Supply Chain and Operations
Learn to keep goods and services flowing. Place the week's supplier order, plan stock to Christmas, decide whether to hold a suspect batch and renew a cleaning contract on fair terms.
Each module has short lessons with a check question, then a graded simulation. About 5 hours in total, at your own pace.
- Module 1: The Monday order and the empty shift
Work out the week's supplier order from the records and the rules, cover a barista shift without breaking the hours limit, then send the order and fix the rota so the week runs from the records.
- Module 2: Will the casserole last until Christmas?
The lead time from Portugal has jumped from six weeks to nine, and the best seller has a big promotion before Christmas. Project the stock, recommend what to do with the costs, and help sales tell the biggest customer the truth.
- Module 3: Hold the batch or make the truck
A batch for the morning truck failed its final check on a machine that has just failed calibration. Decide what the results really show, contain the batch, and tell the customer the facts.
- Module 4: The cleaning contract renewal
The office cleaning contract ends in six weeks. Reconcile a year of invoices against the contract and the sign-in log, recommend to your manager whether to renew, negotiate or retender and what needs approval from whom, and put the practice's position to the supplier.
Skills you will practice
- Applying policy and approval limits
- Briefing colleagues
- Comparing options with criteria
- Customer communication
- Estimating under uncertainty
- Handling a nonconforming product
- Handling a stock shortage
- Handling a supplier dispute
- Interpreting instrument readings
- Inventory management
- Keeping records others can use
- Knowing your authority limits
- Managing lead times
- Matching invoices to orders and receipts
- Negotiating supplier prices
- Quality control
- Separating fact from opinion
- Shift planning
- Stock replenishment
- Testing assumptions
- Tracing a product batch
- Weighing trade-offs
Frequently asked questions
What is a Skill Path?
A Skill Path is a short course built around real work. Each module has two or three short lessons, then a simulation where you do the job in a fictional company. Your work in each simulation is graded against a rubric.
How long does a Skill Path take?
Most Skill Paths take three to five hours in total. You can stop at any point and pick up where you left off. There are no deadlines.
What do I get when I finish?
When every simulation in the path is complete and graded, you earn a FinderK credential. It lists the work you did and the skills it shows. You can keep it private or share a link to it, for example on LinkedIn.
How much does a Skill Path cost?
Some Skill Paths are included with FinderK Plus, which has a free trial. Others are sold once at a fixed price and stay yours. You can read the first module's lessons for free before you decide.
Do I need experience?
No. Each path states its level. Beginner paths assume no previous experience in the role, and the lessons explain the ideas you need before each simulation.