In RIT's supply chain management degree you'll learn to manage the flow of goods and services through logistics, planning, inventory demands, transportation, and execution behind moving products from farms and production facilities to warehouses and stores. Many companies and organizations are involved in making supplies and products readily available so producers, manufacturers, and consumers, can have them when and where they want them, and at a competitive price. Coordinating and managing all of the organizations and suppliers involved in the activities that move products to the right places and the right times is the goal of supply chain management. More than ever, technology is driving supply chain processes and strategies to help give companies a competitive edge.<br>It's not often a supply chain gets interrupted to the point where consumers cannot find the products they need. But when it does, people notice. And the disruption can cause chaos.<br><br>When the Covid-19 virus created panicked buying at grocery stores around the country, suddenly consumers couldnt find toilet paper, paper towels, canned soup, tuna, rice, or cleaning products. As a result of those empty grocery store shelves, the public came to understand the importance of supply chain management in our every day lives.<br>A supply chain is a complex and interconnected system that begins with business strategists forecasting or predicting consumer demand for goods and ends with products available for consumers to purchase. In between is a complex web of purchasers and negotiators managing raw materials and suppliers, information systems that manage inventory and data, transportation systems that move and distribute materials and goods between warehouses and retail operations, and retail stores stacking shelves and selling products to you, the consumer.<br><br>Supply chain optimization occurs when you manage this intricate, expansive network of suppliers, producers, vendors, warehouses, transportation networks, logistical partners, and retailers. This is the focus of the supply chain manager, the supply chain analyst, and other professionals in the field that deal with the wide range of responsibilities that keep the global supply chain humming along. Gaining the expertise you need to build a career in this dynamic field comes from a degree in supply chain management.