What topics are covered in this free Operations Management course?

The course covers inventory control, demand planning, supply chains, logistics, forecasting, production scheduling, sustainability, benchmarking, and the Theory of Constraints.

What is the difference between EOQ, EPQ, and just-in-time inventory?

EOQ identifies an economical order quantity, EPQ calculates optimal production batch sizes, and JIT minimizes inventory by receiving or producing items only when needed.

How do MRP, MRP II, and ERP differ in operations management?

MRP plans material requirements, MRP II expands planning to production resources and capacity, and ERP integrates planning with wider business functions such as finance and purchasing.

Free online course Operations Management

Duration of the online course: 4 hours and 47 minutes

(13)

Improve operations and supply chain skills with this free online course—master inventory, forecasting, scheduling, lean vs agile, and smarter planning.

In this free course, learn about

Core operations management: role, goals, and the transformation model (inputs→process→outputs)
Facility layout decisions: arranging physical resources to optimize workflow, capacity, and cost
Inventory management fundamentals: safety stock, EOQ/EPQ, ABC analysis, JIT, and VMI concepts
Inventory control systems: periodic vs perpetual, and choosing systems for high-volume businesses
Demand planning types: unexpected, seasonal, peak, and chase demand; matching capacity to demand
Ethics & sustainability in operations: how initiatives guide decisions and performance tradeoffs
SWOT analysis: assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for operational strategy
Supply chain basics: end-to-end flow of materials, information, and funds across partners
Lean vs agile supply chains: when to emphasize efficiency vs responsiveness in volatile markets
Vertical integration: backward vs forward integration and impacts on control, cost, and risk
Logistics concepts: reverse logistics and third-party logistics (3PL) roles and benefits
Strategic alliances & benchmarking: partnering and comparing to best-in-class to improve performance
Theory of Constraints: identifying bottlenecks and applying the five-step improvement process
Planning & control tools: forecasting methods, MPS role, and MRP vs MRP II vs ERP differences

About the free online course

Strong operations are what turn a good product idea into consistent results: on-time delivery, stable quality, and costs that stay under control. This free online course helps you build practical operations management thinking so you can understand how work flows through an organization, where waste and delays come from, and how to make decisions that improve performance across the supply chain.

You will connect the big picture of operations with the day-to-day choices that shape outcomes. From the transformation model to facility layout decisions, you’ll see how inputs become outputs and how processes can be designed for speed, reliability, and customer value. The course also brings essential planning concepts into focus, showing how demand signals, production plans, and execution on the floor need to align if you want fewer firefights and more predictability.

Inventory is treated as more than stock on a shelf—it is tied to service level, risk, and cash. You’ll work through key ideas such as safety stock, ABC analysis, EOQ versus EPQ, vendor-managed inventory, and just-in-time approaches, plus when periodic or perpetual systems make the most sense. You’ll also gain clarity on demand planning patterns, helping you recognize what changes you can prepare for and what requires flexible response.

Because operations does not exist in a vacuum, the course expands into supply chain management choices that affect resilience and speed. You’ll explore how supply chains are defined and structured, when lean or agile approaches fit best, and how vertical integration, alliances, third-party logistics, and reverse logistics can change cost, control, and customer experience. Strategy tools like SWOT and benchmarking are introduced to support smarter evaluation of options, not just intuition.

To strengthen problem-solving, you’ll learn to identify bottlenecks using the Theory of Constraints, and you’ll see how forecasting supports planning decisions, including qualitative and quantitative methods often used in business. Finally, the course ties plans to execution through master production scheduling, planning systems such as MRP, MRP II, and ERP, and scheduling approaches suited to both products and services. By the end, you’ll have a solid foundation to speak the language of operations and supply chain, contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, and make planning decisions with greater confidence.

Course content

Video class: Operations Management FULL COURSE Introduction - A Complete Overview 01m
Exercise: What aspect of Operations Management is specifically concerned with the arrangement of physical facilities to optimize the production process?
Video class: What is Operations Management and the Transformation Model 02m
Exercise: What is the primary goal of operations management?
Video class: Inventory Management in Operations Management 10m
Exercise: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'safety stock' in inventory management?
Video class: What is EOQ vs EPQ ABC Analysis, Vendor Managed Inventory, and JIT 15m
Exercise: What inventory control strategy is used for items not involved in production?
Video class: What is Demand Planning? 4 Types of Demand Reviewed - Unexpected, Seasonal, Peak, and Chase Demand 06m
Exercise: Which type of demand involves adjusting the production levels and workforce to align with the fluctuating customer requests, ensuring that the company meets market demand without overproducing?
Video class: Periodic and Perpetual Inventory Systems 06m
Exercise: Which inventory system is more suitable for large businesses with high inventory levels?
Video class: Operating Ethically and Sustainably - How Ethics and Sustainability Impact Business 08m
Exercise: Which of the following principles is NOT one of the three foundational principles that should form the basis of a corporate sustainable initiative according to 'Operations Management by Dr Haywood'?

