OPM 601 Supply Chain Management

Content:  

Supply Chain Management is concerned with all activities aimed at satisfying customer demand. As such, it is paramount to the creation of business value. Carefully designed and well run supply chains are an important source of competitive advantage.

Particular complexities arise from the interplay between different supply chain members, including suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers, each having their own objectives. At the same time, supply chain members are dependent on each other to serve the final customer. Supply chain management addresses the interplay between individual objectives and seeks to align them to optimize overall supply chain performance.

This course discusses the impact of supply chain management on firm performance. It provides tools and concepts for an effective supply chain design and operation. Particular attention is given to supply chain coordination. The course presents quantitative models to investigate this issue. The course also discusses the impact of recent  trends on supply chain management, including digitalization and sustainability.

Learning outcomes:  

Students will understand the role of supply chain management and its impact on firm performance. Specifically, they will recognize the potential of coordinated decision making along the supply chain. They will also be aware of obstacles that complicate this coordination. The students will get to know mechanisms for aligning incentives of different supply chain members, e.g. by means of appropriate contracts. They will be able to quantify the effects of these mechanisms by means of corresponding mathematical models. In addition, students will be aware of relevant recent trends and of their impact on supply chain management.

Prerequisites:  

• Formal: At least one of the modules OPM 501, 502, 561, 581, or 582 (parallel attendance possible) 
• Recommended: Participants should be familiar with the fundamentals of operations management and logistics. Specifically, the course builds on topics covered in the modules OPM 501 and OPM 502. Participants who have not attended these modules will require additional preparation. The course further assumes a basic knowledge in mathematics (including Linear Programming) and in statistics (probability distributions). 

Obligatory registration: no                         Further Information on registration: –