CSCM case studies
CSCM · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The CSCM - Certified Supply Chain Manager - is a professional credential for practitioners who coordinate the end-to-end flow of materials, information, and money: demand planners, buyers, production planners, inventory and warehouse leads, logistics managers, and the analysts who support them. It signals that a candidate can reason across functional boundaries rather than optimize a single silo, which is why employers in manufacturing, distribution, retail, and third-party logistics use it as a screen for supervisory and manager-track roles. The CSCM case studies are 5 cases and about 4,263 words.
1Consolidating two DCs into one: the freight line the business case forgot
Northbridge Building Products distributes 12,000 SKUs to 640 independent contractors from two leased DCs (Atlanta, 180,000 sq ft; Birmingham, 110,000 sq ft). Next-day delivery is promised on 96% of order lines; actual on-time-in-full is 88% and fill rate from stock is 91%.
579 words, about 3 min2Choosing a forecasting method when MAPE cannot see the problem
Atlas Home Care makes cleaning products; planner Mei forecasts 1,400 SKUs a month. SKU 4471, a refill pack sold through two regional grocery chains, has 26 months of history that looks like 0, 40, 900, 0, 25, 1,800, 0, 0, 60, 640 and so on.
814 words, about 4 min3A uniform weeks-of-supply safety stock rule at a spare parts distributor
Meridian Medical Parts supplies service spares for imaging equipment to 900 hospitals. The inventory policy applies a uniform safety stock of four weeks of average demand to all 12,000 SKUs, and total safety stock is now 6.2M.
924 words, about 5 min4The cheapest rate per kilogram is the most expensive option
Ridgeline Equipment builds pump assemblies in Chicago and ships 25,000 kg per month to a Dallas distribution centre. Each kilogram of finished product carries 60 of value, and finance applies a 22% annual holding cost.
967 words, about 5 min5Single-source PCB under flood risk, with a Scope 3 obligation attached
Calder Electronics assembles control boards in Guadalajara. One custom PCB is 22% of a 41M cost of goods sold ( 9.0M annual spend) and comes from a single supplier whose plant sits on a flood plain outside Kaohsiung; there is no long-term agreement.
979 words, about 5 min