Supply Chain Management - SCM 220

Course Description

This course covers the skills and knowledge needed within the purchasing department. The class explains how purchasing fits into the overall structure of an organization and its importance in maintaining efficiency. It will demonstrate how local and foreign economies, environmental factors and material shortages can affect the availability and pricing of goods. A key aspect of the purchasing function is negotiating with vendors and other businesses to source goods and services. This course demonstrates skills for successful negotiation. Students gain an understanding of human behavior and principles of verbal and non-verbal communication. This class reviews the laws and regulations that relate to purchasing. Because the purchasing department makes many legally binding agreements with vendors, contract law is emphasized.

Prerequisites

(A requirement that must be completed before taking this course.)

Course Competencies

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• Examine the role of Purchasing within Supply Chain Management (SCM).
• Demonstrate knowledge of controlling and reducing costs.
• Illustrate the importance of legal and ethical practices within the purchasing function.
• Acquire the strategies toward negotiation skill development.
• Discover the skills required to conduct and maintain professional relationships with external business partners.
• Analyze the role of Key Process Indicators (KPI) relating to management reporting.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the Request for Quote (RFQ) process.
• Demonstrate the steps required toward the supplier selection process (sourcing).
• Develop the knowledge of the business terms and conditions when dealing with external partners.
• Express knowledge of Vender Managed Inventory (VMI) and the potential benefits of it.
• Compare returned quotations from suppliers and analyze toward obtaining the "best cost."
• Examine the contents and purpose of the Purchase Order (PO) as a purchase agreement.
• Demonstrate the knowledge of buyer responsibilities toward individual product costs within the internal systems.
• Illustrate the importance of the topic of environmental protection and communicating this to external partners.
• Analyze the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions and understand their function.

Course Schedule