When you hear financial analysts and business owners say that supply chain management is everything, they’re kind of right. The popular umbrella term can be used to describe just about every aspect of every product-driven business. Supply chain management is an essential facet of modern business that has the power to prop up or bring down a company regardless of how amazing or important their product is.
Sounds important, right? That’s because it is!
If supply chain management is important, that goes double for supply chain management professionals. If you understand supply chain management, then you’ll likely never be out of a job again. The position’s importance and the advent of affordable and comprehensive online education means that there has never been a better time to learn about supply chain management.
Blue Planet Studio/ShutterstockWhat Is Supply Chain Management?
The products that you enjoy using every single day don’t miraculously appear right before you decide to pick them up for the very first time. They had to be conceptualized, designed, constructed from raw components, and packaged before they could be held in your hands. The supply chain consists of the entire journey that a product takes beginning from its raw components all the way into the consumer’s hands.1
Supply chain management is all about co-ordination. Ensuring that all of the links in a product’s supply chain are functioning efficiently and reliably is an supply chain management professional’s responsibility. And boy, what an important responsibility it truly is.
Best Online Supply Chain Management Courses
Exploring the vague concept of supply chain management is enough to make a person’s head spin. It sure does seem like a lot of ground to cover, doesn’t it? In spite of that complexity, the internet is full of streamlined and affordable online courses. These courses can get you prepared to take on a job in supply chain management in as little as six months.
Whether you prefer to learn in-person or online, it’s safe to say that your education needs will be well met by a brief search. To get you started though, we’ll start you off with a few of the best and most popular online supply chain management courses currently available.
Udemy – Supply Chain Fundamentals: Understanding the Basics
Learn all of the skills that you need to become a Supply Chain professional from the comfort of your own home with the popular online educator Udemy.
The Supply Chain Management Fundamentals course covers just about everything you need to know about the field. Interested students should be prepared to learn about patterns of demand, manufacturing processes, production plan strategies, and more.
Udemy’s Supply Chain Fundamentals course is taught over the course of 24 instructor-led and independent exercise. Priced at $99.99, it comes with a 30-day money back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied with the content.2
edX – Master Control in Supply Chain Management and Logistics
Students interested in mastering control of supply chains can learn a lot from the Master Control in Supply Chain Management and Logistics course offered by edX. This seven week course uses real case studies to examine and teach:
- Transport planning;
- Sales and operations planning;
- Material and capacity planning;
- Differentiation techniques, and;
- Other fundamental Supply Chain Management methods.
The highly-rated program is also free for those that are uninterested in having their assignments and exams graded or receiving a shareable certificate. Though you’ll likely have no problem paying the upgrade fee, which is well under $100 and includes unlimited access to the program’s course materials.3
Coursera – Supply Chain Management Specialization
Coursera is another reputable online educator that uses its intuitive online learning platform to offer highly-regarded classes from universities and colleges all over the world. Their incredibly popular Supply Chain Management Specialization course is offered by the prestigious Rutgers and expertly covers the fundamentals.
The specialization is composed of five courses. They are:
- Supply chain logistics;
- Supply chain operations;
- Supply chain planning;
- Supply chain sourcing, and;
- Supply chain management strategy.
The comprehensive course can be completed in as little as six months and requires no prior experience to get started.4
Conclusion
Today’s exploration into supply chain management is far from comprehensive. The field is far too vast to be able to understand its inner workings by reading just one article. But, if you take anything from our talk here, let it be this: the supply chain management job market is getting hotter by the minute.
It’s also never been easier to study either. The courses featured here are really just the tip of the iceberg. Take a little bit of time researching the vast sea of educational resources available to you online. You’ll no doubt discover even more fantastic and affordable options.