SCM410

Capstone: SC Transformation

Plan a supply chain improvement program for a fictional manufacturer. Build a baseline, choose priorities, estimate costs and benefits, and decide how to measure results after the changes are made.

  • 4 chapters
  • ~25 min of reading
  • 12 learning objectives
  • 12 practice questions

Course overview

The course runs to 4 chapters and about 25 minutes of reading. Every chapter is self-contained: read it in one sitting, work the example on paper, then check yourself against the practice solutions before moving on.

The learning path below shows how the chapters build on one another, and each chapter card lists what you should be able to do once you have finished it.

How each chapter works

  1. Objectives — what you should be able to do afterwards.
  2. Reading — short sections that build the idea in plain language.
  3. Worked example — a full problem solved step by step.
  4. Practice — questions with solutions you can expand once you have tried them.
  5. Takeaway — the one sentence worth remembering.

Learning path

Chapters build on each other. This is the arc from first principles to the end of the course.

  1. Diagnostic: Where the Chain Actually Hurts

    A transformation is only as good as its diagnostic. Build a quantitative baseline in working capital, expedite share, and service; rank issues by magnitude and feasibility; name the few the program will actually address.

  2. Designing the Target Operating Model

    A target operating model is a decision-rights document with technology, process, and metrics attached. Sequence the program so early phases produce measurable value without foreclosing later ones.

  3. Change, Adoption, and the Human Side

    Adoption is the design variable that determines whether a transformation delivers. Governance, adoption metrics, and rescue funding are cheap insurance against the much larger cost of a stalled program.

  4. Value Capture and Continuous Improvement

    Value capture is a discipline, not an event. Publish phased savings, tie each saving to a metric and an owner, and hand the chain a continuous-improvement rhythm that absorbs change without spinning up a new program every three years.

Chapters (4)

Open any chapter to see its objectives, reading, worked example, and practice questions.

  1. Chapter 1: Diagnostic: Where the Chain Actually Hurts

    • Translate symptoms (stockouts, expedites, inventory bloat) into root causes using a diagnostic framework.
    • Compute a baseline of working-capital and service performance that the transformation will improve.
    • Identify the small set of high-leverage issues that a transformation can realistically address.

    3 sections · ~7 min read · 3 practice questions

  2. Chapter 2: Designing the Target Operating Model

    • Describe the elements of a target operating model: organization, process, technology, and metrics.
    • Sequence capability improvements into a multi-year roadmap that absorbs organizational change.
    • Identify the 'quick wins' that fund the broader program without sacrificing long-term credibility.

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions

  3. Chapter 3: Change, Adoption, and the Human Side

    • Identify the common failure modes of supply chain transformation programs.
    • Design an adoption and governance structure that survives leadership turnover.
    • Quantify the organizational cost of a stalled program versus a delivered one.

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions

  4. Chapter 4: Value Capture and Continuous Improvement

    • Build a value-capture plan that converts run-rate savings into reported P&L benefit.
    • Compute the steady-state benefit and the time-to-steady-state of a multi-phase program.
    • Hand the chain a continuous-improvement rhythm that outlasts the transformation office.

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions