Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute

Creating Business Value with Statistical Analysis

Special Note

This course is the second of 4 courses in the Supply Chain Analytics Professional (SCA) certificate. While participants are not required to complete the program’s first/previous course(s) in the series, we suggest being familiar with the learning outcomes of the previous course(s).

The course is comprised of (4) half-day online instructor-led LIVE group webinars and pre-work (e.g. installing and testing software on your computer, testing connectivity with LMS and meeting software, etc.) to be completed before the first day of the course.

Please note that this course qualifies for our Georgia AI Manufacturing (GA-AIM) program discount for Georgia residents. Please see below Course Fees section for details.

Visit the course listing within the Georgia Tech Professional Education website.

Course Description

This course is the second in the four-course Supply Chain Analytics Professional certificate program. It emphasizes operational performance metrics to align supply chain management with strategic business goals. You’ll learn several statistics concepts (e.g. variance analysis, hypothesis testing, forecasting methods) along with inventory management models. You’ll use diagnostic analytics with PowerBI and Python to conduct demand and service profiling, undertake root cause analysis, and use time series forecasting in inventory management.

Who Should Attend

Experienced business professionals who perform or want to perform analytics to improve their supply chain management processes. They want to tackle strategic goals and to perform leading edge analytics projects that address the full complexity of supply chains.

How You Will Benefit

Understand why and how to align Supply Chain Management (SCM) strategy with business strategy
Learn statistics techniques as they relate to SCM
Understand inventory management models and how to apply statistics techniques to them
Create time series forecasts based on SCM data
Utilize Python and PowerBI to perform statistical analyses, create time series forecasts and visualize results

What Is Covered

The importance of aligning SCM and business strategy
How to ask the right business questions as they relate to SCM
How to use statistics to identify issues, compare data, and forecast decision outcomes
Statistical concepts including variance analysis and hypothesis testing
Inventory management models
Applying statistics to inventory management models
Forecasting techniques including time series forecasting
Hands-on practice with these skills using data from the (fictional) Cardboard Company (CBC)

Below is format for the online/virtual-Instructor led version of the course.

Webinar 1 – The Right Business Questions

Importance of aligning SCM and business strategy

Business questions

Asking the right ones
Putting them into action

Identifying improvement opportunities using analytics initiatives

Activity: Understand the Cardboard Company (CBC) case through the lens of business strategy

Homework: Create the right business questions for CBC

Webinar 2 – Statistics for Supply Chain Data

Using statistics in SCM

Identify issues
Compare data
Forecast simple decision outcomes

Statistics techniques

Variance analysis
Hypothesis testing

Activity: Apply hypothesis testing to the CBC case

Homework: Start creating a dashboard that includes statistics for CBC (can start with previous course’s dashboard)

Webinar 3 – Inventory Management

Inventory management models

Demand profiling

Service profiling

Root cause analysis

Applying statistics techniques to inventory management

Activity: apply inventory management models to CBC case

Homework: Continue evaluating how techniques can apply to CBC

Webinar 4 – Time Series Forecasting

Simple forecasting techniques

Expected demand
More forecasting techniques

Time series forecasting

Applying forecasting techniques to inventory management

Activity: Use forecasting on CBC data and add to dashboard

Final assignment (due 1 week after last webinar)

Complete your CBC dashboard
Create an explanation of your dashboard to an end user
Create an explanation of your dashboard choices for the instructors
Complete final assessment

Course Materials

Required

Canvas Learning Management System - Visit https://pe.gatech.edu/technology-requirements to ensure the computer you will be using meets the minimum technical requirements to access online material and lessons associated with this course.
Zoom using both audio and video - Please visit https://zoom.us/test to ensure the computer you will be using is compatible.
Python installed on local computer with additional packages identified by the instructors
Power BI installed on local computer

Provided

A URL, username and password to access the online course material

Course Prerequisite and Related Certificate Information

Recommended

General SCM knowledge
A general understanding of probability
Basic Python / Programming experience
Basic PowerBI experience

Required

Knowledge of content and ability to apply skills covered in Course 1 of the program

For those interested in earning the Supply Chain Analytics (SCA) Professional Certificate, take the below 4 courses within four years.

Transforming Supply Chain Management and Performance Analysis
Creating Business Value with Statistical Analysis
Machine Learning Applications for Supply Chain Planning
Supply Chain Optimization and Prescriptive Analytics

Course CEUs

This course provides for 1.40 continuing education units (CEUs).

Course Instructors

Melody Shellman

Course Times

Online/Virtual-Instructor led

On the first day, please log in at least 15 minutes before the class start time.

First Day - 8am to 12pm ET
Second Day - 8am to 12pm ET
Third Day - 8am to 12pm ET
Fourth Day - 8am to 12pm ET

Course Fees

Standard: $1,100.00, Certificate: $913.00 (cost of each course when signing up for and paying for a multi-course certificate program).

Register and pay for all required courses in a Supply Chain & Logistics certificate and receive a discount of 17% off per course. Enter coupon code SCL-Cert at checkout.

All residents of the State of Georgia are eligible for a 50% discount while funds last thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. Use of this discount is subject to verification of GA residency. Enter coupon code SCL-GAAIM at checkout.

If you have 3 or more participants from your organization, please contact us for volume discounts. Review coupon instructions for more information.

Discounts cannot be combined. For questions, call 404-894-2343 or send us an email prior to registration.

Upcoming Lunch and Learn Educational Webinar

Register for our upcoming FREE webinar that covers topics addressed in our SCA series.

Supply Chain Analytics Series Information Session Webinar

Brochures/Flyers

Course Series Flyer

Download the Supply Chain Analytics Info Session presentation

Certificate Overview

I recently completed the Supply Chain Analytics Certificate module of Machine Learning Applications for Supply Chain Planning at Georgia Tech, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the experience. The course material was comprehensive, providing in-depth insights into the latest analytics techniques and their practical applications in the supply chain industry. The instructors were outstanding—each brought real-world experience to the classroom, which made the content even more impactful. One of the reasons I chose Georgia Tech for this certification was its strong reputation and the high regard it holds in the industry, and they truly delivered on that expectation. This program has certainly enhanced my analytical capabilities and provided valuable knowledge that I can apply to my work immediately.

Patrick Aragao

Founder, Aragao Consulting Inc

Georgia Tech Supply Chain and
Logistics Institute
H. Milton Stewart School of
Industrial & Systems Engineering
765 Ferst Drive, NW, Suite 228
Atlanta, GA 30332
Phone: 404.894.2343

Professional Education Navigation