Materials Coordinator

You don’t have to be Adam Smith to know this: At its core, economics is all about supply and demand.

So is your job, if you’re a Materials Coordinator. Employed in a variety of industries—most commonly in construction, distribution, and manufacturing—you’re paid to “supply” materials for your colleagues when they “demand” them.

Think about a house, for instance. It doesn’t come pre-made; instead, it must be built with raw materials such as wood and stone, and with components like doors, ducts, shingles, and Sheetrock. The same’s true of a computer; ultimately, it’s just plastic and metal.

As a Materials Coordinator, you’re responsible for sourcing, acquiring, distributing, and managing the materials and products that businesses need. These businesses might resell them—as is the case with wholesalers and retailers, which must procure merchandise for their warehouses, stores, and showrooms. Or they might use them, as is the case with construction and manufacturing businesses, which must procure the ingredients required for producing their products and services.

Regardless, you spend your time making sure your company has the right amounts of the right materials at the right times, which requires choosing good vendors, negotiating competitive prices, and creating effective inventory management systems.

If your company lacks the materials it needs, it can’t do its job. If it has too many materials, on the other hand, it risks wasting money and storage space. Because when you’re a Materials Coordinator you pursue the happy medium, that makes you a Gymnast, perpetually walking the balance beam between “have” and “need.”