Understanding how the supply of goods, resources and services within a business can enhance your end product, increase productivity and profitability. This course can help enhance your knowledge of logistics and supply chain management.

When your business logistics and supply chanin is managed effectively, your business operations and production will flow more smoothly. This is an essential business skill set for anyone in who manages or runs a business.

Lesson 1: Nature and Scope of Logistics Management

• Introduction to logistics
• Inbound logistics
• Outbound logistics
• Logistics or supply chain management
• Goals and objectives of logistics
• Increased efficiency
• Responding efficiency
• Reducing unexpected events
• Keeping inventory to a minimum
• Just-in-time inventory management
• Transport cost reduction
• Improving quality
• Supply chain channels
• Direct & indirect channels
• Types of distribution channel
• Choosing the best distribution channel?
• Nature of the product
• Value of product
• Target market
• Legal requirements
• Competitor activities
• How e-commerce has altered supply chain management, logistics & business
• Changes globally

Lesson 2: Logistics – Strategies and Operations

• Logistics
• Strategies and operations
• Decisions within logistics
• Customer service
• Logistics network design
• Vertical integration vs outsourcing
• Vertical integration
• Outsourcing
• Developing a logistics strategy
• Components of logistics strategy
• Designing a logistics strategy
• Implementing logistic strategies in strategic planning
• Developing a strategic plan
• Identifying a key strategic focus
• Using kaizen as a business strategy

Lesson 3: Procurement

• The procurement cycle
• A focus on tendering
• Procurement – raw materials
• Forecasting
• Monitoring supplier performance
• What needs to be monitored?
• Evaluate supplier performance
• Challenges around procurement
• Risk mitigation
• Reputation
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Sustainability
• What is a green strategy?
• What do companies need to consider?

Lesson 4: Warehousing and Storage

• What is a warehouse?
• The purpose of a warehouse
• Activities required in warehouses
• Advantages of warehousing
• Types of warehouses
• Private
• Public warehouses
• Bonded storage
• Co-operative warehouses
• Distribution warehouse
• A focus on drop shipping & warehousing
• Warehousing management systems
• How does a WMS work?
• Case study: amazon
• Technology affecting warehousing
• Big data
• Robotics and autonomous machines
• Blockchain, tech networks and the cloud
• Customer service in warehousing
• Warehouse regulation

Lesson 5: Materials

• Introduction to materials in logistics
• Types of materials
• Material handling
• Designing a material handling system
• Material handling equipment
• Bulk material handling
• Engineered systems
• Industrial trucks
• Storage and handling equipment
• Packaging
• Containers
• Pallets
• Materials used for shipping
• Ethical issues and sustainability
• Ethical sourcing of materials
• Reusing materials
• Ethical packaging

Lesson 6: Transport and delivery

• Transportation management
• Modes of transport
• Road transportation – truck freight
• Marine transportation – ship
• Case study: the Suez Canal obstruction
• Rail transportation – train
• Air transportation – plane
• Intermodal transport
• Delivery scheduling
• The importance of a good schedule

Lesson 7: Inventory management

• Types of inventories
• How inventory is planned & controlled
• Planning approaches
• Challenges with inventory planning
• Inaccurate or incomplete data
• Multiple locations
• Insufficient order management
• Human error
• Software & systems
• Automated store ordering
• Robotic stock handling
• Blockchain
• Supply and demand
• Sensitivity analysis
• Review systems
• Vendor managed inventory
• Case study: toilet paper during covid
• Case study: impact of semiconductor shortage on car manufacturing

Lesson 8: Risk management – health & safety issues, legislation

• Health & safety: warehousing
• Slips, trips, and falls
• Vehicles in and around the warehouse
• Dangerous goods
• Employee stress & management
• The positive side of stress
• The negative side of stress
• Chain of responsibility
• Risks in logistics
• What is risk?
• How to mitigate risk
• Evaluating risks
• Time frames
• Legalities
• Strategies
• How to react: processes to mitigate risk
• Tools

Lesson 9: Supply chain dynamics

• Predicting change – is it possible?
• Types of change in a business
• Identifying problems
• Planning for change
• Organisational change management
• Choosing the right behaviour change intervention
• Step 1 involves identifying the behaviour
• Step 2 involves identifying the most valuable intervention option(s)
• Step 3 involves identifying and conducting policy change
• Behaviour change techniques
• Reverse logistics
• Returns
• Reselling
• Repairs
• Recycling
• Replacement
• Obsolescence
• Traceability
• Mapping
• Transparency
• Building a better supply chain
• Future technology
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Drone technology
• Robotics
• Advances in ecommerce
• Drop shipping
• Outsourcing
• Track and trace

Lesson 10: Problem based learning (PBL) project

• Logistics plan for organic energy
• Your logistics plan
• Presentation component