Program Objectives

The following list represents the Key Program Objectives (KPO) for the Appleton Greene Supply Chain corporate training program.

Supply Chain – Part 1- Year 1Appleton Greene

  1. Part 1 Month 1 Internal Analysis – The first stage of the program is to understand the history, current position and future outlook relating to supply chain process improvement, not just for the organization as a whole, but for each individual department, including: customer service; e-business; finance; globalization; human resources; information technology; distribution; management; logistics and production. This will be achieved by implementing a process within each department, enabling the head of that department to conduct a detailed and thorough internal analysis to establish the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats in relation to supply chain process improvement and to establish a MOST analysis: Mission; Objectives; Strategies; Tasks, enabling them to be more proactive about the way in which they plan, develop, implement, manage and review supply chain process improvement, within their department.
  2. Part 1 Month 2 Global Supply-Chain Trends – It is vital that an organization considers the major global supply chain trends and determines how it will address each of them as part of their integrated global supply chain strategy. Some of the current trends we would suggest an organization needs to research and evaluate include: E2E Collaboration, Lean Six Sigma, Management of Complexity, Physical Network Optimization Methods, Risks & Opportunities of Globalization, Focus on Cost & Working Capital and maybe the Impact of Sustainability if this is an internal or external requirement.
  3. Part 1 Month 3 Supply-Chain Sustainability – This workshop features a practical guide to continuous improvement, and can help companies to overcome challenges by offering practical guidance on how to develop a sustainable global supply chain process, based on the values and principles of the Global Compact. Featuring numerous examples of good corporate practice, the guide will assist companies in setting priorities for action that will lead to continuous supply chain performance improvement.
  4. Part 1 Month 4 Developing Countries – Over the last three decades, global supply chains (GSCs) have increasingly gained importance in linking developing countries to international markets. Today a substantial share of the production processes of GSCs is taking place in developing countries. For developing countries and their enterprises, GSCs offer opportunities as well as challenges. While greatly facilitating access to developed countries’ markets, GSCs also demand greater efficiency and competence from suppliers. For developing countries, it is thus important to implement economic policies that while increasing the competitiveness of their enterprises, also improve their reliability and efficiency.
  5. Part 1 Month 5 Process Integration – Integrating a supply chain is an incremental process, with priority typically given to the highest potential returns on investment. Based on strategies, needs, and potential returns, different priorities and approaches may be assigned to the supply chains of different segments of a business.
  6. Part 1 Month 6 Manufacturing – Process improvement or Kaizen as the Japanese refer to it, is the continual improvement of efficiency, performance, competitive advantage and utilization of plant, equipment, labor, knowledge, planning, inventory, production processes and tasks by drawing on knowledge resources within the business and the use of lean manufacturing principles and operations management concepts to continually improve the value stream and its components. Process improvement theory and problem solving framework is based on the use of the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) cycle which was advocated by Dr W Deming, the American quality guru. Process improvement is a continual process, which should involve everyone at all levels of the organization to become an inherent component of company culture.
  7. Part 1 Month 7 Execution – As supply chains become increasingly global and more complex, consumers become increasingly demanding, and markets become more and more competitive. All of these developments call for smarter, more efficient supply chains. One turnkey approach is supply chain execution convergence (SCEC), a concept first named by Gartner in 2009 but just beginning to pick up the momentum needed to revolutionize supply chains worldwide.
  8. Part 1 Month 8 Supply & Demand – A perennial problem, which management thinker, Peter Drucker, labelled one of the ‘great divides’ in management more than 40 years ago, is the disconnect between supply and demand. This divide is a key reason why companies are so often trapped into selling excess products well below market rates or lose sales because an inventory shortage makes it impossible to fulfil demand. Bringing the supply and demand sides of an enterprise together can represent a significant opportunity for efficiency and value creation.
  9. Part 1 Month 9 Monitoring – Knowledge is power. The key is to ensure your data is comprehensive and up to date. If you have an effective data monitoring process, you are part way to having a successful supply chain management process. This data should incorporate everything from performance figures to supplier information. For example, make sure all your supplier contracts are reviewed on a regular basis to account for changes in regulation.
  10. Part 1 Month 10 Competitive Infrastructure – Because of its importance in maintaining and improving economic competitiveness, transportation infrastructure has become a frequent subject of discussion around the world. In the United States, for instance, those discussions reflect concerns about whether the country has the necessary infrastructure to compete with expanding economies like China and India. Similarly, it is just as important to ensure that your company, has an infrastructure in place that enables you to provide a better service than your competitors. We aim to implement a process that ensures that you do.
  11. Part 1 Month 11 Worldwide Logistics – Organizations adopt numerous business improvement methodologies to improve business performance. Logistics as well as supply chain management has been regarded to be the crucial factor for the companies to obtain competitive edge. In fact, logistics as well as supply chain management has received attention since the early 1980s, yet conceptually the management of supply chains is not particularly well understood, and many clients have highlighted the necessity of clear definition constructs and conceptual frameworks on supply chain management.
  12. Part 1 Month 12 Performance Measurement – The process of choosing appropriate supply chain performance measures is difficult due to the complexity of these systems. This workshop presents an overview and evaluation of the performance measures used in supply chain models and also presents a framework for the selection of performance measurement systems for manufacturing supply chains.