Study Guide

Objective

You are able to:?
know and appreciate that strategic thinking is important for developing appropriate supply chain strategies that enhance competitive performance?
appreciate the challenges of creating a lean supply chain?
recognise that managing inventories is both a strategic and an operational issue?
explore the link between demand and supply planning?
recognise how lean, adaptive and demand driven supply networks are enabled through IT?

Content

How to recognise different opportunities for time compression in the supply chain and build more agile supply chains?
Why are lean and Six Sigma integral parts of supply chain management?
What are the financial and strategic impacts of managing inventory more effectively?
What are the roles of demand forecasting, demand management and Sales & Operations Planning in the supply chain?
What are the impacts of new technologies and innovation upon supply chain strategies?

Materials

The lecture notes in the course page summarize key information from various sources. Reviewing those and completing assigned tasks must be enough to achieve the learning objectives. Since the course deals with eclectic problems, there is no definite course literature. However, any elementary textbook related to supply chain management generally consists of few chapters on information technology systems.

Teaching methods

At the end of the study unit, the student is able to:

· Identify the information flow and key types of information requirements in the supply chain

· Understand why collaboration and information visibility is required in the supply chain

· Understand the importance of information and information technology in a supply chain.

· Describe and differentiate among contemporary supply chain information technologies.

· Gather, Interpret and apply supply chain information in key business decision making

Exam schedules

The maximum number of points for the course is 100, broken down as follows:

Part I (50% of the final grade)
Student is asked to read the tutorials and complete the related tasks and quizzes sequentially (individually). The quizzes will cover the material covered before the quiz date (inclusive).

Part II (50 % of the final grade)

· Student is requested to conduct an in-depth analysis of contemporary technological solution in modern SCM with peers (max. two students) and write a report & present in class and/or online [50%]

Evaluation scale

1-5

Qualifications

Supply chain management 5 ECTS credits