What Is a Supply Chain Analyst? (And How to Become One)

Supply chain analysts oversee the various factors that make up an organisation’s supply chain. Even if you live in the most rural town, you’ve most likely encountered products and services participating in the global supply chain. In recent decades, the expansion of trade has required supply chain management to become leaner, more efficient, and more flexible. However, political and other unforeseen events can disrupt these supply chains.

Shortages due to transportation, logistics, and government sanctions can drive up prices of food, gas, and other essentials. Whilst supply chain analysts and managers were previously able to make quick adjustments to resolve bottlenecks, recent compounding forces have meant that these professionals are more in demand than ever before. Explore the role of a supply chain analyst and find out how you can make a start in this career.

What is a supply chain analyst?

A supply chain analyst plays an important role in planning, analysing, and monitoring a company’s supply chain distribution to ensure products make it to their destinations in a timely, cost-efficient manner.

In this position, you will usually work on specific projects. Those could include helping launch a product in a new country or lowering costs by identifying new routes or suppliers. You will serve as the liaison between a company and its suppliers and may be in charge of researching fair prices and negotiating good deals. As a supply chain analyst, you also monitor warehouse inventory stock and track how much more product volume companies need using tools such as SAP.

Responsibilities and tasks

As a supply chain analyst, you are the contact person for suppliers, buyers, and management, working on end-to-end projects to ensure products get from Point A to Point B. 

Some common supply chain analyst responsibilities and tasks include:

• Monitoring data on current business operations, managing different pieces, such as sourcing, warehousing, deliveries, and scheduling production

• Collecting and analysing data to reduce costs and increase efficiency

• Managing supply chain processes and inventory using tools like ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems

• Maintaining professional relationships with vendors, acting as representatives of the company or organisation to promote a positive image

• Consistently seeking ways to improve supply chain management, including evaluating approaches, processes, tools, and technology

Where you might work

As a supply chain analyst, it is likely that you will work in one of the primary industries participating in the supply chain. These might include retail or e-commerce stores, manufacturers of large goods like cars, electronics, and furniture, pharmaceutical companies, local and central government, or IT and telecommunications.

As a result, you could work as a supply chain analyst for one of many companies, including major companies like Cisco Systems, Tesco, Amazon, or Johnson & Johnson. Supply chain analytics skills are especially useful if you are a business consultant working for a consulting firm, such as McKinsey, that helps create lean teams and eliminates unnecessary processes.

Skills needed 

Just like any other business role, you must have core workplace skills alongside technical skills. To help you succeed as a supply chain analyst, you will need to demonstrate a few essential skills, including:

• Effective communication: Collaborating with cross-cultural teams and colleagues, including suppliers and customers, is a common task in this role, which requires effective communication. 

• Critical thinking and problem-solving: Critical thinking and the ability to solve problems are essential for developing and implementing logistical plans, responding to issues that inevitably arise, and finding solutions to improve costs and efficiency.

• Interpersonal skills: Supply chain analysts must coordinate the complex movement of products between suppliers, warehouses, and customers, which requires interpersonal skills. 

• Organisational skills: Good organisational skills help supply chain analysts to maintain records across various tools and systems and manage multiple simultaneous projects.

• Time management: To keep up with a fast-paced environment that involves competing priorities and deadlines, time management is a helpful skill to have in this role. 

• Knowledge of tools and technology: Handling all of the data in ERP technology or relational databases and processing it in a way that makes business sense requires knowledge of specific tools and technology. 

Supply chain analysts are needed at each stage of supply chain management. Some stages and focus areas that a supply chain analyst might specialise in include:

• Purchasing

• Inventory management

• Manufacturing

• Demand planning

• Customer relations

• Transportation

Salary and job outlook for supply chain analysts

According to Glassdoor, the annual average base salary for supply chain analysts is £31,602 per year, with an overall base pay range of £27,000 to £38,000 per year [1]. These averages will vary by factors such as years of experience. For example, Glassdoor reports the following salaries by years of experience [1]: 

• 0–1 year of experience: £29,562 per year

• 1–3 years of experience: £31,602 per year

• 4–6 years of experience: £32,237 per year

• 7–9 years of experience: £34,815 per year 

• 15+ years of experience: £39,462 per year 

The outlook for supply chain careers is bright as the profession is currently experiencing a high rate of growth. The demand for supply chain analysts is on the rise, as is the annual salary for these professionals. In fact, IT Jobs Watch reports a 130.77 per cent increase in the median percentage change in salary from 2023 [2].

How to become a supply chain analyst

To become a supply chain analyst, it is advisable that you earn a bachelor’s degree, although you may be able to find work as a supply chain analyst with a high school diploma. If you already have a degree and are hoping to switch careers, then you can skip the first step and go straight to building up your skills and work experience.

1. Get a bachelor’s degree.

Whilst only some supply chain analysts need a bachelor’s to land a job role, your chances of getting hired are much higher if you do. A degree in business management is a common choice.

Because the field of supply chain management is complex, fast-paced, and requires managing many moving parts, you’ll need strong technical knowledge of tools like SAP as well as a strong foundation in business acumen, problem-solving, and quantitative analysis. A degree in a related field can help build these dynamic skills necessary for working as a supply chain analyst. 

2. Build up your skills.

Build your supply chain management and analytics skills and knowledge with a course. If you feel you need to strengthen your communication skills, you can enrol in courses that challenge you in public speaking, or you can practise active listening at home or in the workplace. Consider a membership to a professional organisation offering training courses in logistics and supply chain management. 

If you require technical skills, play around with SAP or Microsoft Excel. To get more familiar with Excel, these short Guided Projects might help:

• Finding, Sorting, & Filtering Data in Microsoft Excel 

• Create Charts and Dashboard using Google Sheets

3. Gain experience.

Experience in logistics and supply chain management is often a requirement or at least highly preferred for a supply chain analyst, so gaining experience is key to this role. To gain experience, seek out a supply chain internship with a local company or apply for an entry-level job such as a customer service representative for a manufacturer that works in supply chain processes. 

Another means of gaining experience, as well as credibility, is through certificate courses. Completing a certificate course from The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) or CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) can improve your chances of employment as a supply chain analyst and help you build the skills you’ll need in this role. As a beginner, consider the CIPS Level 2 Certificate in Procurement and Supply Operations or the CILT Level 2 Certificate in Logistics and Transport. Neither of these courses has entry requirements. 

Other names for supply chain analyst 

The term “supply chain analysts” might look different when you’re searching for jobs on LinkedIn or other sites. Some other names for similar job roles include sourcing analyst, materials analyst, production analyst, transportation analyst, inventory analyst, demand planning analyst, and supply chain modelling analyst.

Get started in supply chain analytics with Coursera

As a supply chain analyst, you’ll play an essential role in a company’s supply chain. If you want to start a career as a supply chain analyst, an online course can help you cultivate key skills you’ll likely need in this role. You can also find out what it takes to work as a supply chain analyst, learn about trends in the field, and gain other helpful insights and tools related to supply chain analytics.

Launch your business career with the Supply Chain Analytics Specialisation from Rutgers University. In approximately two months, you can master all the data-driven tools you need to improve a company’s supply chain performance.