In this day and age, many companies have begun making use of global supply chains. This may mean that your company’s direct supplier is located overseas or that your organization is purchasing items from a firm who does business with other international firms. Your supply chain manager will need to be able to handle the complexities of planning out various delivery times and methods, such as air or cargo shipping, which may be affected by weather or other delays from international transport. What to look for in an answer:

• Experience working with international firms
• Clear and methodical process for problem-solving
• Foreign language skills are a plus

For most businesses, the holiday season is the time of year when many sales are made in a short amount of time. This also means that your supply chain manager will need to have your firm’s process for item transportation streamlined and tested to ensure that the orders are fulfilled to customers without delays. Look for potential supply chain managers who are able to provide a clear approach to time management and coordination in times when there are a lot of orders. What to look for in an answer:

• Strategies for managing high demand
• Logical reasoning
• Good communication skills

Your supply chain manager should work to ensure that orders from wholesalers are distributed on time and effectively to your business’ warehouses and physical locations. Delays from your organization’s suppliers may occur due to poor management on the other firm’s part or unforeseen circumstances like poor weather. In these cases, your potential hire will need to have a clear, actionable plan to ensure that your customers are satisfied despite the circumstances. What to look for in an answer:

• Experience dealing with past unforeseen complications
• Strong business acumen
• Provides clear plan for remedying situation

Your candidate will need to operate in a complex environment that requires strong communication skills on a daily basis. They will be working to connect suppliers and customer service agents, which will require them to work effectively with large quantities of data. As such, candidates should be comfortable using software that streamlines their workload and increases efficiency. What to look for in an answer:

• Knowledge of management software
• Comfortable working with large amounts of data
• Flexibility in learning new software

Your supply chain manager will be making tough decisions about ordering in quantity and frequency. Their decisions will directly impact your company’s ability to fulfill orders to customers on time, as well as your business’ inventory holding costs. It’s important that your potential hire has the mathematical background and technical knowledge of supply chain models necessary to effectively carry out the job. What to look for in an answer:

• Explains MRP and inventory management
• Identifies what they feel are the most important factors to both
• Clear and concise reasoning

Top candidates will strengthen their argument by touching on these main points in their answer:

• Example of adjusting company procedures to meet demand
• Ability to solve problems
• Knowledge of the economics of scale

Here is one example response: