Inventory & Warehousing
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management
A five-day course on planning demand, supply, and inventory as one connected process, covering forecasting, S&OP, master scheduling, MRP, inventory policy design, and distribution planning. Participants learn to build plans that hold and stock policies that serve demand efficiently.
Introduction
Planning and inventory management decide whether a company meets demand or explains why it could not. Forecasts drift, suppliers slip, and capacity shifts, yet the plan still has to hold. This Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Training Course gives planners, inventory controllers, and supply chain professionals a structured method built on recognised planning practice. Participants learn how to build a demand plan, translate it into a supply and capacity plan, set inventory parameters by item class, and run the sales and operations planning cycle that ties them together. In addition, the course covers master scheduling, material requirements planning, and distribution planning, so the plan reaches every level of the operation.
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Course Objectives
- Build demand plans using quantitative forecasting, qualitative input, and consensus review.
- Apply the sales and operations planning (S&OP) cycle from demand review to executive sign-off.
- Develop a master production schedule (MPS) that respects capacity and demand priorities.
- Run material requirements planning (MRP) with correct lead times, lot sizing, and safety stock.
- Classify inventory by ABC and XYZ logic and set policies per class.
- Calculate safety stock, reorder points, and order quantities for independent and dependent demand.
- Plan distribution requirements across warehouses, branches, and central stock.
- Measure forecast accuracy, plan stability, and schedule adherence with standard metrics.
- Manage capacity planning, bottlenecks, and rough-cut capacity checks.
- Use ERP planning modules, MRP parameters, and planning bills of material correctly.
Course Methodology
- Facilitated sessions built on worked planning examples with real demand and BOM data.
- Spreadsheet and ERP screen drills on forecasting, MRP, and capacity checks.
- Case workshops on forecast bias, plan instability, and shortage recovery.
- Simulation of an S&OP meeting from demand review to supply consensus.
- Group exercise on an inventory policy reset with measurable service and cost targets.
Who Should Take This Course
- Demand, supply, and production planners.
- Inventory controllers and stock analysts.
- Supply chain and operations managers.
- Procurement and materials planning staff.
- ERP planning module users and master data owners.
- Finance and audit staff reviewing inventory and planning assumptions.
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Course Outlines
Planning Framework and Demand Management
- • Planning horizons: strategic, tactical, and operational.
- • Demand sources: orders, forecasts, and dependent demand.
- • Quantitative forecasting: moving average, exponential smoothing, and seasonal indices.
- • Qualitative input: sales intelligence, promotions, and market signals.
- • Consensus demand planning and the demand review step.
- • Forecast accuracy measures: MAPE, bias, and forecast value added.
- • Managing new products, phase-outs, and demand shaping.
Sales and Operations Planning and Master Scheduling
- • The five steps of the S&OP cycle and their meeting structure.
- • Balancing demand, supply, and financial plans.
- • Supply response options: overtime, subcontracting, shifts, and inventory.
- • Master production schedule design and time fences.
- • Rough-cut capacity planning and resource loading.
- • Plan stability, frozen zones, and change control.
- • Executive review, decision log, and plan communication.
Material Requirements Planning and Capacity
- • MRP logic: gross to net requirements, lead time offsetting, and exploding.
- • Bills of material and planning bills.
- • Lot sizing rules: fixed order quantity, EOQ, period order quantity, and lot-for-lot.
- • Safety stock, scrap, and yield factors in MRP.
- • Capacity requirements planning and bottleneck management.
- • Pegging, exception messages, and action reports.
- • Master data accuracy: lead times, routings, and item status.
Inventory Policies and Distribution Planning
- • Independent versus dependent demand and the different control logic.
- • ABC and XYZ classification and policy setting per class.
- • Reorder point, periodic review, and min-max systems.
- • Safety stock calculation under uncertainty in demand and lead time.
- • Distribution requirements planning (DRP) across the network.
- • Multi-echelon stocking, central versus local inventory, and pooling.
- • Excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory control.
Performance Measurement and Continuous Improvement
- • Planning KPIs: forecast accuracy, plan attainment, and schedule adherence.
