Supply Chain AnalyticsCornell

Certificate Program

Supply chain analytics are everywhere. Consider the similarities between a grocery list and a demand forecast: Before going to the store, you note which groceries you already have in your home. Next, you think about how much of each item you used in the past. Based on this information, you can predict how much of each item you need to purchase. In this micro example, you are acting as a supply chain analyst.

As you look at the implications of a larger-scale supply chain analysis, you'll grasp the complexity that organizations face in making accurate demand forecasts. When grocery shopping, if you make mistakes, you can just go on another trip and correct the purchase. In business situations, however, a mistake could mean a significant loss. In this case, you want to make decisions in a scientific and proven way.

In this course, you will measure performance based on an existing dataset. You will then determine the best forecasting method based on the given data. Finally, you will expand the application of this data by calculating a forecast for future demand and considering holistic approaches for mitigating risk, applying practical skills to incorporate into your future work with supply chain analytics.

Inventory is everywhere; you can find inventory in your refrigerator, pantry, and on the shelves of grocery stores. Yet there's also more "invisible" inventory in delivery trucks, shipping containers, and distribution centers. Managing inventory along the supply chain can be complicated. For businesses, keeping the right amount of inventory in supply chains is critical for maximizing profit.

In this course, you will discover how to determine the optimal inventory level for a supply chain location. First, you will explore the trade-off between inventory and customer service. You will then examine how to assess the cost performance of a single supply chain location and the trade-off between inventory holding and shipping costs. You will also determine the cost performance of a network of supply chain locations. Finally, you will discuss improving the supply chain cost performance by inventory pooling.

The following course is required to be completed before taking this course:

• Forecasting Supply Chain Demand

For products with a short life cycle — including items like fresh food, fashion, and even high-tech products — supply chain managers often have to make a one-shot decision for production quantity to meet the demand over the entire selling season, which could vary from a day to a few months.

In this course, you will examine how to determine the optimal production quantity for products with a short life cycle, assuming there is no resource capacity constraint. You will then explore how to optimally allocate the production capacity among multiple items when there is a limited resource capacity available. You will also discover how to determine the optimal production sequence if more accurate demand information can be obtained at a later time. Finally, you will discuss how to improve supply chain efficiency through various operations strategies, adding to your toolkit of practical knowledge for your organization and beyond.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

• Forecasting Supply Chain Demand
• Optimizing Inventory Management

Supply chain analytics goes beyond managing the flow of information and products along the supply chain; it's also about managing the cash flow, people, and ecosystem along the supply chain. This approach to management is known as the profit, people, and planet triple bottom line. Supply chain cash flow, or profit, concerns payments and trade financing between supply chain parties. The people element of supply chains concerns managing relationships with your customers and suppliers. Finally, the ecosystem, or planet, element of supply chains concerns the environment where the supply chain operates. You therefore need to be aware of your competition, government regulations, and your supply chain's social and environmental impact in order to properly balance all three and gain a competitive advantage.

In this course, you will explore how to measure and improve supply chain cash flow efficiency. You'll also discover design strategies to achieve coordination with your partners and achieve sustainability in the supply chain.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

• Forecasting Supply Chain Demand
• Optimizing Inventory Management
• Optimizing Production Capacity Allocation