The Global Supply Chain Management Industry

Have you ever wondered how different products that you use every day – from televisions to your morning cup of coffee – are delivered to you? Where they come from and how the process works?

On this page you will find an overview of the supply chain management industry, how Washington State is positioned regionally and globally within the industry, and about some of the many career opportunities available in supply chain management and logistics.

Download a copy of our informational booklet below, or follow one of the links on the right to additional information and resources including industry data and labor statistics.   

Industry Overview

With the rapid advance of globalization over the last century, now more than ever is our world interconnected; every day, millions of people, ideas, culture, and goods move across international borders, creating more diverse societies and more efficient economies.

As global business competition expands, companies large and small are finding the advantages of sourcing, trading, and selling their products and services across vast distances, both nationally and internationally – a process made possible through effective supply chain management.  

What is supply chain management?

Supply chain management is a cross-functional industry that includes international trade, transportation, and logistics. It comprises all of the activities that take place to get a product in a consumer’s hands – from the time raw materials are extracted to the minute a consumer takes the final product home. Supply chain management links major business functions and processes within and across companies into a cohesive, high-performing business model.

Logistics is the part of a supply chain that plans, implements, and controls the efficient flow and storage of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations.

For individual companies an effective supply chain management system requires careful planning and operations administration, and often involves sophisticated coordination and communication between a diversity of partners. As such, supply chain management professionals can be engaged in every facet of the business process – planning, purchasing, production, storage, distribution, information technology (IT), and customer service.  Many well-known international corporations with headquarters here in the Puget Sound, including Boeing and Starbucks, have large supply chain management departments and teams that contribute to their national and global success.

The Puget Sound – A Regional Leader

No place in the US may be better positioned within this emerging industry than right here Washington State. The Puget Sound region, including the metropolitan areas surrounding Seattle and Tacoma, is home to one of the leading international trade and logistics clusters in the world, and functions as a premier national gateway for products, services, and people.

• World class transportation infrastructure, including intercontinental railroads, highways, trucking corridors, and the nation’s largest ferry system (Source: WA Dept of Transportation)

• Two major seaports, the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Together the ports represent the third largest shipping hub in North America.

• The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is one of the busiest in the nation, according to both cargo and passenger data.

• Greater Seattle is only a nine hour flight from both Tokyo and London. The Puget Sound has a closer proximity to booming Asian ports and economies than any other in North America

• The Greater Seattle area generates 72 percent of all exported goods and services in Washington State.

Washington State is the most trade-dependent state in the country, and some one in three jobs here are directly related to international trade.  Production of both raw material (for example, agriculture products) and finished goods (for example, airplanes) contributes to our robust export economy, fifth largest in the US, which has only grown stronger in tandem with the rise of markets in Asia (Washington State is the second largest exporter to China).  Our geography, vibrant business community, and diverse and skilled workforce strategically positions Washington State to continue to develop and take advantage of this exciting industry.