Professional skills and expertise
This module provides students with the knowledge and skills needed for building and maintaining an international supply chain.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• explain the strategic importance of supply chain management (SCM) in multinational companies
• map and analyze global supply chain networks
• identify supply chain risks and how to treat risk situations
• understand the link between quality management and risk management in supply chains
• understand the strategic consequences for a sustainable/green supply chain design
• evaluate key factors that have an impact on the supply chain design (e.g. product, process, global value chains, lifecycle aspects, legal requirements)
• understand the strategic concept of Lifecycle Management
• identify and implement product lifecycle concepts including lifecycle assessment (LCA) and lifecycle costing aspects
• make connections between LCA and sustainable/green supply chain models
• explain the advantages and disadvantages of specific collaboration models within supply chains (e.g. CPFR, ECR, QR programs)
• evaluate different strategic sourcing possibilities (with a specific focus on ethical and sustainable sourcing and the decision between insourcing and outsourcing in a global supply chain)
• describe how Industry 4.0 approaches can be applied in the supply chain Supply Chain 4.0)
• know how to implement Supply Chain 4.0 solutions
• understand the need for performance tracking and the usage of data analytics for supply chain efficiency
• deploy quality management tools for supply chain evaluation (e.g. risk-management)
• calculate lifecycle costs and to perform lifecycle assessments

• complete a structured analysis of supply chains in a team effort
• use visual communication tools to explain a supply chain network

• define the advantages of using digital/smart tools for specific reasons in the supply chain network
• discuss how digital tools can be used to organize and optimize international supply chains (including, for example, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, smart contract solutions using block chain technology, and tracking and tracing solutions)
• explain how digital technologies and M2M-communication can be used for supply chain (SC) efficiency, SC quality tracking, SC sustainability and to get reverse logistics and maintenance, repair and overhaul-processes in place

None

This module covers the following topics:
I. Fundamentals of international supply chain management (SCM)
• The role and importance of SCM in multinational companies
• SCM as a source of competitive advantage
• Current trends in international SCM
• Collaboration models within international supply chains (e.g. CPFR, ECR, QR programs)
• SCOR model
• Reverse logistics SC
• Quality management along the supply chain
• Performance measurement
II. Designing the international supply chain
• Supply chain design and its strategic option
• Supply chain resilience and strategies for dealing with supply chain risks
• Mapping and analyzing global supply chains
III. Sustainable supply chain management and the implications of Lifecycle Management
• Lifecycle Management as a strategic concept
• Discussing the influence of various lifecycle aspects for
the supply chain setup
• Product Lifecycle models (PLM) and supply chain design
• Process Lifecycle models and supply chain design
• PLM and product design incl. "Design for Excellence"
• Lifecycle assessment (LCA) and lifecycle costing and
the consequences for the supply chain design
• Ethical and sustainable sourcing considering the value of
LCA-evaluations
• Green/sustainable SCM - Models for a PLM supply chain solution?
IV. Industry 4.0 and Supply Chain (SC) 4.0: Digital technologies in supply chain management
• Industry 4.0 incl. Smart Factory & Smart Logistics
solution for digitally mastered supply chains
• Digital Supply Chain Compass and maturity assessment models as an implementation guideline
• Digital technologies and IT solutions for SCM
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• Tracking and tracing solutions in supply chains.
• Supply chain management tools
• Supply chain event management in a SC 4.0-setup.
• Supply chain analytics and reporting for efficiency tracking
• Big data analytics
• Artificial intelligence for supply chain optimization
• Smart contracts and the possibility of deploying block chain technology

Abraham, J. (2014). Product Information Management: Theory and Practice. Heidelberg/New York: Springer.
Bowen, S.J. (2018). Total Value Optimization - Transforming Your Global Supply Chain Into a Competitive Weapon. Duxbury, MA: SJDB, LLC.
Chopra, S. (2019). Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics and Supply Chain Management. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Guilherme, F. F. (2018). Operations and Supply Chain Strategy in the Industry 4.0 Era: Concepts and Implementation. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services LLC.
Gunal, M. (eds) (2019). Simulation for Industry 4.0: Past, Present, and Future. Cham: Springer International.
Jacobs, F. R., Berry, W., Whybark, D., & Vollmann, T. E. (2018). Manufacturing Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Jolliet, O. & Saade-Sbeih, M. (2015). Environmental Lifecycle Assessment. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Lysons, K. & Farrington, B. (2020). Procurement and Supply Chain Management. 10th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Martel, A., Klibi, W. (2016). Designing Value-Creating Supply Chain Networks. Cham: Springer International.
Monczka, R. M., Handfield, R. B., Giunipero, L. C., & Patterson, J. L. (2020). Purchasing & Supply Chain Management. 7th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning.
Muthu, S.S. (2015). Social Lifecycle Assessment: An Insight. Cham: Springer International.
Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., & Willcocks, L. P. (2015). The Handbook of Global Outsourcing and Offshoring. 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sonnemann, G. & Magni, M. (2015). Life Cycle Management (LCA Compedium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media.
Spence, J. B. (2008). Excellence by Design Leadership. 2nd ed. Gainesville: Flycaster & Co.
Stark, J. (2005). Product Lifecycle Management: 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realization. Springer: Wiesbaden.
Udroiu, R. & Bere, P. (2018). Product Lifecycle Management - Technology and Applications. London: Intechopen Limited.
Ustundag, A. & Cevikcan, E. (2018). Industry 4.0: Managing the Digital Transformation. Cham: Springer International.
Watson, M., Hoormann, S., Cacioppi, P., & Jayaraman, J (2017). Supply Chain Network Design: Understanding the Optimization behind Supply Chain Design Projects. New York: Aspen Blue Publishing.
Wisner, J., Tan, K.-C., & Leong, G. K. (2019). Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach. 5th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning.

• Lecture and discussion (in-class or online)
  
• Self-study (blended learning)
  
• Group work
  
• Supply chain simulation
  
• Case studies

Integrated module exam (immanent examination character):

• Term paper and presentation (80%)
  
• Class participation (20%)