Inventory Management and Ordering Strategies Training

Executive overview

The mission-critical supply chains run by NATO, NSPA, defence industry organisations, ministries of defence and force commands must absorb demand volatility while still meeting readiness targets at all times. This five-day (or four-day) intensive programme delivers, hands-on in Microsoft Excel, the quantitative toolkit needed to build accurate forecasts, size inventory and design robust ordering policies.

Learning is reinforced by two online sessions of the MIT Beer Game. This multiplayer, web-based simulation puts the bullwhip effect — and the decisive role of information sharing — in front of participants in a way no slide deck can.

Key learning outcomes

• Build and compare forecasting models in MS Excel
• Define forecasting and explain its role in supply chain and operations planning
• Distinguish qualitative and quantitative forecasting approaches
• Decompose time-series data into trend, seasonality and randomness
• Apply naive forecasting, moving averages and exponential smoothing
• Assess forecast accuracy with MAE, MSE, RMSE and MAPE
• Produce forecasts with relationship-based methods such as linear regression
• Translate forecasts into safety stock and lot-size parameters for MRP/ERP systems
• Apply and compare fixed EOQ, three-month order cycle, POQ, lot-for-lot, Wagner-Whitin, Silver-Meal, LUC and PPB
• Run MIT Beer Game workshops and feed the resulting data into variance analysis and continuous improvement plans
• Prepare and present data-driven procurement scenarios for NATO and NSPA reviews

Who should attend

NATO, NSPA and national defence organisations

Materiel planners, supply officers, inventory controllers, readiness analysts.

Defence and aerospace industry

Integrated Logistics Support (ILS/IPS) managers, MRO planners, warehouse managers, NSPA framework contractors.

High-reliability civil sectors

Energy, aviation, healthcare, rail: critical spare parts managers, demand planners, procurement coordinators.

Structure and duration

The programme is an intensive five-day (optionally four-day) course combining theory with Excel-based hands-on workshops, six hours per day.

• Full programme (Beer Game included) — 5 days: Excel forecasting workshop · MRP and inventory theory · ordering algorithms under time-varying demand · 2× online Beer Game sessions with debrief · Monte Carlo and optimisation clinic · closing readiness case study · certificate of attendance.
• Core programme (without Beer Game) — 4 days: the same content, plus advanced Excel applications and case studies · certificate of attendance.

Curriculum highlights

• Forecasting fundamentals: definitions, approaches and decomposition of time-series data.
• Quantitative techniques: naive, moving average and trend-adjusted exponential smoothing.
• Forecast accuracy: measuring and comparing performance with standard error metrics.
• Relationship-based forecasting: regression models driven by external variables.
• Planning under time-varying demand: assumptions and strategies in volatile environments.
• Ordering algorithms: fixed EOQ, three-month order cycle, POQ, lot-for-lot, Wagner-Whitin, Silver-Meal, LUC and PPB.
• Simulation: two online MIT Beer Game sessions.

Delivery formats and requirements

Language of instruction: Turkish or English, at the participants' preference.

Classroom in Ankara

Equipment: training computers with Excel 2019 or later, projector.
Catering: lunches, coffee breaks and refreshments are provided by NCU Technology.
Travel and accommodation: the responsibility of the participant or the requesting organisation.

On-site at other locations

Facilities: classroom, training computers, projector.
Host responsibility: venue, travel, accommodation, meals and all refreshments are covered by the host organisation.

Online (live)

Technical requirements: stable internet connection, webcam, microphone, a computer with MS Excel installed.
Platform access: web access to the MIT Beer Game platform. Platform access and virtual lab configuration are arranged by NCU Technology.

Investment

Private group sessions (maximum 8 participants):

• Full programme (Beer Game included): USD 11,000
• Core programme (without Beer Game): USD 9,000

Prices exclude the instructor's travel and accommodation costs (where applicable) and VAT. Training materials — presentations, handouts and practice exercises — are prepared in full and provided to participants. Detailed scope and agenda are shared on request.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete the closing assessment receive an Advanced Supply Chain Planning Certificate signed by Dr. Çağlar Utku GÜLER. The programme has been rated at the highest level by more than a hundred participants.

Prerequisites

• Role: basic experience in supply chain, logistics, inventory management or planning.
• MS Excel: working knowledge of formulas, tables and charts.
• Analytical appetite: willingness to think quantitatively and work with data.
• English reading: if the English delivery is chosen, enough to follow presentations and documents.

Instructor

Dr. Çağlar Utku GÜLER — PhD in Industrial Engineering, lecturer at Atılım University. MSc in Logistics Management from the US Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT, Dayton, Ohio). A retired Air Force engineering colonel with long-standing experience in defence logistics and enterprise systems.

• Architect of the Turkish Air Force's enterprise Material Requirements Planning (MRP) algorithm
• Years of functional leadership in the design of SAP ERP-based MRP, distribution and inventory management systems
• Author of three books and peer-reviewed papers on forecasting, MRP and defence logistics
• Trainer for NATO, NSPA and tier-one aerospace manufacturers; facilitator of more than 120 MIT Beer Game workshops
• Currently leading SAP S/4HANA transformation projects in the defence industry