A Day In The Life of a Supply Chain Coordinator

Hey everybody, Mark Pototts here.

Welcome back to my channel. And in

today's video, I'm going to be talking about my day-to-day as a supply chain professional working in the industry for over 10 years now. Someone thought it would be a good idea for me to make a miniseries where I talk about my day-to-day activities in the different

supply chain jobs I've had. It might

give people a better insight on what an actual job is like and some of the things that I actually do. Maybe it'll

help manage expectations or give you some kind of guidance on where you need to focus on. I thought it would be a really good idea, so I'm just going to go ahead and make the series. So,

starting this series off, I'm going to talk about my job experience and my day-to-day activities as a supply chain professional. Keep in mind, I've worked

professional. Keep in mind, I've worked in multiple roles over my 10-year career. I've talked about this a little

career. I've talked about this a little bit on the channel before. If you watch some of my other videos, I've shown different sides of supply chain work and talked about how I started my career at Amazon as an area manager. Before I get

into the job too much, I want to be clear that the supply chain is really unique because you're not stuck doing the same thing day in and day out and year in and year out. I've been an operations manager, a continuous improvement manager, a project manager,

a logistics manager, and most recently moved over to our commercial sales division, managing some of our largest accounts. It's been a ride learning

accounts. It's been a ride learning about all the different aspects of supply chain and becoming what I call a well-rounded supply chain leader. And

before I get into the actual day-to-day, let me just throw this out there. If

you're wondering whether this is a career that you could see yourself doing, I actually partnered with Course Careers to create the supply chain coordinator course to teach you everything I wish I knew when I was getting started. Course careers actually

getting started. Course careers actually has a free AI career counselor called Kora that helps you figure out if you're a good fit for careers like supply chain coordination. After you answer some

coordination. After you answer some questions, you'll get a free introduction course that fits what you want to do, where you will learn what the job is actually like dayto-day, the exact skills you'll need to get hired,

and how people are landing jobs even without a degree, sometimes in as little as 12 weeks. I'll leave the link in the description so you can check that out.

So, let me kind of explain what this career path ended up being for me because I think it's important to understand the big picture before we dive into a typical day. The thing I love about supply chain is that you're not stuck doing the same thing over and

over. Like I've said, I've been in

over. Like I've said, I've been in operations. I've been in continuous

operations. I've been in continuous improvement. I've been a project

improvement. I've been a project manager. I've worked in logistics. And

manager. I've worked in logistics. And

most recently, I jumped over to commercial sales where I'm managing some of our biggest client accounts for a company called CHEP. And at CHEP, we're moving more goods to more companies in

more places than any other company on the planet. And honestly, every single

the planet. And honestly, every single one of these roles taught me something completely different. When I started

completely different. When I started Amazon right after college, they threw me into this massive 1.1 million square foot fulfillment center managing a team of 50 people. It was fast-paced, high

pressure, and intense. I'm talking 70 hours a week of pure operations like inbound, stowing, inventory control, quality assurance, all the steps that make sure customers actually get their

products in full and on time. That

experience opened my eyes to just how huge supply chain really is behind the scenes, and it definitely lit a fire in me for this work. From there, I moved into continuous improvement, then project management, then logistics, and

now into account development. Every time

I switch roles, I got a new perspective and picked up new skills. And what I love about it is that I'm constantly learning new things and pushing myself every single day. So, when I walk you through a typical day, just remember

this is where I am right now, but the principles are the same across supply chain roles. You're always coordinating,

chain roles. You're always coordinating, solving problems, digging into data, and mostly collaborating with people. All

right, so let me walk you through what an actual day looks like for me. I

typically start my day around 8:00 a.m.

