I got my supply chain management degree in 2018. Based on my own experience that it is not hard to get a degree in supply chain management.
I had a part-time job while obtaining this degree. Some of the classes are pretty easy. I would say it is a medium-level difficulty to get this degree.
How difficult is a supply chain management major?
Supply chain management majors are not difficult. The majority of classes are easy to medium level, with only a few classes that you need to spend quite a time studying. All in all, a supply chain management major is not difficult.
Supply chain management major belongs to the business school at my university, so I still need to take international business, economics, and sales classes. These classes are super easy, just like my professor said that you need to try really hard to fail this kind of class.
You will take general classes while you are a freshman and sophomore. You will take most of your SCM ( supply chain management), major classes, in your junior and senior years.
Below are several classes I recommend you spend some time learning. The concept and the calculations you learn will lay a solid foundation for you in your SCM major.
1, Supply Chain Management Fundamentals
- Service Levels and Stockouts
- Restocking levels,
- EOQ, Safety Stock
Once you learned this class you will understand why retail stores always put milk, eggs, and these necessities at the very end of the store. Stores want to keep you staying longer at the store so you can buy more stuff, that’s why you have to cross the entire store to get milk or eggs.
Another thing you will learn from this class is the stock level. It is very expensive to keep a high stock level of each item.
Most retailers probably keep 10% of items such as milk, and eggs, at a 99% stock level. 30% items at 75% stock level. Items that are not so popular might keep at a 20% stock level.
Even a 99% stock level still means there is a 1% chance that this item is out of stock.
Also Read:
Is Supply chain STEM? (Explained)
7 Types of Supply Chain Risks and How You Can Mitigate Them
What Kind Of Supply Chain Is Best For New Products?
2, BUSINESS MODELING
I enjoyed this class very much. I never know how many things you can do in excel. Besides the pivot table, there are many useful models you can build inside excel.
3, Process and Quality Management
This class is mainly focused on lean, 6 sigmas, process improvement, etc. If you are interested in process improvement or want to choose a career in process optimization or safety management, you should pay attention to this class.
4, Statistics
I would say statistics is the most difficult class you are going to meet in an SCM major. Statistics is not an easy class. 40% of students failed in this class. You have to spend time studying to be able to pass. Strangely, I never used any of this knowledge in my daily work.
What type of math is required to study supply chain management?
Most people worry about math in supply chain management, but I can tell you that you will only use the basic math in this major
The only difficult math class is statistics. I would say this is the only challenging math class you are ever going to take in this major. once you pass this class, no more difficult math classes.
The most complex math you will use is square root or power to 2 when you study forecast, and inventory control classes.
You do not need to be good at math to study supply chain management. Excel can handle the majority of calculations at work.
The major problem I faced in my early career is an exchange of metrics. Many countries use CM, and CBM instead of CUFT, Feet, and Miles, so you need to pay attention to this before plugging in these numbers to calculate freight price.
Is supply chain management a tough subject for an introvert?
I am a typical introvert. I do not like social at all, but I have no problem studying this major. I got mostly A’s for my major classes.
My perspective is that whether you are an introvert or extrovert, the study is a study. Different personalities may have different approaches to studying the class, but they still, need to spend time studying.
In terms of study, I always remember Einstein’s quote “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
Is supply chain management a better degree than other majors?
I would say supply chain management is a better degree if we are talking about jobs after graduation.
Supply chain management is a broad category. You will learn many things in these 4 years such as supplier evaluation, procurement, inventory control, logistics, and process improvement, so you will have a wide choice of careers after you graduate.
Whether it is a manufacturer or consulting firm, they have a supply chain system. A supply chain management degree also enables you to work for broad industries.
However, an engineering degree is better than an SCM degree, if we are talking about salary.
I would suggest you obtain an engineer’s degree; it is worth more value in the long run. Such as an industrial engineer degree.
Industry engineers’ courses are pretty similar to SCM majors. Maybe a little more difficult but not much.
Resources
https://www.bauer.uh.edu/undergraduate/supply-chain-management/
