Logistics and Distribution Management

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$389

AUD

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$599 AUD

Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
3816 Students

Learn how to improve your company's logistics and distribution management activities, increase customer satisfaction, and improve operational throughput.

Distribution and logistics management is a critical company function. Professionals in this field play a key role in fulfilling customer demands, ordering and managing inventory, controlling inbound and outbound shipments, reducing costs, saving time, and meeting company objectives. This course will not only show you how to create and operate a logistics function, but it will also show you how to achieve success through a combination of strategies and tactics.

All elements of distribution and logistics management will be covered, including physical distribution, warehouse selection, material handling, packaging, order fulfillment, customer service, inventory management, receiving, production stores, and returned goods. The course will also address key technology issues such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), bar coding, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic commerce (e-commerce), and distribution resource planning (DRP).

Courses are delivered to you through expertly executed lessons, online instruction and interaction with like-minded students. Our courses are designed to deliver all of the benefits of studying in a classroom whilst giving you the flexibility to study at a time and place to suit your needs. You can access your classroom 24/7 from any device with an internet connection.

This course has a 3 month duration. You'll complete comprehensive lessons, quizzes and assignments before submitting your final exam at the end of the course to achieve your certificate. Courses must be completed within the 3 month access period.

Your success in the logistics field depends on planning and facilitating movement of the right things, at the right time, at the right place, and at the right cost. In our first lesson, we'll discuss the nature of logistics, review its history, and examine how it's currently used. You'll learn about the importance of logistics and discover the role of supply chain management.

Today we'll start with a whirlwind tour through the various elements of a logistics system, examining how each element contributes to its overall success. Then we'll look more closely at two of the major elements: warehousing choices and physical distribution. We'll talk about planning, setting up, and operating a warehouse. We'll explore the scope and function of physical distribution, and finally, we'll study carrier transportation modes and methods.

Today's lesson will broaden your horizons regarding material handling, packaging, order entry, and customer service (order fulfillment). You'll learn about the different material handling options and discover several dimensions of packaging. You'll also see how the order fulfillment cycle can benefit your organization and determine how to calculate the order fill and line item fill methods.

Receiving starts the ball rolling for logistics activities. After all, you can't do much until you receive raw materials, equipment, and supplies. Today we'll discuss receiving, production stores, and ways to address inbound delivery problems. You'll learn the specific steps of the receiving function, and see that there are two types of production stores arrangements—the closed and open system. You'll also discover different ways to store materials and find out the difference between expediting and tracing. Finally, you'll obtain a few strategies to bring lost shipments in on time.

As a logistics practitioner, you're responsible for controlling inventories. To help you do this effectively, today's lesson will cover two key techniques: the ABC classification and the economic order quantity (EOQ) formula. ABC helps you classify inventories based on their characteristics. The EOQ formula balances the cost of obtaining with the cost of keeping inventory. You'll also find out how to set and manage an inventory budget so you come in at or under budget.

Logistics systems move products, material, and equipment in and out of organizations. So, it's important to maintain documentation that reflects the pattern of movement and also designates ownership. Doing so will allow you to effectively manage customer returns. You'll learn how to do this today. We'll also talk about the customer return process and study basic transportation documents, including the bill of lading and the freight bill.

Once upon a time, people had to take, fill, ship, and bill orders without the use of computer technology. But today, it's hard to remember a time when computers weren't used in logistics. We'll start this lesson with an overview of how computers and technology are used. We'll also address specific forms of information technology, including electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic commerce (e-commerce), bar coding, and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

The regulatory reform that took place in the logistics field during the late 1970s brought about great change. Revisions in laws and regulations opened the doors for new opportunities. Today we'll explore the events connected with these changes. We'll also examine how shipping rates are set and used, and finish up by looking at public warehouses and evaluating the pros and cons of outsourcing warehousing activities.

Today we'll focus on the managerial pieces of logistics. We'll start with planning because just about everything you do should begin with a plan. Then we'll move on to the counterpart of planning: control. We'll consider the purpose of organization and then discuss motivation and leadership. You'll learn how to effectively delegate so your requests are completed on time and with the desired performance.

