COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Concepts of Supply Chain Management course. This program will equip you with a comprehensive understanding of how supply chains function, how they create value, and why effective supply chain management is essential for organisational performance in today’s global, fast-moving commercial environment. You will explore the evolution of supply chain management, the strategic and operational components that underpin supply chain effectiveness, and the key decisions that organisations must make to meet customer expectations while minimising cost, risk, and inefficiency. This course also helps you recognise how supply chain design and decision-making align directly with business strategy and long-term organisational competitiveness.

This course begins by examining the benefits and importance of supply chain management, highlighting how coordinated supply chain activities reduce cost, increase responsiveness, strengthen customer satisfaction, and enhance overall business performance. You will explore the significant evolution of supply chain management from traditional, linear structures into dynamic, integrated networks. This section also explains what a supply chain is, what supply chain management is, and how the supply chain works by converting materials into products and delivering them efficiently to end users.

The next area introduces the five major supply chain drivers and explains how they shape supply chain performance and strategic capability. You will explore production within the supply chain, including the two fundamental approaches to manufacturing, and the considerations involved in designing production systems that balance flexibility, efficiency, and cost. This section also examines warehousing and the three main approaches used to manage warehouse operations, highlighting how these approaches influence inventory movement, storage efficiency, and service levels.

A further section focuses on the role of inventory in the supply chain, including the three basic decisions organisations must make regarding inventory creation and holding. You will then explore location as a key supply chain driver, examining how the placement of facilities, distribution centres, and operations affects responsiveness, cost structure, and customer access. This section also covers transportation in the supply chain, including the six basic modes of transport available to companies and how each mode influences speed, cost, capacity, and environmental impact.

The program then examines information as a core supply chain driver. You will explore the purposes of information in any supply chain, including coordination, visibility, forecasting accuracy, and decision-making. This section also highlights the evolving structure of supply chains and explains the difference between traditional, linear supply chains and the modern, interconnected, digitally enabled models used today.

The next learning area introduces the various participants in the supply chain and the roles they play. You will explore who the producers are in the supply chain, who the distributors are, who the retailers are, who the customers are, and who the service providers are. This section helps you understand how each participant contributes to overall value creation, how they interact within the network, and how effective partnership and coordination support seamless supply chain flows.

The program then moves to supply chain strategy, examining the key steps used to align the supply chain with business strategy. You will explore how to understand the markets your company serves and how market characteristics influence supply chain design. This section also examines the attributes that clarify customer requirements and how these attributes shape service expectations, delivery models, and inventory strategies.

The final learning area focuses on organisational capability. You will explore how to define the core competencies of your company and how these competencies determine which supply chain activities should be performed internally and which may be outsourced or partnered. This section also explains how to develop the supply chain capabilities needed to support strategic goals, strengthen competitive advantage, and ensure long-term organisational success.

By the end of this course you will be able to understand the structure and function of modern supply chains, analyse the key drivers that influence supply chain performance, identify the roles of major participants, align supply chain design with organisational strategy, and develop capabilities that support efficient, resilient, and customer-focused supply chain operations.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

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

·       The benefits of supply chain management

·       The importance of supply chain management

·       The significant evolution of supply chain management

·       What supply chain is?

·       What supply chain management is?

·       How the supply chain works?

·       The five major supply chain drivers

·       Production in supply chain

·       The two approaches to manufacturing

·       The three main approaches to use in warehousing

·       Inventory in supply chain

·       The three basic decisions to make regarding the creation and holding of inventory

·       Location in supply chain

·       Transportation in supply chain

·       The six basic modes of transport that a company can choose from

·       Information in supply chain

·       The purposes of information in any supply chain

·       The evolving structure of supply chains

·       The difference between the old supply chain and the new one

·       The participants in the supply chain

·       Who are the producers in the supply chain?

·       Who are the distributors in the supply chain?

·       Who are the retailers in the supply chain?

·       Who are the customers in the supply chain?

·       Who are the service providers in the supply chain?

·       The steps used to align the supply chain with business strategy

·       How to understand the markets your company serves?

·       The attributes that will help clarify the requirements for the customers you serve

·       How to define the core competencies of your company?

·       How to develop needed supply chain capabilities?

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.