Off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all supply chain management solutions generally are ineffective. Supply chain managers, therefore, must tailor programs to meet specific product demands and best satisfy their customers. A new, three-day seminar at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mass Market or Variety: Creating the Right Supply Chain for Your Product, provides a framework for managers to address these issues. Through lectures, case studies, and presentations by industry executives about their own experiences, participants will learn about successful supply chain strategies and how to adapt them to their own situations.

Among the other subjects participants will study: how to cope with demand uncertainty; understanding supply chain dynamics through competitive simulation; how to effectively use mass customization, Efficient Consumer Response, Quick Response, and other inventory-based strategies; how to best utilize new technologies to improve inventory management; and how to use fast, flexible manufacturing techniques in support of customization.

The program is designed for senior managers responsible for supply chain management, including distribution, logistics, and operations managers as well as marketing, quality, and customer-service executives directly affected by supply chain issues. The course will be taught by Marshall L. Fisher, Wharton professor of Operations and Information Management and co-director of Wharton's Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management. He will base course work on his innovative theory of supply chain design.

Mass Market or Variety: Creating the Right Supply Chain for Your Product

Sponsor: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Date: March 15–18, 1998

Venue: Philadelphia

Cost: $2,975, includes materials, lodging, and meals

Contact: Wharton Executive Education at (800) 255-3932 or (215) 898-1776

More than 170 technical sessions focusing on integrated resource management will be featured at the APICS 1997 annual conference and exhibit in Washington, D.C. Professionals in the fields of logistics, manufacturing, materials management, operations, and quality control will find a variety of educational opportunities during the three-day program.

Among the many topics to be covered are supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, production and inventory management, supplier partnerships, and vendor-managed inventories.

In addition to the regular educational seminars, the conference will offer personnel-management workshops, optional pre-conference sessions on agile manufacturing and increasing profits by eliminating non—value-added functions, and workshops on selecting and implementing a manufacturing computer system.

APICS 1997 Annual Conference and Exhibition

Sponsor: APICS

Date: Oct. 26–29, 1997

Venue: Washington, D.C., Convention Center

Cost: $850 for APICS members, $975 for non-members

Contact: APICS at (800) 444-2742 or (703) 237-8344

The Fritz Institute of Global Logistics will offer a six-day course on the "Elements of Global Supply Chain Management." The program's objective is to provide a comprehensive overview of the global supply chain, while laying a solid foundation in the techniques of managing a global operation.

The course is designed for new or entry-level personnel and recent college graduates working in international logistics. It is directed toward individuals seeking specific knowledge and skills to advance their management careers.

Instructors for this and other courses offered by Fritz's Global Logistics Institute include academics and industry professionals. The curriculum features lectures, discussions, and student team research of case studies. Guest lecturers and best-practices case studies supplement the lesson plan.

Elements of Global Supply Chain Management

Sponsor: Fritz Institute of Global Logistics

Date: Nov. 10–15, 1997

Venue: Chicago

Cost: $2,500

Contact: Fritz Institute of Global Logistics at (800) 503-5333 or (415) 904-8087

Supply chain management has become increasingly complex, as chains are created, changed, and redesigned as a result of advanced technologies, product innovations, narrowing supplier bases, and changing regulatory policies. The Supply Chain Management Program at UCLA's Anderson School aims to help participants understand how these changes affect supply chain strategies and how best to take advantage of them.

The program also focuses intensely on learning how to integrate supply chain goals into overall corporate strategy. It addresses how globalization, channel strategies, and outsourcing affect supply chain design and management.

Lectures cover such topics as resource- and capability-based competition, supply chain dynamics, the relationship between product design/new-product introductions and supply chain management, how sourcing decisions affect supply chain strategies, and customer-support issues.

Faculty for the program hold chairs in operations and technology management, strategy and organization, and management strategy and policy at UCLA. Other speakers include academicians and consultants specializing in supply chain issues.

Supply Chain Management Program

Sponsor: The Anderson School at UCLA

Date: Dec. 8–12, 1997

Venue: UCLA, Los Angeles

Cost: $4,500, includes materials, meals, and lodging

Contact: The Anderson School at (310) 825-2001

University Connections, an independent executive-education organization, will offer a two-day seminar on advanced principles of supply chain management. The program is designed for professionals with responsibilities in manufacturing and operations, distribution, product development, finance, information technology, and sales and marketing.

The intensive course will include interactive sessions, presentations, readings, case studies, small-team discussions, and analytical exercises. Topics to be explored include: coping with uncertainties in supply chains, effective metrics and analytical tools, evaluating new supply chain networks, diagnostics for supply chain performance, inventory/service tradeoffs, manufacturing flexibility, and implementing cross-functional approaches to operations.

Faculty for Integrated Supply Chain Management include Professors Warren Hausman, Hau Lee, Robert Carlson, and Thomas Kosnik, all of Stanford University. The program also features presentations by experts in the supply chain and strategic planning from Hewlett-Packard.

