Student profile

Benefits for the students

• Through the program, students will gain practical knowledge of:
• planning and implementation of a company’s development strategy
• demand forecasting and management of forecasting error
• management of demand and sales order delivery
• building and managing customer relationships within the chains of supply and value
• planning of master sales and production in a middle- and long-term perspective
• detailed delivery scheduling (from purchasing and production)
• calculating the load of and ensuring an appropriate supply of production resources and other resources essential to consumer service
• required functionality and necessary optimization of ERP software, which supports integrated planning of and directing operational processes
• management of feedback from the closed loop process of planning and process management
• financial and strategic aspects of resource management
• methods and tools which optimize resource management in a company or a distribution network
• physical organization of warehouses and distribution channels
• assessment and selection of strategic suppliers, negotiation of conditions of cooperation and preparation of contracts
• management of purchasing cycle and supply quality assessment process
• human resources management policy
• negotiation techniques
• physical organization of production department and management of production in the context of continuous improvement of the process productivity and waste reduction
• use of statistical and lean tools to control and improve the process
• philosophy, systems and tools of quality management in business

Lecturers and coaches

Teaching methods

Subject matter

MODULE 1. BUSINESS PLANNING

• strategy modeling
  • business strategy and its connections
  • market-oriented and resource-oriented approaches to strategy
  • functional strategies
• strategy implementation
  • change management
  • project-oriented vs. process-oriented management
  • tools of strategy implementation
  • TQM perspective

MODULE 2. MASTER RESOURCE PLANNING

• integrated supply chain resource planning
  • business strategy vs. resource functionality
  • coordination of actions in an organization
  • manufacturing resource planning and enterprise resource planning (MRPII/ERP)
• sales and operations planning (S&OP)
  • goals, subject and scope of general sales and operations planning
  • S&OP cycle: scope of competences and responsibility of the process’ owner and participants
  • S&OP for different production strategies
  • investigation of resource availability on an S&OP level and approval of the plan
• production range planning
  • goals, subject and scope of master production schedule (MPS)
  • inward and outward MPS data
  • MPS procedure
  • change management policy vs. stabilization of operational processes
  • available-to-promise (ATP) system in consumer service

MODULE 3. DEMAND FORECASTING

• organization of demand forecasting process
  • sources of inward data in a forecasting process and factors influencing the characteristics of a forecast
  • forecasting process’ owner and participators
  • forecasting venue in planning
  • time scope of forecasting in relation to forecast accuracy
• forecasting (trend, seasonal fluctuations, random component, qualitative factors, special events)
  • elements of statistics
  • naïve and simple forecasting methods
  • adaptational models
  • variance analysis and its use in forecasting
  • use of regression in forecasting
  • time series
  • types and size of forecasting errors; error monitoring and forecast management

MODULE 4. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

• nature of CRM
  • CRM: basic concepts
  • CRM: processes, IT systems or customer needs?
• company and market environment
  • markets
  • products
  • marketing and communication strategies
  • basis of a properly operating business
  • market knowledge management
• customers
  • delivering value and satisfaction to customers
  • customer lifetime value (CLV)
  • need for customer retention
  • profitability maximization
• building customer relationships
  • customer portfolio management
  • customer segmentation
  • customer service channels
  • marketing and loyalty programs
• design of customer relationship management systems
  • project management
  • who is in favor, who is against: seeking stakeholders for project implementation
  • three companies, three different methods of CRM system development: case study
  • IT matters
  • risk management: what to avoid, what rules to follow in CRM implementation
  • new trends: customer experience management (CEM)

MODULE 5. MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLIES AND RESOURCES

• material requirements planning (MRP)
  • nature of MRP process
  • inward MRP data
  • material structure of a product
  • MRP algorithms and results
  • MRP parameters
• scheduling of production resource use
  • efficiency and effectiveness of resource use
  • methods of resource load scheduling
  • rules of creating a detailed production schedule
  • IT systems supporting production scheduling (APS - Advanced Planning and Scheduling)
• supply restoration scheduling
  • types of and reasons for supply restoration
  • techniques of supply restoration
  • techniques of supply level review
  • indicators of supply maintenance effectiveness
• providing expected standards of customer service
  • definition of expected standards of customer service
  • costs of providing expected standards of customer service
  • choice of supply maintenance and restoration strategy

