Supply chain management is unique and, to some degree, represents a paradox because it is concerned with one of the oldest and also the most newly discovered activities of business. Supply chain activities - inventory management, warehousing, sourcing, communication, transportation, and facility location - have been performed since the start of commercial activity. It is difficult to visualize any product that could reach a customer without logistical support. Yet it is only over the last few years that firms have started focusing on logistics and supply chain management as a source of competitive advantage. There is a realization that no company can do any better than its supply chain. This becomes even more important given that product life cycles are shrinking and competition is intense. Supply chain management today represents a great challenge as well as a tremendous opportunity for most firms.
Other terms that have recently appeared in the business jargon are demand chain, value chain, and value stream. We will use the phrase supply chain management to cover all these ideas.
In this course, we view the supply chain from the point of view of a general manager. Logistics and supply chain management is all about managing the hand-offs in a supply chain - hand-offs of information, product, or funds. The design of a supply chain is critically linked to the objectives of the supply chain. Our goal in this course is to understand how supply chain design and planning decisions impact the performance of the firm as well as the entire supply chain. The key will be to understand the link between supply chain structures and logistical capabilities in a firm or supply chain.
Learning Outcomes and Competencies
Teach students fundamental problem areas of “Supply Chain Management” and, to introduce the relation between planning and control activities, as well as issues related to SCM design.
Teach approaches that utilize mathematical modeling and optimization to solve problems and emphasize the importance of solving a planning and control problem analytically.
Be able to use different techniques and modern planning tools for engineering practice
Be able to work in a team and confident in presenting and defending his work
Textbook:
Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operations by S. Chopra and P. Meindl (C&M), 6th Edition.(2016)
In this chapter, we provide a conceptual understanding of what a supply chain is and the various issues that need to be considered when designing, planning, or operating a supply chain. We discuss the significance of supply chain decisions and supply chain performance for the success of a firm. We also provide several examples from different industries to emphasize the variety of supply chain issues that companies need to consider at the strategic, planning, and operational levels.
Objectives:
Discuss the goal of a supply chain and explain the impact of supply chain decisions on the success of a firm.
Identify the three key supply chain decision phases and explain the significance of each one.
Describe the cycle and push/pull views of a supply chain.
Classify the supply chain macro processes in a firm.
Second:Watch the following video: What is Supply Chain Management?
Chapters Two and Three: Supply Chain Performance and Drivers
Introduction:
In these chapters, we define supply chain strategy. We introduce the three logistical drivers- facilities, inventory, and transportation- and the three cross-functional drivers-information, sourcing, and pricing-that determine the performance of any supply chain. We discuss how these drivers are used in the design, planning, and operation of the supply chain.
Objectives:
Explain why achieving strategic fit is critical to a company's overall success
Identify the major drivers of supply chain performance.
Discuss the role of each driver in creating strategic fit between the supply chain strategy and the competitive strategy.
Second:Watch the following video to understand Cross-Docking Concept
Chapter Five: Network Design in the Supply Chain
Introduction:
In this Chapter, we focus on the fundamntal questions of facility location, capacity allocation, and market allocation with designing a supply chain network. We identify and discuss the various factors that influence the facility location, capacity and market allocation decisions. We then establish a framework and discuss various solution methodologies for network design decisions in a supply chain.
Objectives:
Understand the role of network design in a supply chain
Fourth:Watch the following video to understand Multi-Echelon network Concept
Midterm Exam
The exam will be on Saturday, 9/08/2025, from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Exam contents:
Chapter 1: Understanding the Supply Chain (read the textbook and the slides)
Chapters 2 and 3 (read the textbook and the slides)
Chapter 5: Network Design in the Supply Chain (read the textbook and the slides; some figures are taken from Chapter 4)
Chapter 7: Demand Forecasting in a Supply Chain (read the textbook and the slides
Chapter Seven: Demand Forecasting in a Supply Chain
Introduction:
In this Chapter, we explain how historical demand information can be used to forecast future demand and how these forecasts affect the supply chain. We describe several methods to forecast demand and estimate the forecast's accuracy. We then discuss how these methods can be implemented using Microsoft Excel.
Objectives:
Understand the role of forecasting for both an enterprise and a supply chain
Identify the components of a demand forecast
Forecast demand in a supply chain given historical demand data using time-series methodologies
Analyze demand forecasts to estimate forecast error
Chapter Eight: Aggregate Planning in a Supply Chain
Introduction:
In this Chapter, we discuss how the aggregate planning methodology is used to make decisions about production, outsourcing, inventory, and backlogs in a supply chain. We identify the information required to produce an aggregate plan and outline the basic trade-offs that must be made to create an optimal aggregate plan. we also describe how to formulate and solve an aggregate planning problem using Microsoft Excel.
Objectives:
Identify the decisions that are best solved by aggregate planning
Understand the importance of aggregate planning as a supply chain activity
Describe the information needed to produce an aggregate plan
Formulate and solve basic aggregate planning problems using Microsoft Excel.
In this chapter, we build on the knowledge we gained from Chapter 8 and continue to expand our scope beyond the enterprise to the supply chain as we deal with predictable variability of demand. We also discuss how demand may be managed to counter predictibale variability through the use of price and promotion to maximize overall profitability of a supply chain.
Objectives:
Manage supply and demand to improve synchronization in a supply chain in the face of predictitable variability.
Use sales and operations planning to maximize profitability when faced with predictable variability in a supply chain
Chapter Eleven: Managing Economies of Scale in a Supply Chain: Cycle Inventory
Introduction:
Cycle inventory exists because producing or purchasing in large lots allows a stage of the supply chain to exploit economies of scale and thus lower cost. the presence of fixed costs associated with ordering and transportation, quatity discounts in product pricing, and short-term discounts or promotions encourages different stages of a supply chain to exploit economies of scale and order in large lots. In this chapter, we study how each of these factors affects the lot size and cycle inventories whithin a supply chain. Our goal is to identify mangerial levers that reduce cycle inventory in a supply chain without raising cost.
Objectives:
Balance the appropraite costs to choose the optimal lot size and cycle inventory in a supply chain.
Understand the impact of quantity discounts on lot size and cycle inventory
Chapter Twelve: Uncertainty in a Supply Chain: Safety Inventory
مُميَّز
Introduction:
In this chapter, we discuss how safety inventory can help a supply chain improve product availability in the presence of supply and demand variability. We discuss various measures of product availability and how managers can set safety inventory levels to provide the desired product availability. We also explore what managers can do to reduce the amount of saftey inventory required while maintaining or even improving product availability.
Objectives:
Understand the role of safety inventory in a supply chain
Identify factors that influence the required level of safety inventory
Utilize Managerial levers available to lower safety inventory and improve product availability.