Integrated Supply Chain Management

Sponsor: University Connections

Date: Feb. 4–5, 1998

Venue: Palo Alto, Calif.

Cost: $2,975

Contact: University Connections at (415) 326-9212

Northeastern University in Boston now offers a Graduate Certificate in Logistics Management. The certificate program is open to industry professionals as well as to full- and part-time MBA students.

The program, designed to prepare those about to enter the field and to update the knowledge of professionals already working in logistics, consists of five graduate-level courses. Topics include global logistics, corporate logistics management, an overview of the transportation industry, and the negotiation process. The courses emphasize a solid understanding of structure and organization as well as analytical skills.

Students will gain an understanding of real-life applications of logistics theory as they discuss current issues in public policy and strategic issues affecting logistics operations. They also will benefit from regular classroom discussions with top-level logistics executives.

Courses are offered weekday evenings, and are sequenced so the certificate may be earned in one academic year. The program's experienced faculty is led by Robert C. Lieb, Walsh Research Professor and professor of transportation and logistics at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration.

Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Transportation Management

Sponsor: Northeastern University

Date: Applications due by Nov. 15, 1997, for admission to the Winter Quarter

Venue: Boston, Mass.

Cost: $1,350 per course

Contact: Dennis Ramsier, Graduate School of Business Administration, at (617) 373-4264

Georgia Institute of Technology has added a "virtual university" for logistics professionals to its extensive logistics curriculum. The new program, known as the Logistics Management Institute (LMI), is headed up by Dr. Edward H. Frazelle. Frazelle also directs the Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech, which offers materials-handling and logistics seminars in a more traditional format.

"In a group of 100 logistics professionals, fewer than five have had formal training in the field," says Frazelle. To address that need for on-the-job education, LMI offers individual study courses with a strong orientation toward logistics and supply chain management.

LMI courses also include companion software. They make extensive use of textbooks, monographs, and other readings. The core curriculum consists of eight courses that cover the entire range of logistics operations. This series of courses leads to a Logistics Management certificate.

Logistics Management Institute

Sponsor: Georgia Institute of Technology

Date: Ongoing

Venue: Atlanta, Ga.

Cost: Varies with length of individual course

Contact: Logistics Management Institute at (770) 984-5448

The theme of this year's National Industrial Transportation League's annual meeting is "Partnerships in Transportation." NITL, the nation's largest shipper organization, focuses on influencing public policy that affects transportation and logistics operations.

Keynote presentations feature John Mariotti, author of The Power of Partnerships, and Tom Gunn of AT&T Solutions, who will speak on "21st Century Manufacturing: The Age of Real-Time Enterprise."

In addition to general policy-making and committee meetings, the annual meeting will feature a variety of educational sessions of interest to logistics and transportation managers. Concurrent with the meetings and educational program is NITL's annual TransComp trade show of software and information services.

National Industrial Transportation League Annual Meeting and TransComp '97

Sponsor: National Industrial Transportation League

Date: Nov. 16–19, 1997

Venue: Anaheim, Calif.

Cost: Members $545, non-members $595

Contact: National Industrial Transportation League at (703) 524-5011

At a time when products can be so similar that customers may be unable to distinguish one from another, the quality of customer service within an organization may make the difference between a sale or lost business. It also greatly influences the customer's level of satisfaction and loyalty to the product or manufacturer.

This course, offered by the University of Wisconsin—Madison's Management Institute, will teach attendees proven methods of measuring internal and external customer-satisfaction levels. Instructors will guide students as they learn how to apply these methods to their own companies.

The Customer-Service Challenge

Sponsor: University of Wisconsin—Madison

Date: Nov. 19–21, 1997

Venue: Madison, Wis.

Cost: $995

Contact: University of Wisconsin—Madison, Management Institute at (800) 292-8964 or (608) 262-9791

A two-day workshop offered by the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) will provide attendees with the tools they need to master change in a warehouse environment by tapping the force of human nature. Lectures and hands-on exercises will examine how to deal with resistance to change, identify obstacles to change, measure receptivity to change, create "culture-change teams," and challenge supervisors to lead change initiatives. The highly interactive format combines theory with practical, real-world problems and solutions. It combines lectures, discussions, role-playing, and simulation to demonstrate applications.

The workshop is designed for vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors of logistics, warehousing, and distribution for manufacturing, retail, distribution, and third-party logistics companies. The instructors are organizational consultants Jo Ellen Gabel and Saul Pilnick of Human Systems Inc.

Using Change Management Tools to Boost Profitability in the Warehouse

Sponsor: Warehousing Education and Research Council

Date: Nov. 4–5, 1997

Venue: Scottsdale, Ariz.

Cost: $635

Contact: Warehousing Education and Research Council at (630) 990-0001.