MODULE 6. DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

• What are we talking about?
• Distribution channels
  • distribution channels: a marketing-oriented perspective
    • goals of a distribution channel
    • types and choice of distribution channels
    • responsibility for decisions and management
    • 4P/4C concept
  • distribution channels: a perspective of physical goods flow
    • processes, architecture and organization
• Physical organization of distribution channels
  • operational model
  • functions of distribution
  • goals of distribution
  • costs of distribution
  • storage and handling
  • transport
  • distribution systems
• international transport
  • sea transport
  • aspects related to customs duties
  • Incoterms
• management systems of supply level in a distribution channel
  • Push, Pull, DRP
  • sale and supplies
• effectiveness measurement and indicators

MODULE 7. PURCHASING MANAGEMENT

• Purchasing policy in relation to company’s strategy
  • procurement vs. purchasing: role and support of company’s strategy implementation
  • effect of purchasing management on the most important indicators in a company
  • effect of purchasing management on external and internal prospects for standardization, consolidation, outsourcing, partnership and cooperation
  • correlation of a modern purchasing management system with widely used quality management systems
• cooperation with suppliers
  • pre-selection, selection and choice of suppliers
  • classification of suppliers: operational strategy
  • detailed process of supplier audit
  • periodic evaluation of suppliers: company’s expectations and norms of quality management system
  • course of the bidding process
  • negotiation
  • contracts: negotiation, rules, criteria for acceptance of registration
  • complaint management
• Material requirements planning and supply management
  • management of implementation of the best logistical solutions
  • cost management: Total Cost concept
  • product specifications
  • demand forecasting and planning cycle
  • parametrization of manufacturing resource planning and enterprise resource planning (MRPII/ERP) and change control
  • types and methods of generating material requirements
  • course of operational purchasing
  • supply management and optimization
  • obligations of operational purchasers in relation to their cooperation with the rest of the company
  • measurement and indicators of operational purchasing effectiveness

MODULE 8. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Use of human resources in a process
  • selection and adjustment of persons to the needs of a process
  • factors influencing the effectiveness of a person’s actions in a process
  • role of people in various aspects of process management
  • innovation in business processes and its relationship to human resources
  • human as an initiator of changes and improvements in a process
  • use of changes, modifications and innovations in relation to the human factor
  • process control in relation to control of people and their actions
  • development of people in relation to process improvement
  • future plans for human resources: employee development
  • people’s responsibility for process effectiveness
  • spheres of influence of different employee groups and relationships between them
  • measuring instruments of the effectiveness of human resource use
  • differences between human resource management in projects and processes
• Practical aspects of employee management in a process
  • styles of people management depending on the state of the process
  • factors influencing people’s motivation in a process
  • significance of employee motivation level for process effectiveness
  • significance of teamwork and synergy effect in process optimization
  • interpersonal communication and its significance for the effectiveness of process activities
  • delegation of authorizations and allocation of decision areas
  • significance of a proactive attitude of employees for process optimization
• Difficult situations in people management
  • human errors in a process: how to cope with them and react to them
  • human behavior in a process as a sequence of permanent changes
  • improvement of process effectiveness through appropriate team management
  • behavior in emergency situations
  • communication with employees in problematic situations

MODULE 9. MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• Foundations of maintenance management system
  • introduction to total productive maintenance (TPM)
  • introduction to management models of maintenance services
  • maintenance key performance indicators according to the EN 15341 norm
  • methodology of maintenance management system audit
  • introduction to reliability centered maintenance (RCM): case study
• maintenance program
  • introduction to autonomous maintenance: case study
  • introduction to preventive maintenance: case study
  • maintenance activity scheduling
  • costs and methodology of maintenance budgeting

MODULE 10. LEAN MANAGEMENT - REDUCING WASTE IN PRODUCTION

• Production process management according to lean management philosophy
  • lean management: goals, basic concepts, history, Toyota production system as an example of lean manufacturing
  • five principles of Lean according to Womack and Jones: Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull and Perfection
  • value and three types of waste (muda, mura, muri)
  • Value Stream: case study
  • Pull-Flow System: guidelines on Value Stream design; material flow (including kanban) and information flow (including pacemaker)
  • Kaizen – a system of continuous improvement
• basic waste reduction tools
  • workplace organization methodology: 5S (seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke)
  • standardized work
  • just-in-time (JIT) tools (one piece flow, SMED – Single-Minute Exchange of Die)
  • TQM tools (including poka-yoke)
  • visualization in management (including production status reporting, key indicators, escalation rules, PDCA – plan–do–check–act and group problem-solving)
  • How to succeed in lean management implementation? (Q&A session, practical advice)

