Supply Chain Strategy, Inventory & Distribution Planning. (Udemy.com)

SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY · DISTRIBUTION PLANNING · INVENTORY MANAGEMENT · DRP · FILL RATE · SAFETY STOCK · EXCEL

★ from the Highest-performing supply chain courses on Udemy for Business- Professionals love it!

This course is consistently selected by companies, universities, and institutions for corporate supply chain training — because it combines strategic theory with quantified, Excel-based practice in a way that translates directly to better planning decisions.

Every distribution system is a strategic choice. Do you ship directly to customers, hold stock at regional warehouses, or rely on retail storage? Each decision carries a different cost, a different service level, and a different level of responsiveness to demand. Most supply chain professionals inherit their distribution system rather than design it. This course changes that.

Starting from strategy — how your company’s competitive position (efficient or responsive) should determine your supply chain design — the course builds progressively to the quantitative tools that make distribution planning real: calculating fill rate, cycle service level, inventory throughput, cash-to-cash cycle time, safety stock, and DRP schedules — all in Excel, on real supply chain distribution cases.

This is the course Haytham’s supply chain consulting clients asked him to build. It is his highest-performing course on Udemy for Business — selected by companies and institutions because it is the only course that connects business strategy to distribution system design in a fully quantified, analytically rigorous way, with Excel practice on every concept. Whether you are designing a distribution network from scratch, auditing an existing one, or studying supply chain management, this course gives you the framework and the numbers.

WHAT MAKES THIS COURSE DIFFERENT

[ STRAT ]

Theory grounded in real strategy

This course bridges the gap most supply chain courses leave open — connecting your company’s competitive strategy (efficient vs responsive) directly to how you design your inventory and distribution system.

[ CALC ]

Analytical, not just conceptual

Fill rate, cycle service level, cash-to-cash, safety stock, DRP calculations — every concept in this course is quantified and practised in Excel on real distribution cases. You leave with models you can run on your own data.

[ EXAM ]

Two quizzes and a full practical exam

Unlike most supply chain theory courses, this one tests your ability to actually plan and design a distribution system — with a graded practical exam and detailed solutions.

TOOLS COVERED IN THIS COURSE

Microsoft Excel | Excel Distribution Models | Excel DRP Spreadsheets

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

✓ Define supply chain strategies and understand how your company’s competitive position determines supply chain design

✓ Distinguish efficient vs responsive (effective) supply chains and select the right model for your business context

✓ Calculate inventory metrics: cash-to-cash cycle time, asset metrics, and inventory throughput

✓ Analyse distribution strategies — direct shipping, retail storage, last-mile delivery — for their cost, inventory, and response time trade-offs

✓ Calculate fill rate and cycle service level to measure and manage customer availability performance

✓ Calculate safety stock for different inventory setups and service level targets

✓ Apply Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) and replenishment policies to plan your distribution network

✓ Practise distribution and transportation calculations on real supply chain cases in Excel

✓ Plan and design a complete distribution system for a supply chain network in Excel

✓ Connect inventory investment decisions to the broader distribution strategy through service level and fill rate analysis

COURSE CONTENT — 6 MODULES

MODULE 1

Supply chain strategy and competitive design

Before designing a distribution system you need to understand why companies design supply chains the way they do. Explore how business strategy — cost leadership vs differentiation — translates into supply chain design choices. Understand what separates an efficient supply chain from a responsive one, when each is appropriate, and how the wrong choice leads to structural cost or service problems that no amount of operational improvement can fix.

Frameworks Discussion

MODULE 2

Inventory metrics and financial measures

Supply chain decisions are balance sheet decisions. Learn to calculate and interpret the key inventory and asset metrics that connect distribution planning to financial performance: cash-to-cash cycle time, inventory turnover, days of supply, asset utilisation, and inventory throughput. Practise these calculations on real cases in Excel.

Excel

MODULE 3

Distribution strategies and their impact on cost and service

Every distribution strategy — direct shipping, retail storage, distribution centre, last-mile delivery — makes a different trade-off between transportation cost, inventory holding cost, and response time to the customer. Analyse each strategy in detail, quantify the trade-offs, and understand how to match the right distribution model to the right product type and demand pattern.

Excel Calculations

MODULE 4

Fill rate, cycle service level, and inventory throughput

Service level is not a feeling — it is a number. Learn to calculate fill rate (the fraction of demand met from stock) and cycle service level (the probability of no stockout per replenishment cycle) for different inventory setups. Understand how these metrics connect to the distribution strategy choice and how to design your system to hit a target service level.

Excel

MODULE 5

Safety stock calculation for different inventory setups