Specialist Preparation Program in Supply Chain Management

Program facts

Study fee

Free

subjects

6

lessons

24

Estimated time

17.5 hours

Content last reviewed

22 October 2026

Access period

30 days

Study language

Arabic and English

About the program

Six units progress from visibility of product, information and decisions to a connected delivery record. Practice consistent denominators for service measures, simple forecasting, replenishment triggers and timed component needs. Then match purchase orders with accepted receipts, make dated customer commitments and preserve parcel handover evidence. Trace lots through sites and recipients, inspect returns and disruptions without assuming loss or approval authority. Bring quantity, time, capacity and cost together on an operational decision board, then test shipment consolidation, carrier eligibility, route feasibility and freight charges. Cases are fictional, with worked solutions and practice. Applying the method at work requires the organization’s own data, permissions and policies. This program grants no external professional certification or license.

Practical relevance

The exercises use fictional orders, lots and shipments, yielding a decision record that can be adapted within workplace permissions.

Why this program

Differences between system records and physical events can produce infeasible promises or misdirected escalations; the training connects calculations to evidence and decision limits.

What you will learn

• Map order and product flow, reconcile item identity and calculate service measures while exposing evidence gaps.
• Clean demand signals, build a limited forecast and calculate replenishment and dated component needs.
• Match purchase orders with accepted receipts, set feasible commitments and preserve parcel handover evidence.
• Trace lots, resolve returns and disruptions, and measure improvement using stable definitions and denominators.
• Prioritize exceptions, compare fulfillment options and balance material and capacity in a documented plan.
• Test consolidation, carrier and route feasibility and match freight charges to parcel evidence.

Who it is for

• Practitioners seeking focused practical capability in supply chain management
• Professionals in related roles needing applicable procedures
• Purchasing, warehouse and customer-service staff who handle order, inventory and shipping exceptions every day.
• Operations and planning coordinators who want to calculate reorder points and follow sourcing and distribution with documented evidence rather than estimates.

Curriculum

1. Subject 1 Open for free

   Flow visibility and data quality

   Trace the order by identifier through dated events, locations and owners. Separate the movement of goods from confirmation and commitment; a missing event alone does not prove a lost shipment. Item identity, unit and status definitions precede quantity comparison; distinguish arrived, accepted and promiseable stock. State the order population, inclusion rule and denominator before calculating a rate. Count the joint successes directly rather than multiplying separate rates. Separate verified event, hypothesis and temporary decision. An absent scan does not prove lost goods, and resolving customer impact does not prove root cause.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Map order and material flow 34 min
   2. Define items and operational records 34 min
   3. Measure order service with valid denominators 34 min
   4. Investigate exceptions from event records 34 min
2. Subject 2

   Demand, inventory and replenishment signals

   Stockouts and promotions are not erroneous values; preserve the raw series, flag its conditions and select a sample suited to the forecast purpose. Back-test using only information available at decision time. MAD measures error size and bias its direction; both need an adequate sample. A reorder point is a signal based on lead-time demand and an approved buffer. Check stock status and receipt date before an order. Derive components from newly planned builds, net usable stock and firm receipts, and offset release by lead time. Check capacity and dates before action.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Clean demand history before forecasting 34 min
   2. Make a short forecast and examine error 34 min
   3. Set reorder signals and safety stock 34 min
   4. Net requirements and release dates 34 min
3. Subject 3

   Sourcing and order fulfillment

   A purchase order fixes item, unit, date and acceptance terms; expose minimum-order surplus and start lead time from actual acknowledgment. Separate shipment, arrival and acceptance. Reconcile ordered quantity to accepted, held and investigated differences in a traceable record. Available-to-promise is a quantity, time and status question; never use a receipt before acceptance or allocate it twice. Closing or labeling a parcel does not prove custody transfer. Reconcile its contents, carrier scan and delivery proof.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Turn need into a checkable purchase order 34 min
   2. Receive and resolve discrepancies 34 min
   3. Allocate available supply and promise responsibly 34 min
   4. Pick, ship and confirm delivery 34 min
4. Subject 4

   Traceability, returns and improvement

   Start with lot ID and dated movements; separate recipient deliveries from held stock and keep unexplained differences under investigation. Arrival of a return does not make it saleable. Link the unit to order and lot and separate service decision from physical status. Delayed supply cannot cover an earlier promise. Show the gap, conditional options, decision owner and latest action time. A valid comparison needs a stable denominator and detection rule; a lower rate alone does not prove cause.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Trace a lot through receiving and shipping 34 min
   2. Disposition a return safely 34 min
   3. Escalate a supplier disruption 34 min
   4. Run a measured improvement loop 34 min
5. Subject 5

   Coordinating decisions across the chain

   Give every exception evidence, a question, owner and decision cutoff; link dependent orders without double counting. Compare feasible options, separate documented charges from unmeasured risk, and never treat the cheapest late option as automatically valid. Equal week-end demand and supply do not ensure fulfillment; check timing, capacity and allocation authority. Check material, time, capacity and evidence at every handoff. Solving one constraint does not solve another, and customer status follows verified events.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Daily exception board 34 min
   2. Cost-to-serve and fulfillment options 34 min
   3. Hand off a weekly cross-functional plan 34 min
   4. End-to-end operating case 40 min
6. Subject 6

   Operational transport and distribution

   A common destination alone does not justify consolidation; check readiness, capacity, handling and date before total cost. The nominally faster service may miss tender cutoff; compare actual acceptance and arrival times with item and customer constraints. Include waiting and unloading as well as driving; check receiving-window definitions and remaining load. Match identity before charges and explain each variance; an invoice error does not prove parcel loss, nor missing proof settle freight payment.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Consolidate shipments under due-date limits 34 min
   2. Select transport service by trade-off 34 min
   3. Schedule a simple delivery route 34 min
   4. Reconcile freight invoice and loss exception 34 min

Subjects unlock in sequence as you progress.

Strengths

• A connected order path from signal to delivery proof
• Quantitative calculations with data and authority boundaries
• Applied transport, distribution and exception cases

Evidence basis

Framework concepts link to ASCM, GS1, MIT and Oracle sources. The numbers and cases are original teaching examples; citation does not imply endorsement or guaranteed outcomes.

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