An examination of some of the major operational concepts and issues relating to the flow of materials, goods, services, and information through a company’s supply chain—the network of organizations that supply and transform materials and distribute final products to customers. The course seeks to provide an understanding of the importance of individual components (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers) in the operation of the supply chain. It will emphasize inventory-service level tradeoffs, risk pooling, and other operational concerns. Some of the more recent approaches designed for the effective and efficient operation of the supply chain will be discussed. Students will also be introduced to two application software packages used for supply chain management, SimFlex and mySAP.com.