Learn to be more lean
Pressing environmental challenges and the need for sustainable responses from business, the disruptive impact and potential of digital technology and shifting trading patterns such as Brexit, all emphasise the importance of supply chain management.
The Cork University Business School at UCC has been active in supporting this competency for many years offering part-time programmes from certificate to masters levels.
These programmes adopt a lean supply chain management (SCM) approach and aim to build operational excellence that delivers sustainable business processes.
SCM is the broad range of activities required to plan, control and execute a product's flow, from acquiring raw materials and production through distribution to the final customer, in the most streamlined and cost-effective way possible.
Over recent years over 1,000 SCM professionals have completed these programmes from UCC. The success of the courses is evident in the impact of the completed 238 Lean Green Belt projects across 110 companies and 177 Black Belt projects across 61 companies.
These companies, both multinational and Irish owned, represent key sectors in the Irish economy. An analysis of reported benefits from Black Belt projects over recent years are estimated at over €120m for participating companies. More recently, the average Black Belt Project cost saving reported was €450,000.
Similarly, Green projects, which are completed by people in the early stages of lean competency development, also offer immediate benefits with an average benefit of €15,000 per project.
Dr Seamus O’Reilly, Senior Lecturer and Academic Programme Director explained: “These programmes are practitioner oriented, they are designed to support functional managers as they move into a leadership role focused on value creation and process improvement. Thus, these courses seek to improve supply chain processes and practice capability through both personal and organisational transformation.”
For further information visit ucc.ie/scm or contact Dr Seamus O’Reilly or Aoife Sammon on 021-4901833 or email scm@ucc.ie.