OPM 501: Supply Chain Design

Contents
Supply Chain Management deals with all activities aimed at satisfying customer demand. This includes managing the flow and storage of goods along the supply chain, to ensure that products are available in the right place at the right time. As such, supply chain management plays a crucial role in the delivery of customer service and thereby in the creation of business value. This course addresses key decisions regarding the design of a company’s supply chain activities. Particular attention will be paid to the design of distribution networks as a core element of a firm’s infrastructure. Other topics include capacity management and trans­portation planning. The course takes an analytics-oriented approach and introduces quantitative models that link managerial levers to supply chain performance. It thereby highlights relevant trade-offs and reveals how managers can strike an optimal balance.

Learning outcomes
This course makes students aware of the role of supply chain management in managing cost and customer service. It helps students understand how to align supply chain decisions with an underlying business strategy. Students will be familiarized with fundamental supply chain planning tasks. They will also get to know relevant analytical tools and concepts. The course enables students to analyze supply chain management decisions using quantitative techniques and to make the right trade-offs between different performance criteria.

Necessary prerequisites
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Recommended prerequisites
Basic knowledge in operations management (e.g. BSc course “OPM 301 Operations Management”), basic knowledge in mathematics (including Linear Programming) and in statistics (probability distributions).

Examiner Performing lecturer

Prof. Dr. Moritz Fleischmann Prof. Dr. Moritz Fleischmann