IS.406

Undergraduate

Supply Chain management (SCM) is about how suppliers, producing firms and logistics service providers collaborate together to serve the final customer. Recent rapid developments in information and communications technology (ICT) have led to exciting changes in SCM and brought it from the backroom to the forefront of businesses and is recognized as a key aspect of competitive strategy. In this context, the course introduces students to large-scale, real-world supply chain processes and their key operational choices and managerial decisions. Taking business-centered rather than technology-centered perspectives, students are introduced to SCM software applications and relevant technologies. We explore strategic opportunities and practical challenges of their applications in global operations. The main focus, taking a supply chain IT user’s perspective, remains on discovering business requirements and operational constraints, and understanding how to lever the applicable technologies surveyed. Beyond the typical shipper’s logistics and supply chain integration project management concerns, selected special industry topics will be examined: third-party logistics, continental trucking, global freight shipping, logistic depot and seaport terminal operations.

Objectives
Upon completing the course, students will
• Understand key logistics and supply chain concepts and strategies, and the role IT plays to help reduce cost and provide strategic advantages.
• Know the range of information and communication technologies that supports SCM and understand how they may be employed.
• Understand the complexity in the integration of supply chain activities, as well as the integration of disparate technologies deployed to support the challenges in physical coordination.

Pre-requisite: None (For 3rd or 4th year students only)