Core Courses

The core courses in this programme will provide you with a solid foundation for decision-making in Supply Chain Management, essential to your future career as a Supply Chain Management expert.

INTRODUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

During this week-long introductory course, you get the opportunity to become acquainted with supply chain management in a broad context via guest lectures, management games, company visits and study cases. Company visits are usually a two- or three-day trip, and show you a wide variety of SCM applications, enabling you to get to become familiar with not only SCM, but your future case partners.

DESIGNING AND MANAGING THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Acquire an in-depth knowledge and understanding of advanced logistics, operations, manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain management issues, concepts, tools and techniques. This course has a strong managerial focus (analysing and evaluating a complex situation and taking effective action), and is valuable to students with an interest in general management. It will be particularly valuable for those pursuing careers in operations, or who see themselves consulting in operations for client businesses.

GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Businesses today become connected with other businesses through international partnerships, cooperation agreements and supply chains. People who operate and perform in this global environment must understand what role they play, which relationships can be forged, and where competition arises. This course deals with the concepts that help business professionals understand the dynamics in global supply chains and to know how to act accordingly, emphasising the impact of supply chain choices on logistics and transportation strategy.

FACILITY LOGISTICS

This core course focuses on company-internal logistics. Key questions include: what is the impact of a company’s distribution structure on the internal logistics system and vice versa? How do you organise logistics processes? What storage systems should be used? In addition to matters of systems choice, storage and order-picking strategies are also discussed. Emphasis is placed on both theory and application. We analyse the operations of companies such as Albert Heijn, Siemens, Heineken, Apple and design facilities for optimal flows and costs.

DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

Producing goods individually on the spot, when and where customers demand them, is not in general economically and technically feasible. Distribution systems are therefore required to bridge the temporal and geographical gap between production and consumption, involving transportation, storage, sorting and allocation. This course aims to provide insights regarding the design and operation of distribution systems, enabling the students to master underlying trade-offs.