MODULE 11. SIX SIGMA - STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

• statistical process control (SPC)
  • process as a subject of statistical analysis
  • variables at entry, exit and inside the process
  • variable measurement
  • variable identification: case study
  • variable distribution at the exit of the process: graphical analysis; normal distribution
  • analysis of variable distribution parameters at the exit of the process
  • complex analysis of variable distribution at the exit of the process: case study
  • practical findings of the analysis
  • statistical process control; establishment of control limits
  • assessment of process stability based on a control diagram: case study
• Basics of DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) – integrating Six Sigma and Lean
  • Six Sigma and Lean: nature, origins, philosophy, benefits
  • concept of process efficiency, VOC-CTQ (voice of the customer - critical to quality), measurement of process efficiency, averaging a process
  • concept of added value in a process
  • DMAIC – a road map for process-supporting projects: application to case study
  • defining: Project Card preparation
  • measuring: assessment of functional process map and value flow map, identification of activities which do or do not bring about added value, bottleneck identification
  • calculating: the current process sigma
  • analyzing: factors that influence process efficiency
  • improving: SCAMPER technique, use of 5S methodology
  • controlling: determining control procedures for an improved process

MODULE 12. PROCESS QUALITY MANAGEMENT

• concept of process quality
  • quality inspection
  • quality control
  • ensuring quality
  • total quality management
  • Deming’s rules
  • client-oriented approach
  • change of company’s culture
  • costs of quality
  • process management
• practical problem solving in a process
  • PDCA circle
  • PASCAL methodology
  • stages of problem solving and techniques of quality (control sheets, 5W2H, histograms, Pareto charts, cause-and-effect diagrams, brainstorming, solution matrices)
  • creative problem solving

Teaching staff

Petr Navratil

Petr is the manager of a rapidly developing production-trade company which operates in the fields of construction and installations. Moreover, Petr does consulting work in the area of strategic management. His main competences include company restructuring as well as building, managing and coaching multidisciplinary teams in the international environment. Since 2000, he has been working in top management teams. His primary achievements include:

• - constructing an international post-sales services system which conducts final assembly of products
• - conducting the restructuring process of the operational region of a large company
• - planning and conducting the process of complex restructuring of a dynamically developing production-trade company

Ryszard Kalf

Ryszard graduated from Gdansk University of Technology (Basic Technology Problems Department), where he specialized in engineering physics.
He is the Head of the Logistics and Planning Team in a large international production company operating in the construction field. Ryszard designed and participated in several logistics projects, including the implementation of resource management rules as part of the planning of dependent and independent demand. Ryszard is involved in demand forecasting and is in charge of a demand forecasting improvement project. He is a member of various team which work on the optimization of logistics processes.

Ryszard took part in a range of training programs in the field of logistics management of a company, e.g. Supply Chain Training organized by the European Institute of Purchasing Management in Vienna.

Ryszard’s main interests include analyzing financial markets, investigating rules of the universe and transforming any theoretical problem into the form of “formulas and numbers”.

Jan Ruchniewicz

Jan is the co-founder of palpp.com (Production & Logistics Process Perfection) where he also works as a coach. Furthermore, he is the program director of postgraduate business process management studies organized in cooperation with Gdansk Foundation for Management Development. For the last 15 years, Jan has been working in logistics management. He is involved in professional training and consulting in the field of supply chain management. His work encompasses internal auditing of companies, open and closed professional trainings and consultations regarding issues such as:
- maturity assessment of planning and operational processes
- implementation of manufacturing resource planning and enterprise resource planning systems
- supply control and management
- warehouse management

Jan gained experience in managing departments of logistics (supply, warehouses, IT, transport, planning) working as the director of logistics and the board’s representative for quality management systems in several international corporations.

Palpp.com – the company run by Jan – is an authorized representative of an American organization known as APICS (The Association for Operations Management) in Poland. For more than last five years, Jan has been implementing APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) standards in various production-trade companies both in Poland and abroad. In addition to this, Jan delivers lectures at postgraduate MBA studies organized by Gdansk Foundation for Management Development in cooperation with Rotterdam School of Management.

