Stage 1
Learn the concept
Start with the language of supply chain: how a requirement becomes a purchase order, how stock is received, stored, counted and dispatched, and which numbers a manager actually watches. No tool logins needed — just the concept, in plain words, in the order the work really happens.
- 1
Understand the end-to-end flow
Plan → Source → Make → Deliver → Return. Learn what each stage owns, who hands over to whom, and where delays are usually created (not where they are noticed).
- 2
Learn the documents
Purchase requisition, RFQ, purchase order, delivery note, goods receipt, inspection lot, outbound delivery, invoice. Every argument in operations is settled by one of these documents — know what each one proves.
- 3
Learn the vocabulary of stock
Safety stock, reorder level, MOQ, lead time, ageing, FIFO/FEFO, cycle count, blocked stock, goods in transit. These words appear in every review meeting you will ever attend.
- 4
Learn how the KPIs are built
OTIF, inventory turns, days inventory outstanding, fill rate, truck turnaround, count accuracy. Learn the formula before the dashboard — a KPI you cannot recalculate by hand cannot be defended.
You are ready for the next stage when
- I can draw the order-to-delivery flow on one page from memory.
- I can name the document produced at each step and who approves it.
- I can explain reorder level = lead time demand + safety stock in one sentence.
- I can calculate inventory turnover and OTIF without a template.
You can follow any supply chain conversation and know which stage the problem belongs to.