StretchLearn Course

A Supply Chain That Holds Under Pressure

Source the right suppliers, protect yourself with airtight POs and incoterms, control lead times and quality, and manage vendors with scorecards instead of luck.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Most small businesses learn supply chain the hard way: a key supplier slips a ship date during a busy season, a container of off-spec goods arrives with no recourse, or a single-source factory goes dark and freezes the whole operation. This course replaces that fragility with a repeatable system used across procurement and operations: structured supplier qualification, clean purchase orders and incoterms that protect you, AQL-based quality control, lead-time and buffer math that absorbs variability, and supplier scorecards that turn vendor management into a measurable discipline. By the end you can source, contract, receive, and manage suppliers with documents and numbers that hold up under pressure.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Qualify and onboard suppliers using a weighted scorecard and structured RFQ

Write purchase orders and select incoterms that allocate cost, risk, and responsibility clearly

Calculate and manage lead times, including the safety buffer that absorbs supplier variability

Inspect incoming goods using AQL sampling and a documented quality agreement

Size inventory buffers and reorder points against demand and lead-time uncertainty

Run ongoing supplier relationships with KPIs, business reviews, and a risk and continuity plan

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Sourcing and Qualifying Suppliers

The cost and risk of your whole supply chain is largely decided at the sourcing stage. This module shows you how to map what you actually need, find candidate suppliers across the right channels, and qualify them with a weighted scorecard before you ever place an order.

3 lessons

Know What You Are Buying Before You Source ItContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Finding and Shortlisting Candidate SuppliersContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Qualifying Suppliers With an RFQ and Weighted ScorecardContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Purchase Orders, Incoterms, and Payment

Once you choose a supplier, the documents you use decide who bears cost and risk and what recourse you have. This module covers writing a protective purchase order, choosing the right incoterm, and structuring payment so leverage stays balanced.

3 lessons

The Purchase Order as Your ContractContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Incoterms: Who Pays, Who Bears the RiskContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Structuring Payment to Keep LeverageContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Lead Times, Quality Control, and Inventory Buffers

Goods on order are not goods on the shelf. This module turns lead time into a number you can plan around, builds quality control into receiving so defects never reach customers, and sizes the inventory buffer that absorbs the variability suppliers inevitably introduce.

3 lessons

Understanding and Managing Lead TimeContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Quality Control and AQL InspectionContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Sizing Inventory Buffers and Reorder PointsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Managing Supplier Relationships and Risk

A supplier is a long-term relationship to be managed, not a transaction to be repeated. This module covers the KPIs and scorecards that make supplier performance measurable, the reviews and communication rhythms that strengthen the relationship, and the risk and continuity planning that keeps one supplier failure from becoming your crisis.

3 lessons

Measuring Supplier Performance With KPIsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Communication, Reviews, and Strengthening the RelationshipContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Supply Chain Risk and Continuity PlanningContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

supplier sourcingpurchase orderslead timequality controlincotermsAQL inspectionsupplier scorecardprocurement