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Lecture unit 1 provides an overview on the foundations of supply chain management. There are several topics that belong to this lecture unit such as purchasing and procurement management or the conflict of goals and the success factors.
The introduction section provides knowledge about the definition and activities of the supply chain, such as design, planning, operations, control and monitoring. This lecture unit also introduces the Supply Chain Operation Reference-Model (SCOR), which is a process reference model and a standard diagnostic tool for supply chain management. The other important content of this lecture unit is about offshoring of production, research and development. For example, it provides the reasons for relocating production facilities along with its benefits and drawbacks. At the end of the lecture, the students are expected to be able to describe the definition of supply chain management, understand the meaning of logistics and procurement as well as know the objectives and tasks of logistics.

Lecture unit 2 illustrates the material and inventory requirements in supply chain management. The large proportion of material costs in total production costs requires a cost-effective requirement and order planning to allow minimal costs of order and storage for continuous production. The tasks of materials management have to be matched with its competitive objectives – including purchasing, scheduling, logistics, consignment, strategy/ monitoring/ controlling and determination of consumption/ disposal/ recycling. In the process, the determination of material requirement, order planning and order release and the safety stock are important.

Lecture unit 3 provides several aspects that have to be considered in order to make the right decisions for procurement. For instance main topics are make and buy decision, procurement strategy or supply chain design. This lecture unit gives a systematic reason for a company to decide for making or buying. Furthermore, this lecture unit also provides a rating matrix that can be used to evaluate the advantages of several procurement strategies. The matrix displays that global sourcing is the best option, since it will reduce the costs, risks and improve the product performance. After attending this lecture unit, students are expected to be able to evaluate make or buy decisions, differentiate between core and non-core competencies, consider different procurement strategies, and understand supply chain design and process modelling within the SCOR-Model.

Lecture unit 4 offers an overview on procurement and purchasing management including acts of information provision, planning and control.These processes aim to make available the required purchase of an enterprise's objects in an appropriate form of transaction and transfer processes. In this lecture unit, the organization of procurement will be explained as well as the strategies and processes of project procurement. Further topics are supplier management and common tools (ABC-analysis, XYZ-analysis and C-part management).

Lecture unit 05 will explain different ways of handling goods and give an overview of improvements of the production process by lean principles.
Various types of warehouses and transportation systems will be named and explained in detail. Furthermore, the importance of lean principles in production systems is depicted and three different lean principles are characterized.

Lecture unit 6 provides knowledge about distribution logistics that link company’s production and sales side. It involves all storing and transportation of goods to the customer as well as the related information, managing and controlling activities. The lecture includes the decisive distribution site selection factors and enables you to evaluate different distribution structures as well as to name the main cost drivers. Furthermore, the idea off Efficient Customer Response is explained. Finally, the influence of modern telematics systems is highlighted and the meaning of Incoterms is described.

Lecture unit 7 aims to teach you the various modes of transport in international logistics. Recent developments in transport logistic and the increasing globalization of business and competition affect the logistic structures and the use of different modes of transport. In general, there are six different modes of transport (road freight transport, rail freight transport, inland waterway transport, sea freight transport, air freight transport, pipeline transport) which are mainly differentiated by the criteria´s law, infrastructure, costs and performance. The transport over long distances often requires the use of more than a single mode of transport – intermodal transport. The different modes are combined to form a transport chain. In most cases there is no change of the transport carrier. Due to the growing demand for smaller and faster freights transports CEP services (courier, express and parcel services) came about. The criteria to other markets include the weight and volume of the shipments, the speed of goods shipment and the services offered. After this lecture you should be able to distinguish the different modes of transportation with their characteristics, describe the current status of national and international modes of transport logistics and have an understanding of how the various modes can be combined.

Lecture unit 8 aims to teach you the structure, goals and tasks of disposal logistics. There has been a structural change in product life cycles which also effects the management of waste. Disposal logistics play an important role to actualize the different processes and strategies of waste management. This lecture is structured in the structural change in product life cycles and the Waste Act, the objectives and objects of disposal logistics, the strategies and processes of waste management, the services of disposal logistics, the internal and external management of waste disposal, evaluation of disposal concepts. After this lecture you should be able to:
know the targets and objects of disposal logistics, describe the strategies and processes of waste management, have an understanding of the different services of disposal logistics and distinguish between internal and external management of waste disposal.

In lecture unit 9, you will learn that controlling has the main function to check the errors and to take the corrective action. This can also help in the field of logistics to monitor complex structures and processes, to register irregularities and to optimize systems. In the course of the lecture the structure of cost accounting is explained. Moreover, important key figures of various areas are mentioned and the basics of benchmarking are explained.

Lecture unit 10 explains the subsequent steps of network design. Furthermore, certain relevant issues are highlighted. In the end, tools to help designing a suplly chain are presented.

Lecture unit 11 shows the essential parts of global supply chain management and global production structures. A brief view of supply network structure and different roles of its participants is given in the first section. Then, some typical strategies in supply chain management are presented, including cooperation, mass customization, postponement and outsourcing. Based on that, a global supply chain risk management model is introduced. In the last two sections, relevant knowledge about globalization in production is explained, e.g. the reasons and risks for global production and the factors and models for global site selection. At last, we further introduce the structures of global production network.

Lecture unit 12 considers IT systems and software tools and their impact on business processes. Evolution of business software started in the mid-sixties and offered features for planning and scheduling of materials and resources in production. In following decades functionality was increased to additionally cover sales and human resources. Recent development of IT systems stopped focusing on single companies and began integrating complete supply chains. Therefore, cross-company processes are implemented into business tools. Starting with basic ERP-systems, this lecture mentions various systems possibly used in daily business of a company and its supply chain. Each software is briefly described to give a comprehensive overview.

Lecture unit 13 deals with “Sustainable supply chain management” (SSCM) and all its subtopics. At the beginning, there is an overview about the global challenges which enhance the interest in SSCM with focus on the increasing variety of material consumption and the goals of the greenhouse gas reduction program. The following chapter provides a more detailed explanation based on environmental, social and economic issues. It shows the inputs and outputs of a value chain and offers strategies for improving sustainability. Chapter three is introducing the “sustainable product life cycle” in general and provides specific information about every stage. The last two sections present a software developed by FAPS for optimizing a supply chain and to assess the carbon footprint.
At the end of the lecture, the students are expected to be able to explain SSCM, the sustainable product life cycle and the carbon footprint.

This exercise focuses on the relationships between suppliers, OEMs, distributors and customers and the effects that can occur in a supply chain. It teaches how to build a supply chain, how to identify possible effects that occur and the requirements for an efficient supply chain.

Globalization is forcing enterprises to widen their reach and thus result in an internationalization of supply chains. Factors like risk management, location factor, country law and tax conditions as well as environmental have to be considered.
In order to identify and evaluate he optimal enterprise strategy, techniques like the SWOT analysis are popular approaches.

Due to a reoriented climate, policies of multiple countries companies are challenged by new regulations.
Reduction of the environmental harmful emissions like CO2 and nitrogen oxides often comes with a trade off in ongoing costs and investment expenses.
Hence, the last case study deals with the integration of environmental-friendly activities which is one of the most important challenges for the future supply chain management. It includes the current framework conditions of supply chain management and the development of solutions for green logistics. Furthermore, it introduces selected measures to reduce CO2.

The case studies are designed to be done by you.
 
You will have a timeslot of two weeks to prepare and answer each case study with the help of a template provided on StudOn.
But keep in mind that you will have to upload your results after two weeks. So, start early to solve the case study!
 
After these two weeks, each student has to correct the case study of another student.
Now you have another two weeks to control and check the answers given by your fellow student and to upload it again.

Solving and correcting the case studies is a not prerequiste for participation in the final exam! It is voluntary to prepare them.
But keep in mind: There will be questions about the case studies in the exam, therefore it is also recommended to solve them for your personal preparation.
 
Please try to work through the case studies according to our time schedule. That makes it easier to provide feedback quickly.

The lecture units are prepared by different supervisors. To know which supervisor you have to contact, just open the section "General information".
 
There are all details you need (name, phone, mail).
 
Please do not hesitate to ask in case of questions ocurring.

Basically, all slides of this course and the case studies will be relevant for the exam.
 
For the preparation of the exam we strongly recommend working through all the control questions of each unit in detail.
Please do not forget to repeat the case studies when preparing for the exam.
 
A compact list of all control questions will be published approximately 2 weeks before the examination.

All students must be registered using the vhb website:
 
To register for the ISCM exam, all students are required to use the vhb-portal (www.vhb.org).
 
A detailed description (in English language) of how to register is published here.
 
Please check the dates for registration, but also de-registration via the vhb-portal!!!
 

Additional registration for students from FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg:
 
Students from FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg who take this course as “Vertiefungsmodul” are required to register via “meinCampus”, too.
To take this course as "Wahlpflichtfach", a confirmation of Dr. Oliver Kreis (oliver.kreis@mb.uni-erlangen.de) is required.
 
All other students from FAU who take the course as “Wahlfach” will not be able to register using “meinCampus”; vhb.org for registration is enough.
 
Additional registration for students from other universities:
Students from all other universities, please contact your local examination office (Prüfungsamt) if any additional registration for the exam is required.

In the examination all questions will be offered in both languages: English and German.
 
Answers will also be accepted in both languages.

The published list of questions is no reduction of the content relevant for the exam!
 
It is a list of the most important questions about the lecture as a whole and we recommend to prepare it in detail.
 
But it is absolutely not the only content that is important for the exam!

The content of the lecture consists of the lecture units together with some explanatory videos and control questions.
 
There is also a video recording for each lecture availible giving you a short review about the content.

For any questions regarding the content of the units, we are happy to support you by telephone or email.
Please see the list of contacts for that purpose.

In general, nothing is mandatory. But keep in mind that the exam will contain questions about the lecture units and the case studies, too.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to work trough the entire content carefully.

Not mandatory, but strongly recommended:
 
1) Work through the control questions of each lecture unit.
Use the opportunity to send your answers or questitons to the supervisors at any time.
 
2) Upload the solved case studies and correct the case study of a fellow student.

3) Work through additional reading material of the case studies.
Case studies, including the provided additional reading material, are relevant for the exam.

There are control questions at the end of each virtual lecture. It is not mandatory to answer all these control questions or to send them in.
 
BUT it is absolutely recommended to answer them! They are designed to help checking if you understood the important parts of each lecture.
Furthermore, they are very helpful to be prepared for the exam.

The online tests are designed to keep you working with this course through the whole semester.
We recommend you to work through the questions.

Please keep in mind, that working through the online tests is not enough for passing the exam!

Date
The examination will usually take place just a few weeks after the end of the semester:
- For the winter term that will be between middle and end of February
- For the summer term that will be between middle and end of July
 
The exact date will be announced approximately 2-6 weeks before the end of the respective semester.
 
Location and Time
The examination will regularly take place in Erlangen.
 
For students from universities besides FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg there is also a possiblity to write the exam at their home university. For this, you must find a professor at your home university who agrees to supervise the execution of the exam and send me that information immediately after the publication of the examination date. 
 
The exact time and room number of the exam will be announced approximately one or two weeks prior to the exam.
Please make sure to check the course homepage and your emails.

Please keep in mind: We do not have any influence on the date and location of the exam. As soon as there is any new information about the exam, it will be published immediately.