The Lean Supply Chain Management Executive Short Course focuses on the extension of lean management philosophies and practices through manufacturing supply chains. The course considers how advanced manufacturers (and their major customers) position their supply chains for competitive advantage and optimise them through the application of lean principles to ensure value chain innovation, flexibility, reliability, quality, and overall waste reduction, within a South African manufacturing context.

The course positions lean supply chain management within the literature on strategic supply chain management and starts with an exploration of traditional supply chain management approaches. It analyses the limitations of these approaches for manufacturers attempting to advance their process and product capabilities, in alignment with ever-increasing demand in market requirements.

The key elements of lean supply chain management are explored, and the underlying benefits of using lean supply chain management methodologies as an effective management system are unpacked. We delve into foundational lean philosophies and processes such as JIT, TQM, Kaizen and Lean Leadership and why the aligned adoption of these fundamentals are critical to creating flow through value chains. The Lean supply chain management Partnership Hierarchy model is explored in detail, including vendor management and vendor development approaches. The use of Enterprise-level Value Stream Mapping as the primary tool to unpack and explore the opportunities for competitiveness improvement within supply chains is shared.

The first three days of the course cover these key tenets via seminar, brainstorming and case study exploration. The course then considers the application of these methodologies, and the associated competitiveness advances secured, via a factory visit. An immersive game simulation is incorporated into the programme, to ensure that learnings are applied and actualised. Participants then present their lean supply chain management improvement ideas from the factory visit in syndicated teams on Day 4 (2 weeks later via online engagement). A consolidation session follows, concluding with a personal reflection exercise and a review of the major learnings to have emerged from the course.

At the end of the course, participants will have secured a substantially deeper understanding of Lean Supply Chain Management opportunities and challenges within complex value chains. They will also understand the central importance of leadership, non-traditional vendor partnering approaches and Enterprise Value Stream Mapping for successful lean supply chain management implementation. Participants who attend all four days of the course, and who successfully complete the assignment, will earn a TWIMS Lean Supply Chain Management certificate.