- • Inventory KPIs: turnover, days of supply, fill rate, and stockout rate.
- • Service level targets and the trade-off with holding cost.
- • Inventory record accuracy and cycle counting practice.
- • ERP planning reports, exception dashboards, and action prioritisation.
- • Root cause analysis of chronic shortages and excess.
- • Building an annual planning and inventory improvement plan.
Conclusion
By successfully completing the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Training Course, participants will have acquired a thorough working knowledge of demand planning, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, inventory policy design, distribution planning, and planning performance measurement. They will leave able to produce plans that hold under change, set inventory parameters that match demand behaviour, and lift service levels without inflating stock. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with supply chain practitioners who run these planning cycles in live operations.
FAQs for the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management course
— What is the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course about?
It is a five-day programme on how companies plan demand, supply, and inventory together. It covers demand forecasting, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, inventory policy setting, distribution planning, and planning performance measurement.
— What are the key benefits of the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
Participants produce more accurate demand plans, cut chronic shortages and excess stock, and improve schedule adherence. They also gain a working S&OP cycle, cleaner planning data, and inventory policies that raise service levels while releasing cash.
— What skills will I gain from the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
You will gain demand planning and forecast accuracy management, sales and operations planning with master scheduling, material requirements planning and capacity checking, and inventory policy and distribution planning with performance measurement.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
The course works with moving average and exponential smoothing forecasts with seasonal indices, MAPE and forecast value added measures, the five-step S&OP cycle, master production scheduling with time fences and rough-cut capacity planning, MRP with lot sizing rules and lead time offsetting, bills of material and planning bills, ABC and XYZ classification, safety stock and reorder point models, distribution requirements planning, and ERP planning reports.
— How is the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course applied in real-world practice?
Teams apply it when preparing the monthly demand review, adjusting MRP parameters after a lead time change, resetting stock policies for a fast-moving line, and recovering from a shortage. It also guides capacity decisions, distribution planning across branches, and planning KPI reporting.
Scheduling in Progress | Training Arranged Around Your Needs
Our team can coordinate this program based on available dates and locations. Contact us to explore training options that best fit your needs.
Introduction
Planning and inventory management decide whether a company meets demand or explains why it could not. Forecasts drift, suppliers slip, and capacity shifts, yet the plan still has to hold. This Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Training Course gives planners, inventory controllers, and supply chain professionals a structured method built on recognised planning practice. Participants learn how to build a demand plan, translate it into a supply and capacity plan, set inventory parameters by item class, and run the sales and operations planning cycle that ties them together. In addition, the course covers master scheduling, material requirements planning, and distribution planning, so the plan reaches every level of the operation.
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Course Objectives
- Build demand plans using quantitative forecasting, qualitative input, and consensus review.
- Apply the sales and operations planning (S&OP) cycle from demand review to executive sign-off.
- Develop a master production schedule (MPS) that respects capacity and demand priorities.
- Run material requirements planning (MRP) with correct lead times, lot sizing, and safety stock.
- Classify inventory by ABC and XYZ logic and set policies per class.
- Calculate safety stock, reorder points, and order quantities for independent and dependent demand.
- Plan distribution requirements across warehouses, branches, and central stock.
- Measure forecast accuracy, plan stability, and schedule adherence with standard metrics.
- Manage capacity planning, bottlenecks, and rough-cut capacity checks.
- Use ERP planning modules, MRP parameters, and planning bills of material correctly.
Course Methodology
- Facilitated sessions built on worked planning examples with real demand and BOM data.
- Spreadsheet and ERP screen drills on forecasting, MRP, and capacity checks.
- Case workshops on forecast bias, plan instability, and shortage recovery.
- Simulation of an S&OP meeting from demand review to supply consensus.
- Group exercise on an inventory policy reset with measurable service and cost targets.
Who Should Take This Course
- Demand, supply, and production planners.
- Inventory controllers and stock analysts.
- Supply chain and operations managers.
- Procurement and materials planning staff.
- ERP planning module users and master data owners.
- Finance and audit staff reviewing inventory and planning assumptions.