Selecting the right location for distribution facilities is one of the most critical decisions logistics professionals make. It involves huge expenditures of money that you make in a context filled with volatile events. Today you'll learn about the benefits of forecasting, long-range planning, capacity planning, and facility selection. We'll cover factors you need to consider for a general and a specific location and how to evaluate them. You'll also discover how distribution resource planning (DRP) can effectively synchronize demand and supply.

Logistics personnel have frequent opportunities to work on projects, ranging from improving ongoing operations to opening a new distribution center. Today we'll discuss the need for project management. We'll differentiate projects from programs and tasks, explore the temporary and unique aspects of projects, and look at how critical scope definition is to a project's success. Finally, we'll examine the phases of the project life cycle and critique elements of project management that will help you position your project for success.

Joseph Juran, noted quality expert, said, "If you don't measure it, you don't manage it." The flip side is, if you do measure it, you manage it, and that means you can improve it. So in our final lesson, we'll examine performance measurements—a way to keep track of progress. We'll start off by looking at human nature and performance measurements. Then we'll consider what makes a performance measurement effective. We'll finish up by discussing traditional and progressive measurements of performance.

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Tony Swaim has helped many clients, colleagues, and students reach their professional and personal goals. He has been an online instructor since 1998 and has taught at colleges and universities across the United States since 1981. His focus areas ... Read more Read Tony Swaim's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Online learning is a flexible way to study that fits around your schedule, giving you the freedom to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. You'll have 3 months to complete the course and can take the multiple-choice questions and final exam whenever it suits you.

If you need help, you can contact us anytime. You can also join the discussion area where you can interact with other students. The discussion area for each lesson is open for the entire duration of the course.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

We do not offer extensions or transfers for this self-paced course. However, you will have 3 months to complete the course, and if you need to cancel within the first 10 days of enrolment, we offer a money back guarantee.

What people are saying about our courses

I am very glad that courses like this are available to help those of us that have been in this field many years, catch up with the latest trends and refresh our knowledge of the basics.

Verified Student

I completed this class just in time to receive the assignment to write a paper on our logistics operation. I am an inventory management specialist. Thanks to you, I am so ready to write this paper as well taking a greater role in the Logistics and not just inventory.

Verified Student

I enjoyed this course, as I am in transportation and felt that I needed this course.

Verified Student

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The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Logistics and Distribution Management you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

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We believe in personalised learning. That's why we provide all the tools and support you need to succeed at your own pace. With flexible learning, you'll stay motivated and retain more information. Plus, you can balance your studies with work and family commitments to make your dreams a reality.

We Won't Break The Bank

Education should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn. That's why we offer some of the most competitive prices in the industry with payments plans for just $25 per week. Investing in your future is a smart choice and doesn’t have to break the bank.

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Logistics and Distribution Management

$599

$389AUD

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Microsoft Project 2010 Fundamentals

Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
2820 Students

Discover how to effectively plan, implement, and control projects using Microsoft Project 2010, the world's most popular project management software.

Discover how to effectively plan, implement, and control projects using Microsoft Project 2010. In these lessons, you'll learn how to use Microsoft Project to think through and organise your project's details, plan a schedule, sequence tasks, produce a baseline, assign resources and costs, track your progress, identify and analyse variances, and revise your project plan.

Once you've constructed a basic schedule, you'll see how to enlarge it and share it with clients and co-workers. In addition, you'll learn Microsoft Project's techniques for fine-tuning different aspects of your project, including splitting tasks for work interruptions and defining material consumption rates.

The knowledge you gain from this course will help you avoid going down dead-end alleys and prevent you from overloading your schedule. If you encounter trouble on your project, you'll be able to apply a number of powerful problem resolution techniques to help get your project back on track.

No matter how complex your projects are, Microsoft Project will help you cut them down to size. By the end of the course, you'll be able to produce project plans that wow your audience and empower you to achieve your business goals.

