Supply Chain Excellence

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Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

Supply Chain Excellence

This course is part of Supply Chain Excellence Specialization

Instructor: Rudolf Leuschner, Ph.D.

29,016 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

497 reviews

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

1 week at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

91%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

497 reviews

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

1 week at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

91%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Assessments

13 assignments

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Supply Chain Excellence Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

Supply chain leaders manage products, information, and finances to create an efficient, effective supply chain. With this online certificate program, you’ll study at the graduate level to gain the knowledge you need to advance in your career.

You’ll gain a thorough understanding of the three distinct flows that create supply chain excellence in any company. Learn from lectures, readings, discussions and quizzes designed by faculty from the Department of Supply Chain Management at Rutgers University. You’ll also benefit from graded feedback from the instructor and live sessions with groups of high-caliber peers. This course will provide you with an introduction and head-start to the Supply Chain Excellence MasterTrack.

Supply Chains are made up of a network of companies from the initial raw materials to the ultimate consumer of the finished product. Within this network of companies, there are three ongoing flows: products, information, and finances. To properly understand the supply chain and manage it, you need to understand all of the flows. The first of five courses in this Specialization will focus on the flow of products, information, and finances in the Supply Chain. This module will cover not only the introduction of the course but also the overall product flow goals that supply chain executives are trying to accomplish when building a supply chain.

What's included

15 videos6 readings5 assignments3 discussion prompts

15 videosTotal 47 minutes

Welcome to Supply Chain Excellence1 minute
How do products flow in Supply Chain?3 minutes
Product Flow goals - efficiency4 minutes
Product Flow goals - flexibility3 minutes
Product Flow goals - resiliency2 minutes
Lean Principles Overview4 minutes
The Seven Wastes4 minutes
Just-in-Time5 minutes
Jidoka (error proofing)2 minutes
The Agile Supply Chain3 minutes
Implement Agility3 minutes
Agile versus Efficient2 minutes
The Resilient Supply Chain3 minutes
Supply Chain Risk Factors4 minutes
Risk vs. Efficiency, can we afford it?4 minutes

6 readingsTotal 80 minutes

Logistics Managers Index15 minutes
Lean Thinking Reading by Womak and Jones20 minutes
Zara's Supply Chain10 minutes
The Triple-A Supply Chain15 minutes
Building a Resilient Supply Chain10 minutes
Your Resilient Supply Chain10 minutes

5 assignmentsTotal 120 minutes

Supply Chain Goals10 minutes
Lean Principles10 minutes
Agility10 minutes
Risk30 minutes
Managing Product Flow in the Supply Chain60 minutes

3 discussion promptsTotal 30 minutes

Lean Tools10 minutes
Agile Tools10 minutes
Risk Tools10 minutes

The second of three flows is how information moves in the Supply Chain. In this module, you will learn how information enhances the supply chain. Next, we will cover information systems within the firm. Lastly, we will cover how information reaches customers. Specifically, we will cover blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, as well as machine learning.

What's included

12 videos5 readings4 assignments2 discussion prompts

12 videosTotal 48 minutes

Professor + Course Intro2 minutes
Information Flow in the Supply Chain2 minutes
Local Information Systems3 minutes
Internal Information Systems7 minutes
External Information Systems8 minutes
Blockchain6 minutes
Cryptocurrencies3 minutes
Supply Chain Applications of Blockchain3 minutes
The Next Frontier in Technology4 minutes
AI Background5 minutes
ML Background2 minutes
The Future of AI & ML3 minutes

5 readingsTotal 70 minutes

Supply Chain IT In action10 minutes
Blockchain technology for supply chains—A must or a maybe?10 minutes
How Blockchain Will Redefine Supply Chain Management30 minutes
Article: IBM Sterling SC Insights with Watson10 minutes
Article: 20 things to know about AI for SC10 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 120 minutes

IT Infrastructure30 minutes
Blockchain30 minutes
Managing Information Flow: AI and Machine Learning30 minutes
Information Systems30 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

How Blockchain Will Redefine Supply Chain Management10 minutes
Potential to add value10 minutes

Welcome to the third and final flow in the supply chain: finances. In this module, we introduce the financial aspect of SCM, while covering the basic financial statements as well as the cash conversion cycle, an important metric that combines SCM and finance.

What's included

10 videos8 readings4 assignments3 discussion prompts

10 videosTotal 34 minutes

Managing Financial Flow2 minutes
What is Financial Flow?3 minutes
Supply Chain Financing2 minutes
Financial Statements3 minutes
The Balance Sheet5 minutes
The Income Statement4 minutes
The Cash Flow Statement4 minutes
The Cash Conversion Cycle4 minutes
Calculate the CCC3 minutes
CCC Benchmarking3 minutes

8 readingsTotal 90 minutes

Why Operations and Supply Managers Need to Speak the Language of Business15 minutes
Managing the Financial Supply Chain15 minutes
Beginners' Guide to Financial Statement10 minutes
Balance Sheet10 minutes
Income Statement10 minutes
Sources and Uses of Funds10 minutes
A Look at the Cash Conversion Cycle10 minutes
How Has Apple's Cash Conversion Cycle Changed Over The Years?10 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 100 minutes

Lesson 1: Quiz10 minutes
Lesson 2 Quiz30 minutes
Cash Conversion Cycle30 minutes
Financial Background30 minutes

3 discussion promptsTotal 30 minutes

The Language of Business10 minutes
The Supply Chain within Financial Statements10 minutes
Falling CCCs10 minutes

This module introduces the capstone project that you will complete over the course of this specialization. The project will be due at the end of the fifth course, but each of the following courses will have checkpoints that will provide you with feedback.

What's included

3 readings1 discussion prompt

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(186 ratings)

Rudolf Leuschner, Ph.D.

Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

17 Courses458,936 learners

Offered by

Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

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5 stars
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Showing 3 of 497

Reviewed on Jan 18, 2026

Good Program, well structured. It would be better if we speak about sanctions, about re engineering of supply chains after COVID-19 shocks, and geopolitical fluctuations.

Reviewed on Oct 21, 2022

The course was really helpful to me. As a beginner and totally unaware of the SCM this helped me with all the basics. Way more to learn but the foundation is concrete.

Reviewed on Mar 20, 2021

So easy to understand and relate based on my current occupation and prior roles in Account Managment.

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Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.