Advanced Certificate in Optimizing Warehousing and Logistics: ACOWL™

1. Logistics and Supply Chain Overview (4 Hours)

Logistics is the core of supply chain management. Fundamental concepts include managing logistics as a cohesive system, understanding trade-offs to present a logistics strategy that aligns with organizational strategy, and finding the most effective mix of revenue producing services for the cost of providing that service. Measurement and continuous improvement are emphasized as ways to meet and exceed the pressures of globalization and the steadily increasing customer expectations for logistics. 

Module 1 will focus on the following three subpoints:

• Logistics Fundamentals
• Logistics Strategy Within the Supply Chain
• Lean Logistics

2. Capacity Planning and Demand Management (4 hours)

Logistics capacity planning and related decisions rely on efficient forecasts, so it is important to

understand the concepts behind forecasting and its application to logistics decisions. This involves understanding how logistics can help direct and prioritize in order to better match supply to demand.  The effective acquisition of inventory also requires a collaboration between procurement and logistics. 

Module 2 will focus on the following four subpoints:

• Aligning Supply and Demand
• Translating Demand into Capacity Planning
• Demand Management
• Sourcing and Procurement of Inventory

3. Order Management (4 hours)

At the core of the logistics process is the customer order, which serves as the trigger setting logistics in motion. Order management activities include a variety of tasks aimed at planning, designing, and controlling processes which manage and execute customers’ orders.

At the core of these processes is customer relationship management since every decision and activity that logistics takes should be with the customer in mind. By developing a customer service management strategy, logistics can deliver on the seven rights of customer service which enhances long-term customer satisfaction and creates lifetime customers.

Module 3 will focus on the following three subpoints:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Order Management
• Customer Service Management (CSM)

4. Inventory and Warehouse Management (4 hours)

Inventory and warehouse management involves maintaining inventory levels in a manner that aligns with the business strategy and goals, supporting the coordination of supply and demand, while protecting inventory value.

Warehouse management also entails the movement of materials and goods into and out of storage efficiently, safely, and with minimal inventory damage.

As business practices and technology evolve, inventory and warehouse management must adapt to new distribution channels and customer/consumer expectations by creating new processes that deliver the desired results.

Module 4 will focus on the following five subpoints:

• Inventory Management in Logistics
• Inventory Management Methods
• Inventory Control
• Warehousing Strategy and Management
• Packing and Materials Handling

5. Transportation (4 hours)

Transportation moves goods and services across geographic lines, between where products are produced and where they are consumed, while allowing for competitive growth. At home and abroad, advances in transportation through technology and design have broadened the markets for both domestic and international competition.

The wider a product’s distribution and the greater its demand, the more manufacturers can leverage transportation’s economies of cost.

Logistics professionals are responsible for moving inventory throughout the firm’s supply chain and to the firm’s customers. They can use a combination of private and purchased transportation services with access to various modes of transportation, offering flexible solutions for transporting product from origin to destination. 

Module 5 will focus on the following three subpoints:

• Transportation Fundamentals
• Modes of Transportation
• Transportation Management

6. Global Logistics Considerations (4 hours)

For the global logistics manager, successful participation in international trade requires awareness and knowledge of a number of key components, including but not limited to:

• The infrastructure and systems of the countries to which it will export goods
• The regulations which govern each country that its shipments will travel through
• The customs clearing and documentation requirements for each shipment as dictated by each country and transportation mode used
• An understanding of how it can reach mutual agreement on the terms of sale, methods of payment and finance terms trade participants; and the process of determining the currency to be used for payment, transfer pricing and potential understanding of how free/foreign trade zones influences duties paid and total landed costs. 

Module 6 will focus on the following five subpoints:

• Infrastructure and System
• Regulations
• Customs Clearing and Documentation
• Finance and Payment Options
• Currency and Tax Considerations

7. Logistics Network Design (4 hours)

The design of the network of warehouses and transportation lanes enable supply to be provided at the place and time of demand most effectively. This involves choosing the optimal number, location, and type of warehouse facilities, which can be supported by using both manual and automated decision support tools. Risk management helps logistics professionals determine how they can help minimize uncertainty and provide more reliable organizational results.

Module 7  will focus on the following three subpoints:

• Facilities Planning
• Distribution Network Design
• Risk Management

8. Reverse Logistics and Sustainability (4 hours)

Companies around the globe use reverse logistics to manage their product returns in ways that actually turn the reverse flows into quantifiable value streams that not only contribute to the profitability of the organization, but also strengthen its triple bottom line (TBL) and its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.

These efforts make the organization more attractive to customers, suppliers, other supply chain participants, and to shareholders who value green initiatives, reduced carbon footprints and wiser usage of the world’s finite resources. 

Module 8 will focus on the following two subpoints:

• Reverse Logistics
• Sustainability