Executive Education Supply Chain Management Programs

This one-day workshop is a part of the Integrated Supply Chain Management Program managed by the Center for Supply Chain Excellence at SLU.

A supply chain is a complex structure involving multiple partners, companies and even countries. Communication is vital to the ability of the supply chain to meet customer needs while effectively utilizing resources. Through a simple simulation, participants understand the importance of clear communication in a supply chain. Operating in teams, they use financial metrics and dashboards to measure the success of their efforts.

As part of the Integrated Supply Chain Management Program, teams select and complete a process improvement project for a company of their choosing. This project must be completed within the program's time frame. The workshop equips them with basic project management concepts and tools that will support successful completion of the selected project.

Participants learn:

• How to perform a computer-based, multicycle supply chain simulation
• How to identify issues arising from the simulation, suggest improvements and test a revised simulation scenario
• How to form project teams and evaluate possible supply chain projects to be completed within the Integrated Supply Chain program
• The four phases of a project
• The key tools used in preparing and executing a successful project plan

Implementation of a supply chain is expensive and risky. It requires substantial investment in finance and human capital with unknown results. Supply chain operations profoundly impact a company’s income and financial statements in various ways, including purchasing, sourcing, product design, manufacturing, transportation, logistics, packaging, storage and distribution. Nevertheless, many supply chain professionals have little or no knowledge of how their work contributes to financial and income statements. Days in inventory, days in sales outstanding and days in pay profoundly affect the company’s cash flow.

This one-day workshop outlines how integrated supply chain tools improve the financial health of companies. Fundamentals of supply chain principles must be firmly in place before attempting to use expensive information technologies and supply chain tools. Key metrics contributing to a company’s financial health will be addressed to understand the basics of financial and income statements within and between supply chain partners.

Topic preview:

• Fundamentals of supply chain principles
• Common traits for top supply chain performers
• Fundamentals of income and financial statements in supply chain
• Profitability: Return on investment, return on asset and economic profit
• Return on equity
• Flow of financial information within supply chain networks
• Bankruptcy model

Uncertain demand complicates the management of supply. If demand were known, we could produce the right quantities at the right times, schedule just enough capacity, and manage operations at a minimal cost. Instead, fluctuating demand results in supply chains that face shortages, surpluses and exorbitant expenses. Most firms respond by seeking better forecasts, expecting demand planners to serve as a crystal ball for future events. This does not work. Forecasts are almost always wrong, and no silver bullet exists to improve them. In this course, we examine a better approach that explicitly accounts for uncertainty in demand, yielding decisions that hedge against the unknown. Course topics apply to tactical, operational and strategic decision-making across a supply chain.

Topic preview:

• Managing the tradeoff between too much inventory and not enough
• Reducing supply-demand mismatch costs
• Setting service levels

Participants learn:

• How to move from point forecasts to likelihoods
• How to use underage costs, overage costs and demand uncertainty to calculate order or production quantities
• How to use reactive capacity to reduce supply-demand mismatches
• How to improve service levels via consideration of holding costs and back-order penalties

Inventory management deals with specifying the shape and percentage of stocked goods, including raw materials, work in process and finished goods. It is required at many locations across a supply network to support production and customer requirements.

The scope of inventory management concerns the fine lines between replenishment lead time, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory valuation, inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory, available physical space for inventory, quality management, replenishment, returns and defective goods and demand forecasting. Balancing these competing requirements leads to optimal inventory levels, which is an ongoing process as the business needs shift and react to the wider environment.

Management of inventories, with the primary objective of controlling stock levels within the physical distribution system, balances the need for product availability against the need for minimizing stock holding and handling costs.

Topic preview:

• Importance of inventory as an investment
• Functions of inventory

• Demand planning and forecasting

• Inventory stratification and analysis

• Service levels and safety stock

• Performance metrics

• Inventory costs

• Current topics affecting inventory management

Participants learn:

• The importance of inventory to the enterprise
• To describe the critical functions of inventory in the supply chain
• How to apply forecasting concepts to optimize supply chain performance
• How to understand methods and value of inventory stratification
• Methods of calculating safety stock
• How to use metrics in managing inventory

Variability is the dominant cause of mismatches between supply and demand, from daily inflections in demand to large-scale supply chain disruptions. We examine the influence of variability throughout the supply chain, from its impact on simple processes to its effect on complex networks. We also discuss variability mitigation strategies to improve supply chain responsiveness and profitability. The course material applies to a broad audience, from executives to tactical-level employees. Employees from both the manufacturing and service industries will benefit from the topics covered.

Topic preview:

• Supply chain performance evaluation
• Influence of variability on supply chain performance
• Variability reduction and mitigation, buffering and pooling

Participants learn:

• Key supply chain performance measures
• The impact of variability on WIP, flow rate and flow time
• Why high utilization intensifies the effects of variability
• Strategies to reduce processing time and input variability
• Tactics to buffer against variability via inventory, capacity and time
• Why variability pooling can decrease the amount of buffering required to achieve a given level of performance

Immersive Learning That Mirrors Real-World Supply Chain Challenges

Replacing the previous two-day Business Analytics for Supply Chain module, this newly designed one-day supply chain simulation experience focuses on the areas that provide participants with the highest value and most actionable learning.