Maciej Kowalski

As an expert on customer relationship management, Maciej possesses real-life knowledge on process design and implementation of IT systems supporting customer service.

Maciej graduated from the Wroclaw University of Economics (Regional Economics and Tourism Department). He holds a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from the George Washington University School of Business.

Since the beginning of his professional career, Maciej has been involved in customer service processes as a specialist and head of the business customer service department in telecommunications companies. He was also working on the design and implementation of a centralized strategy of business customer service.

In a large project of a company’s transformation and restructuring, Maciej worked in an international team and was responsible for technical implementation of customer service application as well as cooperation with IT solutions suppliers.

After completing a course for teachers for professional training programs as well as a set of courses for internal coaches, Maciej led various group courses for the users of customer service systems. He also designed professional development plans for contact center employees.

Currently, Maciej is involved in a customer relationship management project as well as the integration of trade processes in an oil company. Maciej also works with palpp.com.

Wojciech Kościaniuk

Wojciech graduated from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun (Economics and Management Department). He also completed postgraduate logistics management studies at the Logistics School in Poznan. Furthermore, Wojciech holds the APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) certificate and is an active member of APICS Association.

For more than last ten years, Wojciech has been involved in various aspects of supply chain management. He has the experience of working as a specialist and a manager in the areas of both discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing. In spite of not being a computer scientist, he gladly combines the knowledge of supply chain management with the design and implementation of IT tools. Wojciech participated in the implementation of ERP systems and directed a project of designing a tailor-made Business Intelligence system as well as databases and IT tools to support operational planning.

Wojciech has a great deal of experience in the organization of planning processes at various levels, ranging from detailed scheduling of supplies to sales and operations planning. Wojciech led a variety of professional training programs and workshops on planning and management of supply chain. He also delivered lectures at different conferences on this topic.

Paweł Czepek

Paweł is an expert on supply chain management and logistics. He gained managerial experience working for Philips Consumer Electronics and Unilever Poland S.A. In addition to this, he ran a large division of a shipping and logistics company.

Paweł has vast experience in the implementation of ERP systems. He worked on strategy planning and implementation with the use of BSC. Paweł is proficient in the implementation of process management as well as the design and use of effectiveness indicators. He is also very knowledgeable in the area of outsourcing.

Paweł shares his immense knowledge of problems related to logistics as well as the organization of sales and distribution channels during various professional training programs and workshops which he leads. Paweł holds APICS CPIM and Six Sigma Greenbelt certificates. He graduated from Gdansk University of Technology (Electronics Department as well as Economics and Management Department).

Artur Halbe

Artur graduated from the Naval Academy in Gdynia. He also completed business logistics management studies at the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing in Poznan (the program was conducted in compliance with the European Logistics Association requirements and was licensed by Institute of Logistics Great Britain and Logistics Training International).

Artur’s professional career has always been revolving around the broadly defined issues of supply chain and purchasing. Having worked as the director of logistics, supply chain and purchasing in different international corporations for many years, Artur gained valuable experience in the management of supply and purchasing departments, warehousing, transport, production planning and customer service. Artur participated in three greenfield projects. He also designed and implemented standards of supply chain operations in various corporations. Artur worked in opening branch offices of a range of companies in East and Southeast Asia. For a few years, Artur directed supply chain transfers from East and Southeast Asia, North America and Western Europe to Central-Eastern Europe.

As a representative of different companies, Artur ran business process auditing of cooperating companies for several years. He also led professional training programs and workshops on this topic. Currently, Artur does consulting work and leads workshops concerning purchasing management for large Polish companies as well as international corporations. He was a visiting professor at Gdansk University Economics Department for several years, delivering elective lectures for both Polish and international students.

Michał Brzeziński

Michał graduated from the Technical University of Lodz, where he completed a program of studies organized by the Organization and Management Department in cooperation with Universite d'Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand I. Since 1998, he has been leading workshops and consulting projects in a range of organizations.

Between 2001 and 2003, Michał was the CEO of Tecnoyarn Poland Sp. z o.o. (a company which formed a part of an Italian capital group). He specializes in leadership and team building, motivation, negotiation, effective sales techniques, customer psychology and customer relationship building.

Michał’s no-nonsense approach and focus on tangible results led him to play a significant role in promoting a managerial approach based on delegating authorizations in an organization, thus assisting self-managing teams in different departments of a company.

