What exactly is Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain Management??

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Hello everyone, thanks in advance for your help,</p>

<p>At the moment I am a sophomore majoring in Accounting and International Relations, intending on qualifying as a CPA. That being said, I am studying accounting because it is the most skills-based field of business at my school, though I intend only on practicing as a starting job or only when necessary if I haven't found another area I am more interested in. </p>

<p>One such field I am interested in and heard much about is this whole Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain Management rave, and how it's in demand and there's several MBA programs for it, etc.</p>

<p>I've done several Google searches and looked into and all, but I still am not sure what the difference between the three are, and what would someone in such a field do on a day-to-day basis?</p>

<p>Transportation seems most interesting to me. I have enjoyed cost accounting most in terms of accounting, and could foresee myself doing things such as planning cost-efficient transportation routes, scheduling, and general planning for a transportation company such as an airline (essentially something like transportation planning, but for a company).</p>

<p>Is this basically what T/L/SC is? What distinguishes the three terms from each other?</p>

<p>And finally, what is the best route to acquiring such a job? Going for a graduate degree seems costly and the field as a whole seems less skilled-based than accounting and therefore would probably require good networking. Would it be safer to first work in accounting at a transportation-type company, and then looking for an opportunity to switch into T/L/SC?</p>

<p>Any other help you have with this (constructive criticism is welcomed) is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks,
James</p>

2

<p>Transportion is simply the movement of people or goods from one place to another. Logistics is the managment of transportstion as well as the storage process to make the process as efficient as possible. According to my understanding, Supply Chain Mangment (SCM) is a broad field of study or an “umbrella” which encompasses logisitcs. SCM relates to overseeing the production and delivery of a product from every step, from raw materials to the end products delivery. Therefore, logistics is much more specialized than SCM. </p>

<p>There are few schools which offer majors in logisitcs, SCM is more commonly offered. If you are really interested in SCM and want to work in the field, transfering to a school that offers this program can be valuable. At schools such as Rutgers and ASU, SCM students are highly sought after. If transfering isn’t in the cards for you, I suggest you intern in something related to SCM. Most people in SCM did not get a degree in it, rather they come from other areas of expertise. Therefore, you don’t need a degree in SCM, but it could be helpful.</p>

<p>Lastly, because you are studying Internatinal relations , I think you would be excited with the oppurtunities that SCM provides. Because of globalization, SCM is a highly international field with oppurtunities to manage assets and goods on a global scale.</p>