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University College Cork

Supply Chain Management - Lean SCM Black Belt

Course Outline

The Postgraduate Diploma/Master of Supply Chain Management (Lean SCM Black Belt) is a part-time course. It is designed to teach you how to improve supply chain processes, while also providing cost reductions and added value for you and your organisation.

If you are a career-minded person who works in supply chain, manufacturing, quality, financial or related functions and you also have responsibility for continuous improvement within your organisation, this course is for you.

Successful supply chain management (SCM) requires strategic and operational alignment, and this is why the course includes:

a strong emphasis on strategy
information systems
demand management
change and innovation
integrated project management

Adopting a Lean philosophy, you will apply Lean tools and complete a Lean SCM Black Belt project that achieves organisational and supply chain improvements.

The Postgraduate Diploma/Master of Supply Chain Management (Lean SCM Black Belt) is a practitioner-oriented course. It provides a structured approach to the key elements of supply chain design and management in order to maximise your work experience. The course combines both classroom and distance/on-line learning. The course is informed by best international practice and it includes contributions from our applied partners the Leading Edge Group, as well as fromnational and international guest speakers.

Who teaches this course

Our core teaching staff have extensive experience of teaching to a wide variety of students including undergraduates, postgraduates, mature students and post-experience/adult learners. This course is delivered in conjunction with practitioner partners, and hence it combines academic and practical expertise. The course also benefits from the involvement of best-in-class practitioners, both national and international, which enhances our overall interaction with industry.

Why Choose This Course
This Postgraduate Diploma/Masters in Supply Chain Management will allow you to progress your education while you also further your career. At the same time it will provide benefits and opportunities for the organisation where you work.

Entry requirements

You should have:

1. A minimum 2H honours primary degree in a relevant area and at least four years relevant industrial experience (including cross-functional team lead experience),

A portfolio of evidence containing the following:
at least six years of relevant management experience, including responsibility for teams and cross-functional/supply chain teams
a recognised professional qualification in a relevant area
application of learning or competence such as involvement in cross-functional projects, reports, reflective papers or journals

and

2. testimonials of learning or competence through sign-off by an appropriate signatory within the candidate's organisation. Applicants must be in a position to affect organizational change.

Note:A foundation module to the value of 5 credits will be provided to candidates who do not have a prerequisite background in this area.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests.

Non-EU Candidates

Non-EU candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to Irish university primary degree level. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. To verify if you meet the minimum academic requirements for this programme please visit our qualification comparison pages.

Duration

Course Practicalities
Two delivery formats may be available, a Blended Learning Approach and a Distance Learning Approach. The former is a blend of classroom activity and on-line resources. In this format on-line resources will be provided prior to workshops, with further on-line resources provided after workshops. Each module will be supported by a 3-day workshop. The Distance Learning programme will be supported by on-line resources including tutorials, e-mentoring and discussion forums. Students are free to migrate from one delivery format to another.

Careers or further progression

Skills and Careers Information

Leadership and analytical skills to drive organisational change. Focuses on hard/technical skills associated with Lean implementation. Develops soft skills to support and use organisational systems/processes across a range of industries with transferable skills, including:

communication skills
research skills
conceptual skills
organisational/management skills.

Our career-minded students come from many business environments, including:

healthcare
medical devices
food and drink
financial services
life sciences.

Further enquiries

Dr Seamus OReilly
S.OReilly@ucc.ie
+ 353 21 490 2763
http://www.ucc.ie/scm/

Programme Administrator
scm@ucc.ie
+353 21 490 1833

Subjects taught

The course is delivered over two stages:

Stage 1:

The duration of stage 1 is 18 months and it leads to a postgraduate diploma qualification.

Stage 2:

Stage 2 is for a further period of six months. If you achieve a 2.1 grade in stage 1, you may progress/convert to a masters degree.

It consists of seven modules (as outlined below) and the outcome of each module is a workplace assignment contributing to the development and implementation of a substantial organisational and SCM improvement project. This course is examined wholly by continuous assessment and there are no written examinations.

Year 1 (Semester 1):
Strategic planning and implementation in supply chains (three days in classroom and e-learning)
Advanced Lean Tools and practices in supply chain management (three days in classroom and e-learning)
Year 1 (Semester 2):
Leadership, change and innovation management in supply chains (three days in classroom and e-learning)
Managing Lean Projects in supply chains (three days in classroom and e-learning)
Information systems and technologies in supply chain process design and improvement (one and a half days in classroom and e-learning)

Year 2 (Semester 1):
Globalisation issues and Capstone Module seminars and workshops (four and a half days in classroom and e-learning)

Year 2 (Semester 2) Optional:
Masters (Dissertation)

Progression: If you achieve a 2.1 or higher in the Postgraduate Diploma in SCM, you will be eligible to enter stage 2 and this course leads to a Master of Supply Chain Management. A masters (MSc) will be awarded on the satisfactory completion of a dissertation.

Additional Teaching Mode Information

Postgraduate Diploma: 18 months Part-time. Students attend 3 full-day module workshops every two months.

MSc: 2 years Part-time. Students also attend workshops over the 2 years.

Blended Learning (30-70% Online): Programme/module which combines online or/and web-based learning with, face-to-face delivery.

The classroom element is very important to the programmes, and although there is a strong online learning aspect, student have to attend the classroom sessions that make up 19 classroom days (9am to 5pm) for the Postgraduate Diploma in total.

Assessment method

Assessment

You will be examined wholly by continuous assessment on this course. There are no written examinations.

In each module you will have to complete an applied written project.

For a 10 credit module, this will consist of approx 4,500 words.

For a 5 credit module, it will consist of approx 3,000 words.

A Lean SCM Black Belt project has to be implemented at the end of the Postgraduate Diploma.

The Capstone Module will allow you to present your findings through oral presentations, a poster session and a written report.

If you progress to the masters stage of the course, you will be required to complete a dissertation (13,000-15,000 words).

Application date

Closing Date: 7 December 2018

Enrolment and start dates

Start Date: January 2018

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