- Home
- Free Courses
- Supply Chain Basics: How Goods Get to the Shelf
Supply Chain Basics: How Goods Get to the Shelf
Learn how a product travels from raw material to the shelf: planning, sourcing, storage, transport, performance measures and risk. Five short lessons and a quiz, with a certificate of completion.
Already have a campus account? Open the course
The short version
Free, no payment details
Sign up with your name and e-mail and confirm it with a 6-digit code. There is nothing to buy.
About 60 minutes
5 short lessons and one final quiz. Your progress is saved, so you can stop and come back on any device.
Certificate of completion
Finish every lesson and score 70% or more on the final quiz. Retakes are unlimited.
Not a program
This free short course is not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program and gives no program credit.
What you will learn
- Explain what a supply chain is and describe the product, information and money flows
- Build a simple moving-average demand forecast by hand
- Compare suppliers using total cost instead of unit price alone
- Choose between road, rail, air, marine and pipeline transport for a given shipment
- Calculate fill rate, on-time delivery and perfect order rate
- Describe the bullwhip effect and rank supply chain risks by likelihood and impact
Who it is for
Adults who are curious about supply chain work, people in retail, warehousing, trucking or operations who want the big picture, and anyone considering a move into supply chain or logistics. No experience is needed.
What you need
- A computer, tablet or phone with an internet connection
- A calculator or spreadsheet for the practice examples
- About 60 minutes in total, which you can split across several days
Lessons
- 1What a supply chain is and who is in it12 min
- 2Planning demand and sourcing from suppliers12 min
- 3Making, storing and moving goods12 min
- 4Measuring performance and managing risk12 min
- 5Putting it together: one order, start to finish12 min
- ✓Supply Chain Basics: final quizfinal quiz
Where this course can lead
Business Administration Diploma – Supply Chain Management
This course is a short, practical introduction. The full program goes much further: business operations, purchasing, inventory and logistics for coordinator roles, studied online and at your own pace.
Related reading
More free business & administration courses
Office Skills Starter: Email, Calendar and Excel
Learn the everyday office skills behind administrative work in Alberta: professional email, scheduling across time zones, file organization and Excel basics. Six short lessons and a…
See the course →
AI Tools at Work: Using ChatGPT and Copilot Safely
A free AI course for office work: write clear prompts for ChatGPT and Copilot, use them on everyday tasks, check what they produce and keep personal…
See the course →
Excel for the Office: Pivot Tables, Lookups and Charts
Go beyond Excel basics: prepare data, build pivot tables, look up values with XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP and INDEX with MATCH, and present results in clear charts. Five…
See the course →Frequently asked questions
Yes. You sign up for a free Ucademy account and take all five lessons and the quiz at no cost.
Yes. When you finish the lessons and pass the quiz you receive a certificate of completion from Ucademy. The course is not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program.
About 60 minutes in total. It has five lessons of 10 to 15 minutes each and a ten-question quiz, and you can study at your own pace.
No. The course starts with the basics and explains each term as it appears.
You will learn the main players and flows, how forecasting and sourcing work, how goods are stored and moved, how performance is measured, and how risk is handled.
No. It is a free short course, not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program, and it does not give program credit.
Start Supply Chain Basics: How Goods Get to the Shelf today
Free, online and at your own pace, with a certificate of completion.