Supply Chain Management

We offer in-house training only – we do not run public courses

Most world class companies in the modern FMCG environment are well versed in the opportunities to improve productivity, profitability, and service levels by actively managing the supply chain. The advent of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems has made the ‘management’ of the supply chain process easier, but it is only one aspect of an efficient supply chain.  ERP provides a platform for managing an integrated supply chain, but does nothing to address inefficiencies in the operations of the chain itself.  ERP has not removed the need for a process of continual review and improvement of all the operational processes in each and every element of the supply chain.  Ever-changing consumer demand provides the catalyst for this activity, and presents an opportunity for ‘fine tuning’ the integration between the elements in the supply chain. The benefits are bottom line savings in time, inventory, packaging and transport, not to mention the improvement of competitive advantage which arises from higher service levels.

This introductory course will provide and overview of an integrated supply chain along with an overview of the process analysis, design and modelling skills that are essential for both the improvement of individual elements of the process and integration of the supply chain as a whole.

It will cover the identification and removal of redundant operations, bottlenecks (elements in the process that are over capacity) and improvements to the flow rate.

As well as looking to improve ‘efficiency’, we will also consider ‘supply chain effectiveness’.  This challenges whether the existing process is still appropriate for the organization’s present needs and future development, and may call for complete removal or renewal of entire processes.  It demands a process-orientation rather than functional approach, and necessitates the co-operation of all the participants in the supply chain.  It can often drive major organisational change.  It is inherently more risky, yet is still popular because of the ‘dramatic’ potential improvements that can transform supply chain efficiency from mediocre to world-class in very short timescales. Accordingly it must be undertaken under a robust and well-managed framework

We will also consider current thinking that ‘radical’ process re-design involves ‘importing’ models from other business sectors (Cross-sector Benchmarking).

The course will be ‘highly practical’ in nature.  It will present current thinking and trends and use ‘case exercises’ to illustrate the learning.