Supply Chain Management Fundamentals Training Course

Course overview

Supply chain performance is often constrained by decisions made in isolation: procurement awards a low-price supplier without considering lead-time variability, inventory is set using last year's demand, and logistics capacity is booked too late to protect customer service. Professionals need a shared operating view of how demand, sourcing, production, inventory, warehousing, transport and supplier performance interact. This course gives participants the practical foundation to identify these trade-offs, use common supply chain measures and contribute credibly to improvement discussions across functions.

Participants work through the end-to-end supply chain using the SCOR Digital Standard framework, from plan and source through make, deliver, return and enable. They learn to map material and information flows, calculate demand forecasts, set safety-stock and reorder-point parameters, assess supplier capability, compare transport options and interpret core KPIs such as OTIF, inventory turns, fill rate and perfect-order performance. The programme also covers total landed cost, Incoterms 2020, supply risk, supplier segmentation and basic Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) decision-making.

Delivery combines instructor-led explanation with spreadsheet-based calculations, operational case studies and facilitated team workshops. Participants use Microsoft Excel templates to analyse demand, inventory and supplier data, then apply findings to a simulated supply chain with service, cost and risk constraints. They leave with a completed supply chain diagnostic pack: a process map, KPI scorecard, inventory calculation worksheet, supplier risk assessment and 90-day improvement action plan that can be adapted for their own operation.

The course is suited to professionals who already work with purchasing, planning, inventory, operations or logistics data and need a structured understanding of the full supply chain. It is equally useful for managers seeking staff who can connect operational measures to commercial and customer-service outcomes.

Course objectives

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

• Map an end-to-end supply chain using SCOR Digital Standard process categories and material-information flow diagrams
• Calculate demand forecasts using moving averages, forecast error and forecast accuracy measures
• Set safety-stock, reorder-point and economic order quantity parameters from demand, lead-time and service-level data
• Evaluate suppliers using weighted scorecards, total cost of ownership and supply-risk criteria
• Interpret OTIF, fill rate, inventory turns, perfect-order and cash-to-cash cycle-time KPIs
• Compare transport and sourcing options using total landed cost and Incoterms 2020 responsibilities
• Prepare a basic S&OP decision pack that reconciles demand, supply capacity, inventory and financial implications
• Produce a 90-day supply chain improvement plan with prioritised actions, owners, measures and review dates

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Supply Chain Coordinators — who need to connect planning, sourcing, inventory and delivery activities across functions
• Procurement Officers — who evaluate supplier bids and must consider cost, lead time, quality and continuity of supply
• Demand Planners — who translate forecasts into inventory and replenishment decisions
• Inventory Controllers — who need to improve stock availability while reducing excess and obsolete inventory
• Logistics and Warehouse Supervisors — who manage order fulfilment, transport handovers and service-performance measures
• Operations Managers — who need a common framework for balancing capacity, customer demand, working capital and supply risk

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least six months of exposure to a purchasing, planning, inventory, warehouse, logistics or operations environment, or equivalent responsibility for operational data. They should be comfortable reading simple tables, percentages and basic Excel formulas such as SUM, AVERAGE and IF. Familiarity with purchase orders, lead times, stock records, supplier delivery performance or customer orders is helpful. No prior supply chain qualification, ERP system configuration knowledge, advanced statistics or specialist optimisation software is required. Complete beginners can attend, but should expect to spend additional time becoming familiar with common supply chain terminology.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short, focused teaching segments to introduce each supply chain concept, followed by worked examples using realistic order, forecast, inventory and supplier data. Participants build calculations in Microsoft Excel, map a supply chain using SCOR Digital Standard categories and debate sourcing and service trade-offs in small groups. A running case study links procurement, planning, warehouse and transport decisions across the five days. On the final day, each participant converts case findings into a workplace-focused 90-day action plan and receives instructor feedback on priorities, measures and assumptions.

Course outline

Day 1: Supply chain structure and performance

• End-to-end supply chain flows: material, information and cash
• SCOR Digital Standard process categories and performance attributes
• Customer service, cost, working capital and risk trade-offs
• Supply chain network nodes, lead times and handoff points
• Push, pull and hybrid replenishment models
• Core supply chain KPI definitions and calculation logic
• Process mapping symbols and swimlane mapping technique

Workshop: Participants map the current-state supply chain for a simulated manufacturer and identify three performance constraints at functional handoffs.

Day 2: Demand, inventory and replenishment

• Demand patterns, seasonality and demand variability
• Moving-average forecasting and forecast-error calculation
• Forecast accuracy measures: MAD, MAPE and bias
• Inventory classifications: cycle stock, safety stock and pipeline stock
• Service levels, lead-time variability and safety-stock calculation
• Reorder points, minimum-maximum levels and review periods
• Economic order quantity and inventory carrying-cost assumptions

Workshop: Participants use an Excel demand history to create a forecast, calculate safety stock and propose reorder parameters for three stock items.

Day 3: Procurement and supplier management

• Procurement's role in supply continuity and total cost
• Supplier segmentation using spend, criticality and risk
• Weighted supplier scorecards for cost, quality, delivery and capability
• Total cost of ownership and should-cost components
• Supplier lead-time, MOQ and capacity constraints
• Supply risk identification and mitigation planning
• Purchase order lifecycle and supplier performance review cadence

Workshop: Teams assess competing supplier proposals using a weighted scorecard and produce a justified sourcing recommendation with risk controls.

Day 4: Logistics, landed cost and integrated planning

• Transport mode selection by cost, speed, reliability and capacity
• Warehouse flow, order fulfilment and pick-pack-ship measures
• Incoterms 2020 responsibilities, risk transfer and cost allocation
• Total landed cost calculation for imported and domestic supply
• OTIF, fill rate, perfect order and cash-to-cash metrics
• Sales and Operations Planning inputs, decisions and escalation rules
• ERP transaction data and master-data dependencies in SAP S/4HANA

Workshop: Participants compare two distribution and sourcing scenarios, calculate landed cost and recommend an option based on service, risk and cash impact.

Day 5: Supply chain improvement and application

• Diagnosing root causes with Pareto charts and five-whys analysis
• KPI scorecard design and target-setting principles
• Inventory, supplier and logistics improvement opportunity prioritisation
• Cost-service-risk trade-off evaluation matrix
• Cross-functional action ownership and governance routines
• 90-day improvement planning and milestone definition
• Communicating supply chain recommendations to management

Workshop: Participants complete and present a supply chain diagnostic pack and 90-day action plan for their simulated operation, receiving peer and instructor feedback.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, SAP S/4HANA, SCOR Digital Standard, Incoterms 2020

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