Specialist Preparation Program in Logistics, Inventory and Demand Planning

Program facts

Study fee

Free

subjects

6

lessons

24

Estimated time

16 hours

Content last reviewed

23 October 2026

Access period

30 days

Study language

Arabic and English

About the program

This program connects the tasks of a logistics, inventory and demand-planning specialist in one operating cycle. You begin with reliable on-hand and availability, estimate demand without equating censored sales with requests, calculate replenishment timing and quantity, and plan picking, loads and customer promises. Every module asks for a table or decision record from a fictional case with explicit inputs and a worked answer that exposes arithmetic, assumptions and escalation boundaries. Professional and academic references support general methods; case numbers are teaching data, not market observations. Learning does not confer professional licensure or an external credential. Real purchase releases, stock adjustments and customer promise changes remain subject to organizational authority.

Practical relevance

Practice creates reconciliation sheets, forecasts, weekly projections, order cards, pick waves, load plans and exception logs whose evidence and calculations a colleague can inspect.

Why this program

A better forecast cannot repair inaccurate stock, and more stock cannot speed a delayed truck. This program teaches you to locate the active constraint and turn it into a testable operating decision.

What you will learn

• Reconcile physical and available stock
• Clean demand history and calculate forecasts and error
• Set reorder triggers and executable order quantities
• Control picking, lots and returns
• Compare freight and manage delivery disruption
• Review service, inventory and cost together

Who it is for

• Designed for inventory controllers, demand planners, logistics coordinators and warehouse supervisors who already encounter item-location records, customer orders and shipment events and need to connect decisions across them. Purchasing and customer-service colleagues involved in delivery dates may also benefit, while contract approval, adjustment authority and customer allocation remain with authorized roles in their own organizations.

Curriculum

1. Subject 1 Open for free

   Reliable stock and warehouse movements

   This module begins with the question behind every delivery promise: how many pieces are physically present and how many are free for a new order? Learners build a stock bridge from opening, receipts, issues and transfers, then separate quarantined units and reservations from saleable availability. A receiving case distinguishes the purchase order, shipment notice and inspected arrival, closing the quantity bridge without releasing damaged stock. Learners rank items by annual usage value with a separate criticality flag and turn categories into workable count routines. They finish by investigating count variance at a common cut-off, distinguishing delayed posting from missing pieces and avoiding unsupported adjustments. Outputs are reconciliation tables, exception records and an auditable control proposal.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Reconcile item stock before promising delivery 32 min
   2. Receiving and put-away with exception control 32 min
   3. Segment items by annual usage value 36 min
   4. Investigate cycle-count variance before adjustment 32 min
2. Subject 2

   Demand cleansing, forecasting and review

   Learners see why recorded sales may differ from customer demand during stockouts. They build a planning series that preserves original transactions and labels estimates for censored days rather than treating them as confirmed sales. Naïve, moving-average and weighted forecasts are calculated for one horizon, then compared on earlier periods without information leakage. MAE, WAPE and bias are calculated with explicit sign and denominator, showing how opposite errors can cancel in bias. In a demand review, a supported event adjustment is added to the baseline while supply capacity remains a separate column; the forecast is not reduced to hide a capacity gap. Deliverables include a cleaned series, forecast comparison and review log stating assumptions and limits.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Clean demand history before forecasting 32 min
   2. Build and compare baseline forecasts 30 min
   3. Measure forecast error and bias 36 min
   4. Review demand separately from supply constraints 34 min
3. Subject 3

