Continuing education is important not only for personal career development but also for learning new supply chain strategies and tactics. Here are a just a few examples of upcoming professional education programs around the world.
Do your processes measure up?
Based on the CSCMP Supply Chain Management Process Standards six-part series of books, the new Process Standards Workshop will help participants benchmark and improve their key supply chain processes. Experienced instructors Kate Vitasek and Karl Manrodt will provide a structured approach to assessing opportunities for improvement and a framework for evaluating initiatives. The course involves real-world examples, interactive cases, high-energy lectures, and group discussions. Participants will receive all six of the process standards books.
Program: Process Standards Workshop
Sponsor: CSCMP
Location: Lombard, Illinois, USA
Dates: August 14-15, 2008
Info:cscmp.org
Learn from the experts
Senior supply chain statesmen and consultants Ken Ackerman and Art Van Bodegraven pass on some of the tips, tricks, and advice that they have gleaned from a combined 50 years of service in the field of supply chain management.
The "Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management" workshop defines the supply chain, its components, and its impact on all aspects of business. Ackerman and Van Bodegraven also enliven their presentations with time- and money-saving techniques.
"Strategic Issues in Supply Chain Management" takes participants to the next level, helping them examine strategies for reducing cost and improving operations.
Program: Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management Workshop
Sponsor: CSCMP
Locations and Dates: Kansas City, Missouri, USA: September 15-16, 2008; Chicago, Illinois, USA: November 13-14, 2008
Info:cscmp.org
Program: Strategic Issues in Supply Chain Management Workshop
Sponsor: CSCMP
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Dates: September 8-9, 2008
Info:cscmp.org
Revamp your strategies
Product lifecycles have shortened, while supply chains have expanded to wrap around the globe. This dynamic is requiring companies to reassess their supply chain strategies and leadership approaches. Stanford University's "Strategies and Leadership in Supply Chains" course focuses on innovative ways to use your supply chain to create and capture value. The course places particular emphasis on cross-functional coordination and collaboration. Areas that will be explored in detail include points of supply and demand, global supply chains, sustainability, advanced technologies, and market implications.
Program: Strategies and Leadership in Supply Chains
Sponsor: Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Education
Location: Palo Alto, California, USA
Course Dates: August 17-22, 2008
Application Deadline: July 1, 2008
Info:www.gsb.stanford.edu/exed/slsc
Be a leader
The University of Wisconsin's Supply Chain Leadership Certificate consists of three courses designed to help participants create and manage an integrated supply chain system.
The foundation course, "Supply Chain Leadership," teaches students to quantify tradeoffs, set feasible objectives, minimize overall cost, and improve the likelihood of achieving supply chain improvement plans. "Supply Chain Optimization" provides a prescriptive framework for identifying, optimizing, and prioritizing operational improvement opportunities. "Supply Chain Collaboration" covers the tools and methods necessary to define, develop, and manage planning processes.
Program: University of Wisconsin's Supply Chain Leadership Certificate
Sponsor: University of Wisconsin
Courses and Dates: Supply Chain Leadership: August 18-20, 2008; October 8-10, 2008; Supply Chain Optimization: September 4-5, 2008 and October 30-31, 2008; Supply Chain Collaboration: July 31-August 1, 2008; September 25-26, 2008 and November 17-18, 2008
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Info:exed.wisc.edu/supplychain
Learn to collaborate
During the three-day CPFR Certification Program, participants will learn how to unlock the potential of collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR). CPFR is a four-step model developed by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS) to help companies better collaborate with their trading partners. The model's four steps are strategy and planning, demand and supply management, execution, and analysis.
The certification program uses a series of educational workshops and a formal examination to teach attendees how to successfully implement this system. CSCMP has endorsed the program and will be hosting one of the workshops in Chicago.
Program: VICS CPFR Certification Program
Sponsors: Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association and CSCMP
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Dates: August 5-7, 2008
Info:www.vics.org
Think cross-functionally
One of the biggest barriers to creating a successful supply chain is teaching people to think and work cross-functionally. To help companies achieve this goal, The University of Tennessee designed the Integrated Supply Chain Management Program.
Co-sponsored by CSCMP, the program consists of six courses that each run for two-and-a-half days. These courses will help participants understand the interrelationships among demand planning, customer relationship management, operations, logistics, lean management, and resource and financial management.
Participants who take all six courses within a two-year period and successfully complete all tests and assignments will receive a certification. Courses also may be taken independently.
Program: Integrated Supply Chain Management Program
Sponsors: University of Tennessee and
CSCMP
Courses and Dates: Supply Chain Management Strategy: September 15-17, 2008; Demand Management in the Supply Chain: September 17-19, 2008; Logistics & Operations in the Supply Chain: October 20-22, 2008; The Lean Enterprise and the Supply Chain: October 22-24, 2008; Supply Chain Resource Management: November 10-12, 2008; Integrative Supply Chain Experience: November 12-14, 2008
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Info:thecenter.utk.edu
Understand performance-based logistics
The U.S. Department of Defense has found success in implementing performance-based logistics (PBL) to manage its outsourced suppliers. In PBL contracts, the company no longer buys individual parts or service transactions; instead it buys "outcomes" and focuses on making sure that its providers' goals align with its own. The "Performance-Based Logistics" workshop will define this concept and outline how it can be applied to commercial outsourcing agreements.
Program: Performance-Based Logistics Workshop
Sponsor: CSCMP
Location: Lombard, Illinois, USA
Dates: August 13, 2008
Info:cscmp.org
Building a better supply chain
Supply chain choices increasingly influence strategic business outcomes. Yet in the past, supply chain practice has focused on the tactical rather than the strategic. The "Supply Chain Strategy and Management" executive education course presents a new approach to supply chain design. Participants will learn about linking supply chain design and business strategy. They will study the forces that influence supply chain structures and how to integrate supply chain design with product and process development. Finally, instructors will discuss what it means to run a supply chain in an electronic-business environment.
Program: Supply Chain Strategy and Management
Sponsor: MIT's Executive Education Open Enrollment Program
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Dates: November 19-20, 2008
Info:www.mitsloan.edu/exceed