Microsoft Project can help you manage your project's schedule, costs, and scope in a way that you've never dreamed of. Too often, Project users never use this powerful tool to its fullest potential. In your first lesson, you’ll discover how to improve your project by adopting a formal management approach. You’ll get a quick overview of Project Management, and then you’ll learn the basics of Microsoft Project, including a summary of the Gantt Chart view and ways to create and enter project tasks.

If you're looking for ways to keep organized, you'll see just how to do that in today's lesson! We'll walk through steps to create a project schedule in no time flat. Once you create and enter tasks in Project's Gantt Chart view, you’ll set a schedule by using a calendar and assigning lead times. Then, you’ll need to create task dependencies, sometimes known as links. You'll see how to perform these activities and, in the process, you’ll become comfortable using Project's many dialog boxes. Before you know it, you'll be creating schedules for all your projects with little effort.

You won't get too far with your project without adding resources. While tasks create the backbone of your project, people, equipment, and material bring your project to life. In this lesson, you’ll find out how to apply two types of Project resources—work resources, and material resources. We'll look at two more dialog boxes—Resource Information and Assign Resources—and you'll learn how to analyze resources by using the Resource Sheet and Resource Usage views. 

No matter what project you work on, the bottom line is always important. So get ready to add the final piece to your basic project schedule—costs. We'll start things off by looking through a brief overview of cost accounting, exploring fixed, variable, relevant, and accrued costs. After this review, you'll learn how to assign costs by using the Resource Sheet. You'll even discover how to assign different costs for the same resource and analyze the overall costs for your project by using the Cost Table.

Successful project managers are known for their efficiency and for safeguarding private information. Microsoft Project provides two excellent methods to help you in these areas: project templates and project security. You’ll find out how to use some of the many templates Project has to offer, including the Residential Construction template and the New Product template. You'll also learn how to protect your project information with backups, passwords, and write protection. Then you’ll discover how to put Project’s task constraints to good use.

In this lesson, you’ll discover how easy it is to modify your basic schedules and work with project data. You'll look at the various Project views, such as the Calendar, Leveling Gantt, and the Network Diagram. And if you don't like the default colors or fonts in your schedule or table, you'll be well-prepared to make changes. You'll even learn how and why you might want to create a combination view; add notes to your project; or sort, filter, and group data. 

Many projects experience schedule compression when management or clients ask that the project be completed sooner and for less. In today's lesson, you’ll discover how to improve your schedule's performance. You’ll explore the Project Statistics dialog box, and you’ll learn how to determine the ideal starting point in terms of planned costs and completion dates. You'll see how to change task dependencies to speed up your project, and also find out how to split tasks to add more lead time. You'll also learn how to create recurring tasks and attaché notes to your project’s task bars.

Before you implement your project, you need to create a baseline. This will help you track actual results against what you originally set out to accomplish. Microsoft Project makes it possible to set up a baseline with a few mouse clicks. You'll learn how to create a baseline and then see a variety of ways, including using the Tracking toolbar, to record your actual project results.

Here's where things really start to come together! You'll learn how to compare actual results to your baseline by using the Gantt Chart and reviewing a table. You'll discover how useful status identifiers and progress lines can be to quickly gain information about your project's position. You’ll also begin using the Tracking Gantt and filters to automatically identify slipping tasks. You'll also take a stroll through the basics of variance analysis by discussing the Start and Finish Date, Resources, and Work Variance Tables.

Once your project gets rolling, outsiders will probably want to know how things are going. It can be a real time drain answering each request individually. When others request information from you, Microsoft Project offers the perfect solution: Reports. We'll go over 20 standard reports in five different categories in today's lesson. By the time you finish, you'll be well acquainted with Project’s reporting capabilities, and also, know how to create Visual Reports as Project automatically exports data to Microsoft Excel and Visio.

Now that you're using reports to share project information, you'll occasionally need to print out various views and tables. In this lesson, you’ll delve into printing Microsoft Project documents. You'll be a master at creating different views of your project with the Page Setup dialog box, and you'll clearly understand the mechanics of the Print dialog box and the Print Preview.

No project is complete until it's officially closed. In this final lesson, you'll find out how to close your project and use the Organizer to help you customize and copy views for future projects.