Materials and Supply Chain Management

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the objectives and functions of materials and supply chain management (stock control, purchasing, stores and physical distribution) and explain how they relate to each other
• Categorize stock items based on the ABC classification model
• Calculate future demand for different stock items
• Identify Reorder Points (ROP), Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Safety Stocks (SS) for different stock items
• Apply the basic purchasing processes and use Incoterms appropriately
• Identify best practices in warehouses to maintain accurate inventory records
• List the various transportation functions and costs

Who Should Attend?

Those involved in any function of materials and supply chain management (inventory, warehousing, purchasing and transportation) who are concerned with successfully providing acceptable customer or user service at a minimum cost.  This course is also appropriate for anyone who needs to know more about the role of materials management.

Course Outline

• Definition of materials and supply chain management

  • Materials management scope
  • The functions and objectives of materials management
  • Types of inventory
  • The importance of customer service in materials and supply chain
  • Problems in materials management
  • Computerized materials management applications

• Inventory planning and stock control

  • Inventory systems
  • The ABC classification
  • Application of the ABC classification

• Forecasting and planning in materials management

  • Typical demand trends
  • Forecasting objectives
  • Different forecasting models
  • Qualitative forecasting
  • Quantitative forecasting
  • Evaluation of forecasts

• Materials planning and control

  • Inventory costs
  • The economic order quantity model
  • How to deal with constrained quantity discount schemes
  • The importance of controlling lead time
  • The maximum/minimum system
  • Setting the reorder points
  • Setting safety stocks

• The purchasing function

  • Basic purchasing process
  • Skills of a purchasing professional
  • Factors to consider when selecting suppliers
  • Suppliers evaluation
  • Changing trends in procurement
  • Definition and application of Incoterms
  • Negotiating with suppliers

• The warehousing function

  • Warehousing objectives
  • Inventory record accuracy requirements
  • Calculating record accuracy
  • Periodic cycle counting
  • How to improve record accuracy

• The transport function

  • Fleet and transport objectives
  • Methods of transport
  • Responsibilities of traffic
  • Transport expenses
  • Cost reduction opportunities
  • Routing and cubing