   Inventory projection and replenishment

   This module turns a demand forecast into timing and quantity decisions. Learners build a weekly projection that places inbound stock in the week it becomes usable and identifies the first shortage, then stress it for a late shipment without double counting. They calculate lead-time demand, safety stock and a reorder trigger from a defined inventory position, without treating service aims as guarantees. Beyond the trigger, they calculate raw order need and apply supplier pack and minimum constraints, exposing rounding excess, capacity and need dates. In a multi-site case, they compare transfer, expedite and allocation with arrival times and the effect on the donating site. Outputs are a time-phased projection, replenishment card and alternatives matrix with stated limits.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Project stock week by week 36 min
   2. Set a reorder trigger and safety stock 32 min
   3. Turn inventory position into an executable order 32 min
   4. Resolve shortage and excess without moving risk elsewhere 34 min
4. Subject 4

   Slotting, picking, lots and returns

   The module focuses on warehouse execution after a plan is approved. Learners choose a slot from order-line pick frequency, weight, cube and refill capacity, then reconcile movement during relocation. They form a wave that fits carrier cutoff and packing capacity, calculating first-pass pick accuracy separately from shipped-line accuracy after correction. For lot-controlled goods, remaining life at customer arrival is checked before first-expire-first-out selection, with lot identity retained in shipment evidence. Returns are processed through a bridge from physically received pieces to released, quarantined, supplier-returned or disposed states; uninspected stock never becomes available. Outputs include slot cards, wave records, lot-pick sheets and a returns disposition table.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Slot stock using pick frequency and handling constraints 32 min
   2. Build a pick wave and verify order accuracy 36 min
   3. Pick lots by eligibility and remaining life 32 min
   4. Process returns without contaminating saleable stock 32 min
5. Subject 5

   Freight, customer promises and invoice reconciliation

   Learners compare two carrier offers for the same load and due date, totaling known charges and testing arrival eligibility instead of choosing base price alone. They build a load within weight and cube limits and an unload sequence, rejecting apparent savings that miss a customer window. Once in transit, they distinguish verified milestones from estimated arrival and send an update with uncertainty and a next check. At receipt, they reconcile dispatch manifest, customer proof and carrier invoice, separating an unsupported accessorial charge from a missing parcel that needs its own investigation. The outputs are a carrier comparison, load plan, exception log and a supported-versus-disputed invoice calculation.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Compare carriers on cost and service 34 min
   2. Consolidate loads within weight, cube and delivery windows 38 min
   3. Track shipment milestones and manage delivery disruption 32 min
   4. Reconcile proof of delivery and freight invoice 34 min
6. Subject 6

   Integrated operating decisions and verified improvement

   This module joins earlier work into a weekly operating cycle. Learners define complete on-time orders, stock cover and freight per completed order using consistent populations and periods, exposing the distortion of averaging unequal sites' percentages. In a multi-constraint case they calculate feasible service from the tightest of demand, stock, packing and transport, comparing an added carrier with extended work that does not address the bottleneck. An exception review separates evidence from hypothesis and assigns decision owner, deadline and closure proof. Finally, the frozen baseline is compared with actual demand, stock and execution, distinguishing forecast error, count variance and carrier delay. Learners produce an audit and measurable correction plan without concealing uncertainty.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Build a service, inventory and freight dashboard 40 min
   2. Respond when demand shifts and transport is constrained 40 min
   3. Run an exception review with an actionable decision log 36 min
   4. Audit the cycle from forecast to delivery 42 min

Subjects unlock in sequence as you progress.

Strengths

• Connected cases spanning forecast, stock and transport
• Complete numerical solutions with decisions and limits
• Clear separation of physical, available and future stock
• Traceability of lots, shipments and exceptions through closure

Evidence basis

Concepts draw on published ASCM, GS1, MIT and OpenStax material. Calculations and fictional cases state their limits and are not presented as binding local rules or real observations about named cities.

Assessment

Assessments follow the program blueprint and may use module assessments, a final assessment, or a combination, under the approved attempt policy.

Assessment attempts: 2 per assessment, 7 days apart

The pass mark is announced before the program is published.

Certificate

The credential confirms completion and successful assessment; it does not represent professional licensure unless explicitly and lawfully stated.

Every certificate has a public verification code. Verify a certificate

Verification example: a real issued certificate

Program questions