Michał teaches at postgraduate MBA studies organized by Gdansk Foundation for Management Development in cooperation with Rotterdam School of Management as well as postgraduate project management studies organized by GFMD in collaboration with Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management in Warsaw. Michał has ten years of experience in leading professional training programs and doing consulting work for managers and employees.

Wojciech Mączyński

Wojtek leads professional training programs and workshops on production process optimization and maintenance management systems. He specializes in the implementation of Total Productive Maintenance projects and Maintenance Excellence Management Program.

Wojtek gained a great deal of experience in production personnel management and the organization of maintenance management department during 14 years of work as the director of maintenance and production in both Polish and international companies. His main responsibilities included the implementation of the tools of lean manufacturing, JIT, SMED, kanban, TPM and Maintenance Excellence, audit of European companies angled towards TMP functionality as well as leading professional training programs for companies from a variety of countries, such as the USA, Germany and China.

Currently, Wojtek works on promoting a healthy approach to the exploitation of technical objects based on an original program influenced by Seichii Nakajima’s TPM model. The goal of this project is to develop the best possible habits of management of technical objects (machines, installations, buildings), geared towards their reliability and high work efficiency. Wojtek’s achievements include several implementations of modern methods of production and maintenance management.

Wojtek graduated from Wroclaw University of Technology. He also completed a TPM Practitioner Certificate Program in New Orleans, USA. Wojtek is a member of the Polish Maintenance Society.

Maciej Wiertel

Maciej has been a practitioner of Lean and kaizen for many years. He gained a great deal of experience on this topic while working as a manager in a variety of automotive companies for more than ten years. He directed the departments of planning, production control, supply chain management and internal logistics. As a supplier, he worked in cooperation with Toyota, Porsche, GM, Ford Motor Company, Nissan, Renault, Audi and Volkswagen. Maciej was in charge of various projects concerning the implementation of new product manufacturing and the transfer of manufacturing lines to Poland. He designed and implemented a complete pull-flow system managed with kanban cards for the management of finished products, production in progress and supplies.

For the last five years, Maciej has been leading professional training programs and implementation projects. He specializes in the optimization of material flow and information flow, work standardization and implementation of Lean in administration processes. Maciej participates in the design and implementation of production system elements in production companies operating in Europe, Asia and the USA.

Maciej graduated from University of Lodz, where he specialized in organization and management. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Wroclaw University of Economics.

Józef Bielecki

Józef is an international expert on process management and project management. Since 1991, he has been leading workshops on this topic. Since 1998, Józef has been working as a quality manager in accordance with Six Sigma methodology (holding a Master Black Belt), first for GE Capital and later for Raiffeisen Bank Poland S.A. Józef participated in several professional training workshops on quality management in accordance with Six Sigma methodology in the USA, the UK and France. Józef was the director of marketing and development department in the headquarters of Bank Gdański for five years. Józef also worked as an advisor in Central Statistical Office, where he was a member of Mathematics Committee. He has nine years of experience as an expert and manager of United Nations statistics projects in Latin America and Africa.

In addition to this, Józef has 25 years of experience in teaching. He was a lecturer at École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales in Cergy, France. Józef specializes in professional training programs focused on quality management (TQM, Six Sigma), statistics project management and marketing management.

Józef is the author and co-author of five textbooks on statistics, econometrics and marketing as well as 30 publications on statistics and quality management. He teaches at postgraduate MBA studies organized by Gdansk Foundation for Management Development in cooperation with Rotterdam School of Management.

Janusz Kawiak

Since 1999, Janusz has been working as a consultant, coach and author of professional training programs. He designed and implemented TQM programs in a range of Polish companies.

Between 1991 and 1993, Janusz worked for Computer Sciences Corporation, where he played a key role in various projects conducted by the company in Poland. He also gained professional experience abroad during his stay in South Africa, where for ten years he worked for ESCOM (a South African electroenergetics company) as a technical consultant and was actively engaged in TQM programs. In 1976 Janusz graduated from Gdansk University of Technology (Civil Engineering Department), while in 1997 he completed postgraduate TQM and technology management studies at Loyola Marymount University.

In addition to this, Janusz teaches at postgraduate MBA studies organized by Gdansk Foundation for Management Development in cooperation with Rotterdam School of Management.