COURSE DESCRIPTION

If money makes the world go ‘round, inventory makes logistics go ‘round. The planning, storing, moving, and accounting for inventory are the basics of logistics; inventory availability is the most important aspect of customer service; and inventory carrying costs are typically the most expensive and risky aspect of logistics and supply chain management.

Recognition of the critical role of inventory in supply chain management has launched a variety of industry-wide inventory reduction initiatives including lean manufacturing, lean logistics, CPFR, six-sigma, efficient consumer response (ECR), quick response in the textiles industry, continuous flow manufacturing in electronics manufacturing, and just-in-time in auto manufacturing. Despite all these initiatives to reduce inventory in the supply chain – inventory levels for most companies have remained the same or increased. In addition, there remain legitimate, value-added forms of inventory in the supply chain including service inventory, EOQ inventory, pipeline inventory, contingency inventory, safety stock, efficient manufacturing inventory, and efficient procurement inventory.

Managing these inventories to simultaneously increase fill rates and inventory turns is the basis for the principles featured in this course. We address in turn inventory terms and notations, inventory management performance measures, inventory activity profiling and data mining, forecasting best practices and systems, order quantity engineering, replenishment schemes, fill rate and safety stock optimization, procurement and purchasing, deployment strategies, inventory organization requirements, and inventory management system alternatives.

DIRECTOR

Edward H. Frazelle, Ph.D., founding director of the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute (SCL) at Georgia Tech and President and CEO of Logistics Resources International, directs SCL’s certificate program, the Logistics Management Series. As an educator, Dr. Frazelle has trained more than 20,000 professionals in the principles of world-class logistics and has assisted more than 100 corporations and governmental agencies in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, and South America in their pursuit of world-class logistics. He has authored, co-authored, and contributed to eight books and has written numerous articles on logistics which have appeared in various professional publications. He is a popular speaker at logistics conferences and symposiums both in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Frazelle’s achievements have been recognized by the Council of Logistics Management (Doctoral Research Grant), the Warehousing Education and Research Council (Burr Hupp Fellowship), the Material Handling Institute (MHEF Fellowship), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (Armstrong Award), and Kodak (Educational Grant Award).

As the valedictorian graduate from North Carolina State University, Dr. Frazelle received the M.S. degree from the School of Industrial Engineering. He continued his studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology and received the Ph.D. degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Following his graduation from Georgia Tech, he served on the faculty and subsequently established the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, the world’s largest center for logistics education and research. He continues to be an integral part of SCL’s educational program.

LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT SERIES APPROACH TO EDUCATION

Less than one-third of all logistics projects are successful. Logistics productivity in the United States is stagnant. Logistics technology is not delivering satisfactory business results and in many cases is counterproductive. One major contributing factor to the lack of success in logistics initiatives is that most professionals working in logistics are not educated in logistics. In fact, less than 5% of the professionals working in logistics have an undergraduate, graduate, or professional logistics degree. The Logistics Management Series was created to close the educational gap in logistics. The four comprehensive educational courses help prepare logistics professionals for current and future logistics problem solving situations. It was specifically designed for logistics professionals and managers, across the entire supply chain (procurement, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, warehousing, and retail), who need university-based education and credentials to prepare them for increasing responsibilities in logistics and supply chain management.

LOGISTICS STUDY TOURS

A facility tour culminates each course offering allowing attendees to see first hand the benefits of deploying comprehensive logistics strategies. The techniques and methodologies covered by Dr. Frazelle are illustrated by touring a distribution facility that is optimizing innovative strategies and advanced systems in logistics management such as dynamic picking systems, voice activation technologies, complex material handling systems, electronic repair services, and advanced productivity management systems.

COURSE OUTLINE

The Role of Inventory Management in Logistics and Business
     a. Inventory Master Planning
     b. Supply Chain Inventory Management      c. Manufacturing Inventory Management
     d. Distribution Inventory Management
     e. How to Recognize and Reduce Each Inventory Type

Inventory Management Facts and Fundamentals
What You Really Need to Know about Inventory Planning & Management
    a. The Bullwhip Effect and How to Counteract It
    b. Push vs. Pull Techniques and How to Decide
    c. How to Handle Stockouts

Inventory Activity Profiling and Data Mining
How to Analyze Inventory Data to Reduce Inventory Carrying Costs and Increase Customer Service Levels
    a. Inventory Value Analysis
    b. Inventory Data Mining Techniques
    c. How to Eliminate and Rationalize SKUs and Customers
    d. Key Pareto Analyses for Inventory Reduction

Inventory Performance, Cost and Value Measures
    a. Financial Measures of Inventory Performance
       i. Gross Margin Return on Inventory
       ii. Inventory Cost to Sales Ratios
    b. Productivity Measures of Inventory Performance
       i. Inventory Turns
       ii. Inventory Days On Hand
    c. Quality Measures of Inventory Performance
       i. Perfect Order Percentage
       ii. Fill Rate Measures and Benchmarks
       iii. Inventory Quality Ratio
       iv. How to Measure and Improve Inventory Accuracy
       v. Forecast Accuracy
    d. Benchmarks for Inventory Performance

Forecasting Tips, Tricks, Techniques, and Technology
    a. How to Reduce, Measure and Manage Demand Variability
    b. Collaborative Forecasting
    c. How to Improve Forecast Accuracy
    d. How to Forecast for Seasonality, Promotions, and Slow Moving Items
    e. How to Measure and Correct Forecast Bias
    f. Best-Fit Forecasting Techniques and Systems

Order Quantity Engineering
    a. How to Measure and Reduce Purchase Order Costs
    b. Economic Order Quantity Applications
    c. How to Set Optimal Order Quantities
    d. How to Reduce Supply Chain Lead Times
    e. How to Reduce Manufacturing Setup Times

Safety Stock Optimization and Fill Rate Planning
    a. How to Determine Optimal Safety Stock Levels
    b. How to Determine Optimal Service Levels

Inventory Control Policies
    a. How to Set and Manage Reorder Points
    b. Continuous Replenishment Systems
    c. Network Control Policies
       i. MRP
       ii. DRP
    d. Collaborative Planning, Forecasting & Replenishment (CPFR)

Inventory Deployment
    a. Cycle Counting Methods
    b. Dynamic Deployment
    c. Global Inventory Visibility
    d. Four-Wall Inventory Management
    e. Postponement Principles

WHAT ATTENDEES ARE SAYING

"Dr. Frazelle's principles of logistics problem solving have been instrumental in our dramatic reductions in inventory and increases in customer service levels."
- Scott Fleener, Vice President, Supply Chain Management, QWEST Communications

"Dr. Frazelle makes logistics theory practical. He puts logic back in logistics."
- Carliss Graham, Director, Transportation, BP

Every effort is made to present the course as advertised herein; however, circumstances may make it necessary to alter the schedule and/or presenters.

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