Eight Certification Tracks
Supply Chain Management Principles
Fundamentally, what is a supply chain and its different functions?
This track defines the concepts of the supply chain and all of its components, from raw materials to retail products ready for purchase. The principles learned in this track provide the necessary foundation for fully comprehending the following educational tracks. Supply Chain Management Principles is a launch pad from which to rocket your learning experience into assured success in the remaining tracks and is recommended as a prerequisite.
Warehousing Operations
This track is intended to educate on the basics of warehousing so professionals can quickly acclimate themselves and be effective contributors in warehouse and distribution operations. Some careers associated with Warehousing Operations include Warehouse Manager, Shipping/Receiving Supervisor or Clerk, Order Picker / Packer, Materials Handler, Safety and Compliance Specialist.
Key elements of the track include the role of warehousing in the supply chain, facility configuration, storage and handling techniques, performance metrics, customer service considerations, and safety concerns across various types of distribution facilities.
Transportation Operations
How do retail stores replenish the inventory on their shelves overnight?
How do bananas from Costa Rica make it to 150 countries around the world before they spoil?
How does a human heart make it to an emergency operating room in Egypt from a facility in France in four hours?
This track explains the different types of transportation modes (air, water, rail, pipeline) used throughout the supply and reasons for selecting certain modes. The track addresses cost drivers (dimensions, weight, speed, etc.), delivery requirements and other special requirements (refrigerated or hazardous materials) as inputs to key transportation decisions. Careers in Transportation Operations include Logistics Engineer, Routing Specialist, Transportation Manager/Supervisor, Logistician, Transportation Safety Specialist, Customs Compliance Specialist, and Freight Forwarder Associate.
Customer Services Operations
What does it take to retain customers and "wow" them to the point that they choose your company for a product or service every single time?
What can you do transform an irate customer into loyal customer for life?
This track discusses internal and external customers and how to deliver superior value to both. Upon completion of this track, participants will be capable of describing the management of customer relationships including the importance of communication, perceptions, understanding the product & service and knowing quality as it pertains to customer service. Associated careers are Customer Service Manager, Call Center Supervisor, Customer Support Agent, Service Recovery Specialist, Service Quality Assurance Manager, and Complaint Specialist.
Demand Planning
Demand planning consists of two parts: forecasting and demand planning. Forecasting focuses on what is needed to have ready for customers. Demand planning focuses on what is needed in order to meet inventory levels from forecasting.
Demand planning is the process of planning materials from inbound to manufacturing, which is critical in today's environment of lean inventory and just-in-time manufacturing. The process starts with the general requirements of the sales department for finished, or semi-finished, products and the translation of those requirements into the just-right orders for raw materials. This function also includes the processes needed to address corrective actions when demand is out of balance with supplies and strategies for recovery.
Manufacturing & Service Operations
Operations departments are the core of delivery by controlling the conversion of materials into products and services. In order to meet the needs of manufacturing as well as service delivery, there needs to be an accurate forecast of demand. In turn, this forecast is converted into demand for raw materials, equipment, space, and other resources.
The systems that assist in this include the following: forecasting, requirements planning, work order scheduling, and other systems that may be stand-alone or modules of a robust ERP system. Products cannot be manufactured and services cannot be delivered, unless the tools are available.
This means that demand planning must accurately determine when and what is needed. If procurement does not purchase the materials or if transportation does not deliver them when needed, then the conversion, or manufacturing, process will fail. It is also critical that conversions are done with high quality to avoid customer service issues and costly defects. When and how jobs are scheduled helps to control efficiency and expense. A major focus of operations is to ensure lean process once the raw materials or semi-finished inputs arrive for production.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is seeing, controlling, and managing inventory levels to maximize efficiency profitability. It controls how efficiently resources are consumed in producing products and services for customers, and interacts with warehousing, transportation, demand planning, and other areas.
Since the late 1980s, companies operating domestically and globally have reduced their levels of inventory carrying cost; these are ongoing trends that make the management of inventory important in the supply chain function. Today, technology is used to a greater extent to meet customers' needs with high levels of service and lowered costs.
Supply Management & Procurement
Supply management and procurement is an area that has grown in importance over the last fifty years. Today, this department is global sourcing (i.e., finding materials from around the world in a timely and cost-efficient manner). It must take into account many risks based on climate, political, and social risks. It must protect the reputation of corporations by ensuring ethical and socially responsible actions by suppliers and requires economic and financial understanding to monitor the fluctuations in availability, pricing, and currency fluctuations.
Procurement is also a controlling element of the company. It makes sure that products are accurately described to ensure the purchase of the right products and works with other areas to determine specifications and quality. Procurement balances the lowest purchase costs with all other impacts on a company, including time to receive the product, and has become a global function with suppliers located close to production facilities or on the other side of the globe.
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