Participants learn:

• Strengthen their understanding of core supply chain and operations frameworks
• Apply these concepts directly in a data-rich, interactive simulation modeled on modern supply chain environments
• Experience the impact of operational decisions on cost, service, capacity and inventory
• Build confidence in navigating trade-offs using real-time performance feedback
• This update reflects feedback from past cohorts and the evolving expectations of our corporate partners, who consistently emphasize the importance of practical, scenario-based decision-making skills

Why This Enhancement Matters

The redesign aligns with our broader ISCM program philosophy:

• Industry relevance: Ensuring every module reflects current trends and employer needs
• Applied learning: Providing opportunities to practice real-world decisions, not just study them
• Participant value: Focusing instructional time where it matters most for career and leadership development
• Faculty expertise: Leveraging our faculty’s deep experience to craft high-impact experiences
• The simulation-centered format reinforces the principles participants learn throughout the program and helps bridge the gap between classroom concepts and operational execution.

New Module: AI in Supply Chain (Spring 2026)

A Practical Introduction to AI, ML & GenAI for Supply Chain Leaders

To ensure the ISCM program remains aligned with the latest industry expectations, we are introducing a streamlined, high-impact module on AI in Supply Chain, led by Vineet Sharma, director of the Center for Supply Chain Excellence.

This one-day module provides a practical, accessible introduction to artificial intelligence, machine learning, generative AI, and prompt engineering — designed specifically for supply chain professionals. 

What Participants Will Gain:

• Clear understanding of AI & ML fundamentals and how they apply across sourcing, planning, logistics, operations, and risk
• Exposure to real-world applications used by leading organizations
• A practical introduction to generative AI and how LLMs support supply chain decision-making
• Prompt-engineering essentials to help participants communicate effectively with AI systems
• Hands-on experience through a guided prompt-engineering workshop using supply-chain-specific scenarios
• Foundations in responsible and ethical AI use aligned with organizational expectations

Why This Module Matters

• Builds future-ready skills increasingly expected in supply chain roles
• Enhances analytical and decision-making capabilities through AI-enabled tools
• Strengthens the ISCM program’s focus on industry relevance and applied learning
• Designed for all backgrounds; no technical experience required

Sourcing exerts considerable influence on the success of any company. As a business function, effective sourcing is key to ensuring the ready supply of materials, goods and services — wherever they may originate. Sourcing also controls a substantial portion of the company’s spend, making it instrumental in the company’s profit potential. It also serves as a beacon for quality and sustainability as it controls the integrity of inputs that eventually become outputs for the business. Failures to uphold organizational values in supplier relationships can irreparably harm the company's reputation.   

Relatedly, change management is essential to the success of any organization, although it is very difficult to move organizations in the desired needed directions. Yet, managing organizational change is vital to sustained success and survival. As former GE CEO Jack Welch once quipped famously: “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.”  Yet, how are individuals and organizations expected to develop receptivity and the means for change? This session will examine key success factors for effecting and sustaining change. We will review models that help to minimize performance gaps and enable growth.

Topic preview:

• What is strategic sourcing?

• Total cost of ownership and decision-making process

• Global sourcing issues

• Supplier collaboration

• Supplier evaluation and scorecards

Participants learn:

• To determine when to buy versus make

• How to manage supplier performance

• Techniques to measure, evaluate and manage suppliers and costs

• Keys to implementing change

• How to avoid significant performance drops when implementing change

• The essential ingredients to change management

Transportation and warehousing are among the most vital activities in business success today. Transportation provides connectivity for the focal company to critical sources of supply and reach with customers in the market. It is also the largest area of spend in logistics. Warehousing complements this transportation’s connectivity with suppliers and customers by providing strategic locations for feeding the business and its customers. Both activities see elevated stature in the modern environment, with elevated customer service expectations and capacity constraints making it difficult to fulfill market commitments profitably. Both areas also witness rampant innovation and technological advancements that alter their fundamentals and traditional mindsets. This workshop will examine the strategy and execution of transportation and warehousing in the modern context, providing methods and tools for navigating the challenges and opportunities these two critical supply chain activities present.

Topic preview:

• Examine the fundamentals of transportation and warehousing execution

• Review the strategic and operational decisions faced by supply chain management

• Appreciate the evolving roles of transportation and warehousing

• Evaluate how the introduction of new technologies influences decision-making

• Measure how transportation and warehousing performance influence supply chain and business excellence

Participants learn how to:

• Measure transportation and warehousing performance

• Determine transportation and warehousing costs in the context of total logistics costs

• Assess the interface between transportation and warehousing decisions to optimize customer service and minimize costs

• Apply activity-based management to “right-size” services and costs

• Make key decisions in transportation and warehousing that elevate company performance and sustainable outcomes.