
Supply Chains for Manufacturing: Inventory Analytics
Learn about effective supply chain strategies for companies that operate globally, with emphasis on how to plan and integrate supply chain components into a coordinated system.

Course Information
Certificate Track
Learn for Free
About this Course
A supply chain entails two or more parties that are linked together by material, information and money flows. The management of a supply chain attempts to coordinate the activities of the parties so that merchandise is produced and distributed at the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time, in order to minimize system-wide costs while satisfying service level requirements.
As part of the Principles of Manufacturing MicroMasters program, this course will expose learners to concepts and models important in supply chain and manufacturing system planning ,so that you can better coordinate various resources and assets to optimize the delivery of goods, with an emphasis on key tradeoffs and phenomena. There will be a particular emphasis on how to cope with variability as it arises across a supply chain. The course will introduce a set of operational tactics for dealing with supply chain variability, including:
- Risk pooling
- Inventory placement
- Integrated planning and collaboration
- Information sharing
- Delayed differentation
- Dual sourcing
- Smoothing
- Lectures, computer exercises, and case discussions introduce various models and methods for supply chain analysis and optimization.
Develop the engineering and management skills needed for competence and competitiveness in today’s manufacturing industry with the Principles of Manufacturing MicroMasters Credential, designed and delivered by MIT's #1-ranked Mechanical Engineering department in the world. Learners who pass the 8 courses in the program earn the MicroMasters Credential and qualify to apply to gain credit for MIT’s Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing & Design program.
What you'll learn
- Concepts and models for effective supply chain and manufacturing system planning
- Operational tactics for managing variability
- Integrated planning and collaboration
Prerequisites
Graduate-level Introduction to Logistics Systems or Operations Management
Meet your instructors
Stephen Graves
Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management
Stephen Graves is the Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management and a Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has a joint appoitnemnt with the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering. Graves develops and applies operations research models and methods to solve problems in manufacturing and distribution systems and in service operations. His current research is focused on operational issues arising in online retailing, supply chain optimization and strategic inventory positioning, and production and capacity planning for various contexts. Graves holds an AB in mathematics and social sciences and an MBA from Dartmouth College, and an MS and a PhD from the University of Rochester.