Open Enrollment

Continuing education is important not only for personal career development but also for learning new supply chain strategies and tactics. Here are a just a few examples of upcoming professional education programs around the world.

Make the numbers work for you

In the corporate world, money talks. So even if you work in supply chain management, you need to be able to speak the language of finance and accounting. But don't worry if you're not a math genius; the Finance and Accounting seminar offered by Vanderbilt University's Executive Development Institute will teach you how to extract vital information from financial data and use it to improve decision making, performance, and profits.

Participants will leave this CSCMP co-sponsored program knowing how to measure financial performance and analyze financial statements. They will also be able to apply accounting principles to evaluate product and customer profitability and to measure their departments' performance.

Program: Vanderbilt University Executive Development Institute's Finance and Accounting seminar
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Dates: February 11?13, 2008
Info: www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/Programs/exec-ed/

Integrating supply chains in a global context

At the heart of this program, jointly offered by CSCMP and the Georgia Institute of Technology Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, are two critically important subjects: integrated supply chains and global operations. Through seminars taught by wellknown experts, participants will learn about planning, designing, and operating highly effective, integrated supply chains in the context of global operations.

Topics include: strategic supply chain concepts; integrating the essential elements of supply chain execution; increasing shareholder value through supply chain management; planning and forecasting; and supply chain issues in Asia, India, Europe, and Latin America. Participants also will participate in a case study and an interactive supply chain game.

Program: CSCMP and Georgia Institute of Technology Supply Chain & Logistics Institute's Global Supply Chain Management Program
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Dates: March 3?7, 2008
Info: www.dlpe.gatech.edu/scl/sc

Online certificate evaluates purchasing skills

The Senior Professional in Supply Management (SPSM) online certification program offered by Next Level Purchasing focuses on the practical skills purchasing professionals need to deliver cost savings for their organizations. Courses cover the following topics: Microsoft Excel for Purchasing Professionals, 14 Purchasing Best Practices, Mastering Purchasing Fundamentals, Microsoft Project for Purchasing Professionals, Savings Strategy Development, and Supply Management Contract Writing.

Each course consists of eight lessons lasting 30 to 60 minutes each plus a supplementary reading. When students have completed all of the courses with a quiz score of 70 percent or higher, they may take the exam, which consists of 90 questions covering material from the classes.

Program: Next Level Purchasing's Senior Professional in Supply Management online certification program
Info: www.nextlevelpurchasing.com/spsm.html

Step back and see the big picture

It's easy to get bogged down in day-to-day details. Supply chain success, however, depends on stepping back to see the big picture now and then. Designing and Leading Competitive Supply Chains, a CSCMP co-sponsored course at Pennsylvania State University, will provide this elevated view.

The course will help participants to develop supply chain systems that are aligned with their companies' strategies by focusing on practices that enhance speed, flexibility, and competitive differentiation. It will also help them create a framework for solving a specific problem within their organizations.

This course can be taken as part of Smeal College's Center for Supply Chain Research Certificates in Supply Chain Management and Supply Chain Leadership. CSCMP members receive a discounted tuition of $5,850.

Course: Designing and Leading Competitive Supply Chains
Program: Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of Business Executive Education Program and the Center for Supply Chain Research
Location: University Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Dates: March 16?21 and Sept. 21?26, 2008
Info: www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/dlsc.html

Interdisciplinary degree in planning, design, and operations

Delft University of Technology?s two-year Master of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Logistics (TIL) program gives students a systematic view of transportation and logistics. The program not only covers the technical aspects of transportation and logistics systems but also examines the organizational principles behind freight movements. Students will also learn the importance of cross-functional and interdisciplinary cooperation during planning, design, and operational processes. In addition, they will study decisionmaking strategies for complex problems in infrastructure development and planning.

The program is jointly operated by the departments of Civil Engineering and Geosciences; Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering; and Technology, Policy, and Management.

Program: Delft University of Technology?s Master of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Logistics
Location: Delft, the Netherlands
Info: www.til.tudelft.nl

Manage the power of relationships

By their very nature, supply chains depend on relationships for success. Accordingly, the University of Tennessee?s Integrated Supply Chain Management Program emphasizes the importance of relationships among demand planning, customer relationship management, operations, logistics, lean management, and resource/financial management.

This CSCMP co-sponsored program consists of six courses, which may be taken separately or as a series to receive a certification. To receive the certification, all of the courses should be completed within a two-year period.

Program: University of Tennessee Integrated Supply Chain Management Program
Courses and Dates:
• Supply Chain Management Strategy: February 18?20 and September 15?17, 2008
• Demand Management in the Supply Chain: February 20?22 and September 17?19, 2008
• Logistics and Operations in the Supply Chain: March 10?12 and October 20?22, 2008
• The Lean Enterprise and the Supply Chain: March 12?14 and October 22?24, 2008
• Supply Chain Resource Management: April 14?16 and November 10?12, 2008
• Integrative Supply Chain Experience: April 16?18 and November 12?14, 2008
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Info: http://SupplyChain.utk.edu