The first thing I do is review daily operational goals, shipment schedules, and any outstanding tasks that carried over from the previous day. I'm logging

into our transportation management system and our warehouse management system, which we call the TMS and the WMS to analyze incoming orders, prioritize urgent shipments, and check for any delays or disruptions that got

flagged overnight. And let me tell you,

flagged overnight. And let me tell you, catching issues early is absolutely crucial. I remember one morning I logged

crucial. I remember one morning I logged in and immediately noticed that a major shipment for one of our largest accounts didn't deliver the night before due to truck maintenance. If I hadn't caught

truck maintenance. If I hadn't caught that first thing in the morning and started making calls, it would have disrupted their entire production line for the day. We were able to reroute through a different carrier and get it there just in time before their

production line shut down. So after I've done my systems checks, I usually hop on a quick call or a team's chat with my team members to align on priorities for the day and address any immediate challenges that came up. Collaboration

is huge. Supply chain management is truly a team sport, so we lean on each other a lot. That morning review and planning session usually takes me to about 9:30 a.m., and it sets a tone for

everything else I do that day. From 9:30

a.m. to about 11:30 a.m., I'm usually deep in supplier and carrier coordination mode. This means I'm

coordination mode. This means I'm reaching out to our supplier partners to lock down delivery schedules and make sure supply orders are actually on track. I'm talking with carriers to find

track. I'm talking with carriers to find better routes, fix any issues that popped up during transit, and confirm we're hitting our on-time delivery targets. A lot of this happens in the

targets. A lot of this happens in the TMS. Again, that's a transportation management system where we can adjust schedules or reroute shipments if we need to. And this is where relationships

need to. And this is where relationships really matter. Over the years, I built

really matter. Over the years, I built solid connections with our key carriers.

And when something urgent comes up, I can just pick up the phone and get things moving fast. I remember one time we had three different shipments hit problems on the same morning, just a day in the supply chain. One truck broke

down, one driver called in sick, and one shipment got delayed at a fulfillment center. Total chaos. But because I had

center. Total chaos. But because I had those relationships built up over time, I got backup trucks sent out, rerouted one shipment through a partner carrier, and personally worked with the ops team to prioritize loading. That kind of

real-time problem solving is what makes this job exciting to me. You can't just sit back and watch things happen. You've

got to be proactive and think on your feet. So that midm morning block is

feet. So that midm morning block is usually my heaviest communication time.

Tons of emails, tons of calls, tons of coordination across multiple people and multiple departments to make sure everything's flowing smoothly. Now, I

usually grab a quick lunch around noon and then from about 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. I

shift gears into inventory and warehouse oversight. This is where I dive into the

oversight. This is where I dive into the data. Guys, data analytics is key in

data. Guys, data analytics is key in supply chain. The data tells a story,

supply chain. The data tells a story, and it's extremely important to understand what that story is telling you. So, I'm checking inventory levels

you. So, I'm checking inventory levels to make sure our stock matches what we're forecasting for demand. I'm

working with our warehouse teams to make sure they are hitting their targets and that inbound and outbound shipments are getting processed efficiently. And if

there's any mismatch in stock counts or order fulfillment, this is when I spot it and figure out what went wrong. I

actually love this part of the job because it's like being a detective. One

time I noticed our inventory counts were off at one of our warehouses. Not by a ton, but enough to raise a red flag. I

gave a call to the plant manager and realized that one of the automation lines was down. And when one system goes down, it impacts the rest of the operation. This meant that they would

operation. This meant that they would not be able to generate enough product to ship to our customers. So, while the maintenance team worked to fix the automation machinery, our team shifted the shipments to come from another

warehouse down the road. So, this step is so important. It's not just numbers on a screen. You're understanding the physical flow of goods and making sure everything lines up between what the system says and what's actually

happening on the ground. From 2 p.m. to

about 3:30 p.m., I'm usually dealing with issues and what we call exceptions.

I won't sugarcoat it. This is the part of the day that can get stressful, but it's also where you prove your value.