Video class: What is a SWOT analysis? 05m
Exercise: What does a SWOT analysis involve?
Video class: What is a Supply Chain and How it Works | Supply Chain Management 02m
Exercise: What encompasses the definition of a supply chain?
Video class: Lean vs Agile - A Comparison of Agile and Lean Supply Chains 03m
Exercise: Which supply chain is more suitable for rapidly changing industries?
Video class: Vertical Integration - The Difference Between Backward and Forward Vertical Integration 03m
Exercise: What describes the scenario where Company A, the focal firm, purchases the supplier to gain control over the earlier stages of its supply chain?
Video class: What is Logistics - Reverse Logistics and Third Party Logistics 03m
Exercise: What is reverse logistics primarily concerned with?
Video class: What is a Strategic Alliance and How They Benefit Organizations 04m
Exercise: Which of the following best exemplifies a strategic alliance?
Video class: What is Benchmarking? 02m
Exercise: What is the purpose of benchmarking in business?
Video class: What is the Theory of Constraints and Overcoming Bottlenecks 14m
Exercise: What is the first step in the five-step process of the Theory of Constraints for overcoming bottlenecks within a process?

Video class: What is Forecasting in Supply Chain Management 06m
Exercise: What is the primary purpose of forecasting in supply chain management?
Video class: Forecasting METHODS - Qualitative and Quantitative Walkthrough in Excel 20m
Exercise: Which forecasting technique involves soliciting information from bottom to top within an organization?
Video class: Master Production Schedule Operations Management - A Review of the Production Planning Process 11m
Exercise: What is the role of the master production schedule in the planning process?
Video class: MRP vs MRP II vs ERP - A Comparison of Planning Systems 05m
Exercise: Which system would a company likely upgrade to if it needed to incorporate demand forecasting and production planning beyond just tracking material?
Video class: Scheduling in Operations Management - Strategies for Scheduling Products and Services 07m
Exercise: Which scheduling method is primarily used for services that cannot be inventoried?

Video class: What is Capacity Planning in Operations Management 05m
Exercise: In operations management, what does capacity refer to?
Video class: Design Capacity and Effective Capacity - Calculating Capacity Utilization and Efficiency Rate 15m
Video class: Capacity Planning Strategies - A Comparison of Lead Lag Match and Adjustment 08m
Exercise: Which of the following best describes a lead capacity planning strategy?
Video class: Location Analysis in Operations Management - Quantitative and Qualitative Factors 10m
Video class: Facility Layout in Operations Management - Product vs Process Oriented Layout 04m
Exercise: What type of facility layout would likely be most appropriate for an electronics manufacturer that primarily produces a large volume of one model of smartphone with only minor variations?
Video class: Process Selection - A Review of Continuous Flow, Assembly Line, Batch Flow and Job Shop 07m
Video class: How to Calculate Total Cost Using Economies of Scale Production 09m
Exercise: Which of the following statements correctly interprets the concept of economies of scale in the context of operational cost management?

Video class: What is Quality in Operations Management - ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 04m
Video class: What is Quality Function Deployment - Internal and External Orientations of Quality 02m
Exercise: What is the primary purpose of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in operations management?
Video class: Statistical Process Control in Quality Management - 7 Tools 09m
Video class: Dimensions of Quality - 13 Reviewed With Examples 10m
Exercise: Which of the following is NOT one of the five dimensions of service quality according to the passage?
Video class: Costs of Quality - Failure, Appraisal, and Prevention Costs 04m
Video class: Six Sigma - DMAIC and DMADV Explained Using Real World Example 09m
Exercise: What are the five steps of the Six Sigma methodology described in the video?
Video class: Plan Do Check Act Cycle - PDCA Explained 03m
Video class: Total Quality Management (TQM) | Quality Control 07m
Exercise: Which of the following is NOT one of the philosophies of Total Quality Management (TQM) discussed in the video?

Video class: Just in Time 09m
Video class: Value Stream Mapping - 5 Steps 03m
Exercise: In value stream mapping, what is the purpose of identifying each activity as either value added or non-value added?
Video class: Kanban - Single Card, Dual Card, and Electronic 05m
Video class: Just in Time - 7 Wastes to Eliminate 04m
Exercise: Which of the following is not one of the seven areas of waste that just in time (JIT) aims to eliminate?
Video class: Just in Time Planning and Scheduling 04m

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