LOGISTICS

Learn about Supply Management

• Understand supply chains.
• Ensure stock of any products or materials  is guaranteed to keep a business operating at all times.

Business success relies on organising production and delivery of goods and services when and where they are needed. If this can be done without having to buy and hold excessive amounts of stock, operational costs can be reduced and profitability improved.

Consider a nursery that buys in too many plants. They end up needing to care for those plants for longer before they are sold; and the risk of stock deteriorating or even dying increases. Alternatively, if they do not have enough stock to meet demand, they will be missing sales, and at risk of customer loyalty declining. Clearly, whether selling plants, fruit and vegetables or providing contractor services; under supply or oversupply of anything is always a potential problem.  This course helps you to understand and manage such problems to improve business operations.  

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Nature and Scope of Logistics Management
   • Introduction to logistics
   • Inbound logistics
   • Outbound logistics
   • Logistics or supply chain management
   • Goals and objectives of logistics
   • Increased efficiency
   • Responding efficiency
   • Reducing unexpected events
   • Keeping inventory to a minimum
   • Just-in-time inventory management
   • Transport cost reduction
   • Improving quality
   • Supply chain channels
   • Direct & indirect channels
   • Types of distribution channel
   • Choosing the best distribution channel?
   • Nature of the product
   • Value of product
   • Target market
   • Legal requirements
   • Competitor activities
   • How e-commerce has altered supply chain management, logistics & business
   • Changes globally
2. Logistics – Strategies and Operations
   • Logistics
   • Strategies and operations
   • Decisions within logistics
   • Customer service
   • Logistics network design
   • Vertical integration vs outsourcing
   • Vertical integration
   • Outsourcing
   • Developing a logistics strategy
   • Components of logistics strategy
   • Designing a logistics strategy
   • Implementing logistic strategies in strategic planning
   • Developing a strategic plan
   • Identifying a key strategic focus
   • Using kaizen as a business strategy
3. Procurement
   • The procurement cycle
   • A focus on tendering
   • Procurement – raw materials
   • Forecasting
   • Monitoring supplier performance
   • What needs to be monitored?
   • Evaluate supplier performance
   • Challenges around procurement
   • Risk mitigation
   • Reputation
   • Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
   • Sustainability
   • What is a green strategy?
   • What do companies need to consider?
4. Warehousing and Storage
   • What is a warehouse?
   • The purpose of a warehouse
   • Activities required in warehouses
   • Advantages of warehousing
   • Types of warehouses
   • Private
   • Public warehouses
   • Bonded storage
   • Co-operative warehouses
   • Distribution warehouse
   • A focus on drop shipping & warehousing
   • Warehousing management systems
   • How does a WMS work?
   • Case study: Amazon
   • Technology affecting warehousing
   • Big data
   • Robotics and autonomous machines
   • Blockchain, tech networks and the cloud
   • Customer service in warehousing
   • Warehouse regulation
5. Materials
   • Introduction to materials in logistics
   • Types of materials
   • Material handling
   • Designing a material handling system
   • Material handling equipment
   • Bulk material handling
   • Engineered systems
   • Industrial trucks
   • Storage and handling equipment
   • Packaging
   • Containers
   • Pallets
   • Materials used for shipping
   • Ethical issues and sustainability
   • Ethical sourcing of materials
   • Reusing materials
   • Ethical packaging
6. Transport and delivery
   • Transportation management
   • Modes of transport
   • Road transportation – truck freight
   • Marine transportation – ship
   • Case study: the Suez Canal obstruction
   • Rail transportation – train
   • Air transportation – plane
   • Intermodal transport
   • Delivery scheduling
   • The importance of a good schedule
7. Inventory management
   • Types of inventories
   • How inventory is planned & controlled
   • Planning approaches
   • Challenges with inventory planning
   • Inaccurate or incomplete data
   • Multiple locations
   • Insufficient order management
   • Human error
   • Software & systems
   • Automated store ordering
   • Robotic stock handling
   • Blockchain
   • Supply and demand
   • Sensitivity analysis
   • Review systems
   • Vendor managed inventory
   • Case study: toilet paper during covid
   • Case study: impact of semiconductor shortage on car manufacturing
8. Risk management – health & safety issues, legislation
   • Health & safety: warehousing
   • Slips, trips, and falls
   • Vehicles in and around the warehouse
   • Dangerous goods
   • Employee stress & management
   • The positive side of stress
   • The negative side of stress
   • Chain of responsibility
   • Risks in logistics
   • What is risk?
   • How to mitigate risk
   • Evaluating risks
   • Time frames
   • Legalities
   • Strategies
   • How to react: processes to mitigate risk
   • Tools
9. Supply chain dynamics
   • Predicting change – is it possible?
   • Types of change in a business
   • Identifying problems
   • Planning for change
   • Organisational change management
   • Choosing the right behaviour change intervention
   • Step 1 involves identifying the behaviour
   • Step 2 involves identifying the most valuable intervention option(s)
   • Step 3 involves identifying and conducting policy change
   • Behaviour change techniques
   • Reverse logistics
   • Returns
   • Reselling
   • Repairs
   • Recycling
   • Replacement
   • Obsolescence
   • Traceability
   • Mapping
   • Transparency
   • Building a better supply chain
   • Future technology
   • Artificial intelligence (AI)
   • Drone technology
   • Robotics
   • Advances in ecommerce
   • Drop shipping
   • Outsourcing
   • Track and trace
10. Problem based learning (PBL) project
    • Logistics plan for organic energy
    • Your logistics plan
    • Presentation component

Who should do this course?

• Nurserymen
• Landscape Contractors
• Project Managers
• Property and Land Managers
• Growers, farmers, retailers, manufacturers