Strategic Supply Chain Management Training Course – Paris, 26–30 Jul 2027

Strategic Supply Chain Management is a 1-week training course for supply chain managers, senior planners and logistics leads who must translate business goals into supply choices, and it ends with a supply chain strategy canvas for their own organisation. Volatile demand, longer supplier lead times and pressure on working capital now make supply decisions a board topic. Jupiter Prime Training runs this course in strategic supply chain management.

Why Strategic Supply Chain Management Matters Now

Three forces push supply strategy up the agenda: customers who expect different service promises by channel, supply bases exposed to disruption far upstream, and finance teams scrutinising inventory and cost-to-serve. Organisations that segment supply chains and choose deliberately between efficiency and responsiveness protect margin and service; those that run one model for every product overspend on slow lines and fail fast ones. The course rests on the efficient-versus-responsive supply chain model, cost-to-serve analysis and ISO 22301 business continuity principles applied to supply continuity.

Who Gains Most from Strategic Supply Chain Management

• Managers who own end-to-end supply performance for a product family or region
• Senior planners who balance service targets, stock levels and capacity
• Logistics leads deciding on warehouse, transport and outsourcing options
• Procurement managers aligning supplier choices with supply chain priorities
• Commercial liaisons who negotiate service promises with key accounts

Cross-functional groups from supply, procurement and sales gain most when they attend together, because segmentation only sticks when all three agree.

Strategic Supply Chain Management Capabilities

Participants move from running every order the same way to designing distinct supply responses for distinct products, customers and risks.

• Segment products and customers by demand variability, margin and service need — the choice of supply model per segment
• Calculate cost-to-serve for customer groups and channels — pricing and service-level talks with sales
• Weigh make, buy and outsource options for key flows — capital and partner decisions with leadership
• Specify inventory positioning and decoupling points — working capital trade-offs with finance
• Test supply continuity against disruption scenarios — resilience investment and dual-sourcing choices
• Design a balanced set of supply chain measures — performance dialogue with executive sponsors

Key Strategic Supply Chain Management Terms

• Supply chain segmentation — grouping products and customers by shared characteristics so each group receives a supply model suited to its needs.
• Cost-to-serve — the full cost of fulfilling a customer or channel, including handling, transport, stockholding and order administration.
• Decoupling point — the position in the flow where stock is held so that upstream steps run to forecast and downstream steps to orders.
• Responsive supply chain — a model built for speed and flexibility, accepting higher cost to serve unpredictable demand.
• Efficient supply chain — a model built for low unit cost and high utilisation, suited to stable, predictable demand.
• Time-to-recover — the time a supply node or supplier needs to restore normal output after a disruption.

Strategic Supply Chain Management Day by Day

Day 1: Supply Strategy and Business Goals

• Competitive Priorities Mapping — Linking Cost, Speed and Flexibility to Strategy
• Efficient Versus Responsive Model — Matching Supply Design to Demand Type
• Supply Chain Maturity Diagnostic — Locating Current Gaps and Strengths
• Stakeholder Expectations Map — Sales, Finance and Operations Trade-Offs
• Strategic Fit Review — Testing Current Practice Against Stated Goals

Day 2: Segmenting Products and Customers

• Demand Variability and Volume Matrix — Grouping Lines by Behaviour
• Customer Service Tiering — Setting Distinct Promises by Account Type
• Cost-to-Serve Analysis — Revealing Unprofitable Channels and Orders
• Decoupling Point Positioning — Choosing Make-to-Stock or Make-to-Order
• Segment Policy Sheet — Assigning Lead Time and Stock Rules

Day 3: Network Configuration and Sourcing Choices

• Footprint Options Comparison — Central, Regional or Local Stockholding
• Make, Buy or Outsource Assessment — Choosing Partners for Key Flows
• Supplier Base Alignment — Linking Sourcing Choices to Segment Needs
• Total Landed Cost Comparison — Weighing Freight, Duty and Holding Cost
• S&OP Linkage — Feeding Strategic Choices Into Monthly Planning

Day 4: Resilience and Performance Measures

• Disruption Scenario Mapping — Identifying Single Points of Failure
• ISO 22301 Continuity Principles — Planning Recovery for Critical Supply Nodes
• Time-to-Recover Estimates — Prioritising Dual Sourcing and Buffer Stock
• Balanced Supply Chain Measures — Service, Cost, Inventory and Agility
• Executive Performance Review Format — Reporting Trade-Offs to Leadership

Day 5: Practising the Supply Chain Strategy Canvas

• Segmentation Exercise — Classifying a Retail and an Industrial Portfolio
• Cost-to-Serve Case — Redesigning Service for Low-Margin Accounts
• Resilience Stress Test — Recovering From a Key Supplier Outage
• Strategy Pitch Rehearsal — Presenting Choices to a Leadership Panel
• Supply Chain Strategy Canvas — Completing Segments, Models, Risks and Measures

Applying Strategic Supply Chain Management After the Course

• Run a segmentation of the top product lines by demand variability and margin, and propose a supply model for each group.
• Calculate cost-to-serve for the ten largest customers and table the findings at the next S&OP meeting.

Strategic Supply Chain Management Questions (FAQ)

What is strategic supply chain management and why does it matter now?

Strategic supply chain management is the practice of choosing supply models, networks and partners that serve business goals. It matters now because volatile demand, supply disruption and pressure on working capital punish organisations that run one supply model for everything.

Which roles gain most from strategic supply chain management training?

Supply chain managers, senior planners and logistics leads gain most. You benefit if you shape service levels, stock policy or sourcing choices.

How does strategic supply chain management training differ from an S&OP course?

It sets the long-term supply design rather than the monthly plan. An S&OP course runs the monthly balancing of demand and supply; this course decides segments, network options and resilience priorities that the monthly plan then follows.

What do you bring back from strategic supply chain management training?

You bring back a strategy canvas for your own supply chain. It records product and customer segments, the supply model for each, the main risks and the measures leadership will review.

Strategic Supply Chain Management: The Way Forward

The supply chain strategy canvas first informs which product segments deserve a responsive model and which should run for lowest cost. Supply chain managers use it with procurement and sales leaders when setting service promises. After its first use, revisit the cost-to-serve figures and time-to-recover estimates, as both change with new customers and suppliers.