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Course Outlines
Planning Framework and Demand Management
- • Planning horizons: strategic, tactical, and operational.
- • Demand sources: orders, forecasts, and dependent demand.
- • Quantitative forecasting: moving average, exponential smoothing, and seasonal indices.
- • Qualitative input: sales intelligence, promotions, and market signals.
- • Consensus demand planning and the demand review step.
- • Forecast accuracy measures: MAPE, bias, and forecast value added.
- • Managing new products, phase-outs, and demand shaping.
Sales and Operations Planning and Master Scheduling
- • The five steps of the S&OP cycle and their meeting structure.
- • Balancing demand, supply, and financial plans.
- • Supply response options: overtime, subcontracting, shifts, and inventory.
- • Master production schedule design and time fences.
- • Rough-cut capacity planning and resource loading.
- • Plan stability, frozen zones, and change control.
- • Executive review, decision log, and plan communication.
Material Requirements Planning and Capacity
- • MRP logic: gross to net requirements, lead time offsetting, and exploding.
- • Bills of material and planning bills.
- • Lot sizing rules: fixed order quantity, EOQ, period order quantity, and lot-for-lot.
- • Safety stock, scrap, and yield factors in MRP.
- • Capacity requirements planning and bottleneck management.
- • Pegging, exception messages, and action reports.
- • Master data accuracy: lead times, routings, and item status.
Inventory Policies and Distribution Planning
- • Independent versus dependent demand and the different control logic.
- • ABC and XYZ classification and policy setting per class.
- • Reorder point, periodic review, and min-max systems.
- • Safety stock calculation under uncertainty in demand and lead time.
- • Distribution requirements planning (DRP) across the network.
- • Multi-echelon stocking, central versus local inventory, and pooling.
- • Excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory control.
Performance Measurement and Continuous Improvement
- • Planning KPIs: forecast accuracy, plan attainment, and schedule adherence.
- • Inventory KPIs: turnover, days of supply, fill rate, and stockout rate.
- • Service level targets and the trade-off with holding cost.
- • Inventory record accuracy and cycle counting practice.
- • ERP planning reports, exception dashboards, and action prioritisation.
- • Root cause analysis of chronic shortages and excess.
- • Building an annual planning and inventory improvement plan.
Conclusion
By successfully completing the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management Training Course, participants will have acquired a thorough working knowledge of demand planning, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, inventory policy design, distribution planning, and planning performance measurement. They will leave able to produce plans that hold under change, set inventory parameters that match demand behaviour, and lift service levels without inflating stock. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with supply chain practitioners who run these planning cycles in live operations.
FAQs for the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management course
— What is the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course about?
It is a five-day programme on how companies plan demand, supply, and inventory together. It covers demand forecasting, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, inventory policy setting, distribution planning, and planning performance measurement.
— What are the key benefits of the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
Participants produce more accurate demand plans, cut chronic shortages and excess stock, and improve schedule adherence. They also gain a working S&OP cycle, cleaner planning data, and inventory policies that raise service levels while releasing cash.
— What skills will I gain from the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
You will gain demand planning and forecast accuracy management, sales and operations planning with master scheduling, material requirements planning and capacity checking, and inventory policy and distribution planning with performance measurement.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course?
The course works with moving average and exponential smoothing forecasts with seasonal indices, MAPE and forecast value added measures, the five-step S&OP cycle, master production scheduling with time fences and rough-cut capacity planning, MRP with lot sizing rules and lead time offsetting, bills of material and planning bills, ABC and XYZ classification, safety stock and reorder point models, distribution requirements planning, and ERP planning reports.
— How is the "Certified in Planning and Inventory Management" course applied in real-world practice?
Teams apply it when preparing the monthly demand review, adjusting MRP parameters after a lead time change, resetting stock policies for a fast-moving line, and recovering from a shortage. It also guides capacity decisions, distribution planning across branches, and planning KPI reporting.
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Our Partners in Learning include leading companies and organizations that trust Gentex Training Center for high-quality training courses and professional development programs. Together, we deliver impactful training programs that support skills growth, leadership development, and organizational excellence.
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