This is when I'm tackling disruptions like shipment delays, inventory shortages, or customer escalations. I'm

doing root cause analysis for problems that keep happening and brainstorming solutions with teams across different departments. We use real-time tracking

departments. We use real-time tracking and analytics tools to reduce risk and put backup plans into action. And the

key is staying calm under pressure and knowing what to tackle first. I remember

one afternoon where everything seemed to blow up at once. We had an upset customer because we missed a delivery appointment time. We had an inventory

appointment time. We had an inventory shortage that was about to mess up another customer's order. And we had a carrier who completely lost track of one of our shipments. In moments like that, you can't panic. You've got to triage. I

handed off that inventory shortage issue to one of our warehouse managers who I knew could handle it. I personally

called the customer with the delayed shipment to apologize, explain what happened, and give them a realistic timeline with a backup plan. And then I worked with our carrier to hunt down that lost shipment using GPS data and

logistics records. By the end of the

logistics records. By the end of the afternoon, we'd solved all three issues.

The escalated customer appreciated the transparency and keeping them in the loop. The inventory shortage got fixed

loop. The inventory shortage got fixed by pulling stock from another facility and we found that lost shipment. Turns

out the driver just went to the wrong address. It happens, but that's what

address. It happens, but that's what supply chain coordinators are there for, to solve problems and to keep things moving. That's what this time block is

moving. That's what this time block is all about. solving problems in real time

all about. solving problems in real time when you don't have all the info and the stakes are high. The last chunk of my day from about 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. is

all about reporting and continuous improvement. This is when I put together

improvement. This is when I put together daily performance reports and analyze key metrics like on-time delivery rates, freight costs, and inventory turnover.

I'm spotting trends and coming up with process improvements to boost efficiencies or cut costs. And then I usually work with other team leaders to align on improvement initiatives we want to go after in the coming days or weeks.

Truthfully, this is my favorite part of the job because it taps into my passion for continuous improvement. I have

certifications in Lean Six Sigma, project management and agile methodologies, and I get to use those methods every single day to make our operations better. For example, recently

operations better. For example, recently I noticed our assessoral freight costs were increasing on a specific lane.

These are charges we pay carriers that are above and beyond the contracted rate. And in this instance, it was due

rate. And in this instance, it was due to detention. Detention is when a

to detention. Detention is when a carrier is delayed in loading or unloading beyond the contracted rate. So

the team and I dug into it and realized there weren't enough appointments available for the carriers to be unloaded in a timely manner. We worked

with ops, got more appointments added to the schedule and boom, carriers were no longer incurring those detention charges. Those kind of wins add up over

charges. Those kind of wins add up over time and that's what gets me pumped about coming to work every single day.

Knowing that I can find ways to make things better, save money and improve the customer experience. I also spent some time in this block mentoring junior team members or running workshops. Fun

fact about me, I actually founded a nonprofit that supports young professionals mental health and development after graduation. So

mentoring and supporting the next generation is something I'm super passionate about and I try to bring that same energy into my day job. So that's

basically my dayto-day. I know this video wasn't the glamorous day in the life where I'm drinking coffee at some trendy cafe down the road, but hopefully it was useful to see what a supply chain professional actually does. the

coordination, the problem solving, the data analysis, the teamwork, all of it.

And like I mentioned at the beginning, the awesome thing about supply chain is that you're not stuck doing the same thing forever. I've moved through so

thing forever. I've moved through so many different roles over the past 10 years, and each one of them have taught me something new. If you're curious about learning new things and challenging yourself, this is an incredible career path. If after

watching this, you're thinking, "Yeah, I could actually see myself doing this," go and check out that free AI career counselor I mentioned earlier. It takes

about two minutes and it'll tell you honestly if supply chain is a good fit for your personality and goals. Make

sure you check those links in the description. Let me know in the comments

description. Let me know in the comments if you want me to do more deep dives into different supply chain roles or if you think I nerded out too much when I was talking about continuous improvement. I'm always open to the

improvement. I'm always open to the feedback. Thanks so much for watching

feedback. Thanks so much for watching this far. Thank you to everyone who

this far. Thank you to everyone who supports the channel and we'll see you in the next