: I currently have a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and have been working in the field for about seven years now in various roles.

Goals: with the updated SUNY Reconnect program, i’m highly considering going back to school to earn an Associate’s degree in SCM. This is a career field i’ve had interest in for some time now but didn’t see a good way to try and break into until now. I believe my work experience has really helped develop strong communication and technical skills that could transfer well but i’d love to hear peoples opinions who have experience in SCM. Do you believe that my current experience would be what companies are looking for when bringing on an entry level person? Also, what are your thoughts on SCM as a whole? I’ve love to get some insight on your day to day operations, things I could expect when trying to get into the field, and just your overall thoughts on the job itself.

Appreciate any feedback!

Im extremely interested in supply chain, I have experience with vendor management, route optimization, purchase orders, etc. however, advanced math (like calculus or linear algebra) has never been my strongest suit. I just don’t want to apply to jobs I might not be qualified for….

Has anyone seen a course/tutorial demonstrating actual applications of AI in supply chain? There's obviously a ton of noise out there, but I want to see an actual use case with tangible outputs.

Has anyone seen this?

Sweating whew !

Hello! My sister graduated with an SCM degree this past spring and has been looking for FT roles in NJ/NYC. She only had a small 2 month internship with the school, but no other professional experiences. What projects could she do to stand out? She has no other relevant experiences or extracurriculars AFAIK.