Supply chain technicians use a blend of mechanical, electrical, and information technology skills to keep massive, automated warehouse systems running.

E-commerce is generating numerous, lucrative career opportunities for supply chain technicians.

Based on its survey of 625 employers with warehouses and distribution centers, the National Center for Supply Chain Technology Education (SCTE) estimates that 61,000 more supply chain technicians will be needed in 2015 than were employed in 2013.

Supply chain technicians install, operate, support, upgrade, and maintain the software, hardware, automated equipment and systems that support the supply chain. Their average salaries are $48,000 per year, according to SCTE's industry advisory committee. (See info below on the salary ranges for technicians with specialized skills.)

SCTE Explains What Supply Chain Technicians Do

Fast-paced videos and clever animations on SCTE's website explain the advanced-skill work that is practically invisible to consumers who have quickly become accustomed to choosing from one of 199 different types of toothpaste online from Target or finding the right size jeans for their long-legged relatives on Zappos. New technologies have also made it possible for large retailers to change how they buy products. They now order goods in 10-item packets rather than cases or pallets.

The technicians that SCTE is helping community colleges educate with its model curriculum keep the huge electromechanical systems that retrieve items in million-square-foot warehouses operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They do jobs that require a broad set of advanced technology skills.

"Anything mechanical controlled by electronics is a robot. It has logic behind it. It is controlled by software," George Walters, SCTE project director, explained in an interview. "This automation needs people to install and maintain it," Walters said.

Norco College hosts SCTE, a national NSF Advanced Technological Education Center. It is a few miles from the Port of Long Beach where $150 billion in goods arrive each year, and close to the enormous inland warehouses that are the first US stop for the many products from Asia and South America.

Walters emphasizes that employers want supply chain technicians who are adept with handling mechanical and pneumatic systems, as traditional maintenance technicians are. Supply chain technicians must also understand logistics and information technology. Higher wages are the reward for being able to fix mechanical components and modify software while keeping an entire warehouse running smoothly.

Projected Technician Openings and Salaries

Here is SCTE's data on anticipated openings and salaries for supply chain technicians by area of specialization.

Industrial Machinery Mechanics

• Yearly Projected Openings: 11,710
• Typical Hourly Wage: $17.95 - $27.68
• Typical Annual Salary: $37,300 - $57,600

Electronic & Electrical Technician

• Yearly Projected Openings: 1,770
• Typical Hourly Wage: $20.06 - $29.90
• Typical Annual Salary: $41,700 - $62,200

Electro-Mechanical Technicians

• Yearly Projected Openings: 320
• Typical Hourly Wage: $19.74 - $30.40
• Typical Annual Salary: $41,000 - $63,200

In addition to the large industry survey that produced this data, the center has developed a model curriculum to prepare supply chain technicians.

SCTE's is now focusing on encouraging community colleges in the 10 states where its survey found that supply chain businesses are concentrated to ramp up supply chain technician programs. These states are California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia.

So far 15 institutions nationwide have joined the national center as collaborators, adopting the model curriculum and exposing students to the SCT career awareness lesson plan the center developed. Each month, more instructors are learning about the high industry need for a trained supply chain technician workforce and are joining the center’s national network of educators.

People interested in supply chain technician careers should visit www.supplychainteched.org and explore the many videos and white papers available. Educational institutions interested in incorporating supply chain technology education in their existing programs should contact Elaine Gaertner at elaine@supplychainteched.org.

Many military veterans already have supply chain related technology skills. The center’s website also has a specific page for veterans listing the military specialties that can easily transition them into the civilian workforce.