Principles of Supply Chain Management

Through this workshop, you will learn about the elements of supply chain management and what makes supply chains tick.

Getting the right product in the right place, at the right time, at the right cost involves careful management of the order cycle and inventory. You will learn about classic supply chain design as well as some of the choices involved in matching the supply chain to the needs of your organisation – what is involved in lean, green and agile supply chains.

You will look into supply chain dynamics and systems, the balancing of supply and demand and the nature of supply chain risk. As a result of attending, you will be conversant in many of the key ideas and principles that are used in the modern supply chain and be equipped to contribute in an informed way to the way it works in your organisation.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Explain the key elements of supply chain management and some of the choices used in classic supply chain management
• Be able to describe and differentiate between lean, agile and green supply chains and be able to match each to the needs of different organisations and projects
• Explain what Whiplash is and know how to mitigate its effects
• Contribute in an informed way to discussions on supply chain systems, optimisation and improvement
• Understand how sales and operations planning is used to balance supply and demand in organisations
• Identify and manage common sources of supply chain risk
• Apply your knowledge to situations involving supply chain improvement and partnering.

Pre-course Activity

You will be asked to prepare some background information on your organisation’s supply chain (or a part of it):

• Who your suppliers are and what they supply
• How and where you receive goods from your suppliers
• What you do with goods when they are received
• How your customers order from you
• How you get the goods to your suppliers

What will it cover?

Elements of Supply Chain Management

• Components of the supply chain
• Role of information
• Order cycle decisions
• Managing service level, lead time and safety stock

Lean, Green and Agile

• Lean and efficient supply chains
• Agile and responsive supply chains
• Best of lean and agile – decoupling points
• From “lean” to “lean and green”

Supply Chain Dynamics and Optimisation

• Meet Whiplash – and some of the remedies for it
• Balancing demand and supply – Sales and Operation Planning (S&OP)
• Identifying and mitigating supply chain risk

Supply Chain Improvement and Systems

• Supply chain systems and optimisation
• Partnering and improvement in the supply chain network
• Creating a simple improvement plan

Is it right for me?

This workshop is for people who are new to a supply chain role or are working closely with supply chain specialists.

This is a more extended version of the one-day Introduction to Supply Chain Management and is intended for those wanting a more in-depth understanding of current thinking in this area.