Supply Chain Leadership for Supply Chain Managers Training Course

Course overview

Supply chain managers are expected to protect service levels, inventory availability, margin and supplier continuity while responding to volatile demand, capacity constraints, freight disruption and competing commercial priorities. The challenge is not simply understanding planning or procurement data; it is leading cross-functional decisions when sales, operations, finance and suppliers have different targets. This course equips managers to turn operational signals into clear priorities, risk responses and accountable action plans.

Participants examine how to lead an end-to-end supply chain using SCOR DS performance concepts, S&OP and integrated business planning routines, supplier segmentation, inventory policy and logistics performance measures. They practise building balanced KPI scorecards, diagnosing root causes behind service and cost variance, structuring supplier performance reviews, escalating supply risks and presenting trade-off decisions to senior stakeholders. The programme also develops practical methods for influencing functions outside the supply chain team without relying solely on formal authority.

Teaching combines instructor-led frameworks with realistic supply chain cases, data-based workshops and facilitated decision simulations. Participants use Excel and Power BI-style dashboard outputs to interpret demand, inventory, supplier and transport performance, then apply the findings to a leadership scenario. Each participant leaves with a Supply Chain Leadership Action Plan containing a stakeholder map, KPI priorities, risk register, escalation approach and 90-day improvement roadmap suitable for adaptation in their own operation.

The course is designed for managers responsible for procurement, planning, warehousing, logistics, supplier management or supply chain improvement who already understand their operational area and need to lead across the wider value chain.

Course objectives

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

• Build a supply chain KPI scorecard linking service, cost, cash, quality and risk measures to business priorities
• Facilitate S&OP and integrated business planning decisions using demand, capacity, inventory and financial trade-offs
• Segment suppliers using spend, criticality and supply-risk criteria to set differentiated relationship strategies
• Analyse inventory and service-level variance using Excel-based demand, stock and fulfilment data
• Create a supply chain risk register with likelihood, impact, controls, owners and escalation triggers
• Lead structured supplier performance reviews using corrective-action plans and agreed service measures
• Apply stakeholder mapping and influence strategies to resolve cross-functional supply chain conflicts
• Produce a 90-day supply chain leadership action plan with milestones, owners and measurable outcomes

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Supply Chain Managers — who coordinate planning, sourcing, logistics and service performance across functions
• Procurement Managers — who need to align supplier strategy and contract performance with operational continuity
• Demand Planning Managers — who must convert forecast uncertainty into credible inventory and capacity decisions
• Logistics and Distribution Managers — who balance transport cost, delivery performance and disruption response
• Operations Managers — who depend on reliable material flow and need stronger cross-functional planning routines
• Supply Chain Improvement Managers — who lead performance initiatives and need an executive-ready change roadmap

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least two years of experience in a supply chain, procurement, planning, logistics, warehouse or operations role, ideally with responsibility for people, suppliers, budgets or cross-functional projects. The course assumes familiarity with basic supply chain terms such as demand forecast, lead time, safety stock, purchase order, service level, inventory turnover and supplier performance. Participants should be comfortable reading tables and charts in Excel. Prior use of SAP IBP, Power BI or formal S&OP processes is helpful but not required; no programming, advanced statistics or prior leadership qualification is needed.

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor-led briefings to introduce leadership frameworks, followed by spreadsheet-based analysis, supply chain decision cases and facilitated peer review. Participants work with demand, inventory, supplier and logistics data to identify performance gaps and defend trade-off recommendations. Group simulations recreate S&OP meetings, supplier escalations and service-recovery decisions, requiring participants to balance conflicting stakeholder objectives. Daily reflection links methods to participants’ own operating context, and the final workshop turns their learning into a prioritised 90-day Supply Chain Leadership Action Plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Leading the end-to-end supply chain

• End-to-end value stream responsibilities from supplier to customer
• SCOR DS performance attributes and process categories
• Service, cost, cash, quality and resilience trade-offs
• Supply chain leadership operating model and decision rights
• KPI hierarchy from executive measures to operational drivers
• Stakeholder mapping across sales, finance, operations and suppliers
• RACI matrices for supply chain decisions and escalations

Workshop: Participants map a supply chain leadership challenge and produce a stakeholder map, decision-rights matrix and initial KPI hierarchy.

Day 2: Planning, inventory and business trade-offs

• Demand forecast bias, accuracy and forecast-value-add measures
• S&OP and integrated business planning meeting cadence
• Capacity, inventory and customer-service scenario planning
• ABC-XYZ inventory segmentation and policy selection
• Safety stock, reorder point and replenishment parameter review
• Working-capital implications of inventory decisions
• Exception-based planning and management escalation thresholds

Workshop: Using a demand and inventory dataset, participants build a scenario recommendation for an S&OP meeting and defend its service, cost and cash implications.

Day 3: Supplier strategy and supply risk leadership

• Supplier segmentation by spend, criticality and supply risk
• Kraljic portfolio analysis for sourcing strategies
• Supplier scorecards covering quality, delivery, cost and responsiveness
• Should-cost and total-cost-of-ownership decision inputs
• Supply risk registers and heat-map prioritisation
• Business continuity planning and dual-source evaluation
• Corrective-action requests and supplier escalation governance

Workshop: Participants assess a disrupted supplier portfolio and produce a segmentation matrix, risk register and supplier recovery escalation plan.

Day 4: Performance management and operational control

• Leading and lagging supply chain performance indicators
• OTIF, fill rate, perfect order and backlog measurement
• Inventory turns, days of supply and obsolete-stock analysis
• Transport cost-to-serve and carrier performance measures
• Root-cause analysis using Pareto charts and five whys
• Power BI dashboard design principles for management review
• Daily, weekly and monthly performance-review routines

Workshop: Participants diagnose a service and cost deterioration case, create a management dashboard specification and present a root-cause action plan.

Day 5: Influence, governance and execution

• Influencing without authority in cross-functional supply chain teams
• Framing trade-off recommendations for finance and executive audiences
• Constructive challenge techniques for sales and operations conflicts
• Supply disruption communications and stakeholder update protocols
• Change impact assessment for new supply chain processes
• 90-day improvement roadmap design and milestone planning
• Benefits tracking, action ownership and governance reviews

Workshop: Participants complete and peer-review a 90-day Supply Chain Leadership Action Plan with named stakeholders, measures, risks, milestones and governance cadence.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, SAP Integrated Business Planning, ASCM SCOR DS

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions