Welcome to Supply Chain Basics

The Empty Shelf Problem

A customer walks into your store—or visits your website—looking for the product they always buy. It’s not there. Out of stock. They buy from a competitor instead. One lost sale? Maybe. But multiply that by hundreds of customers, and you’re looking at serious revenue loss plus a reputation hit.

On the flip side, another business ordered too much of a seasonal item. Now they’re sitting on thousands of units that won’t sell, tying up cash they desperately need elsewhere.

Both problems stem from the same root cause: a supply chain that’s running on guesswork instead of intelligence.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand:

What supply chain management actually covers (it’s more than shipping)
Why AI is transforming supply chain operations
What you’ll learn across all 8 lessons

What to Expect

This course breaks supply chain management into digestible lessons, each teaching fundamentals paired with AI techniques:

Lesson	Topic	You’ll Be Able To…
1	Welcome	Understand supply chain components and the AI opportunity
2	Logistics	Explain shipping, warehousing, and distribution fundamentals
3	Inventory	Apply inventory management frameworks to reduce waste
4	Demand Forecasting	Use AI to predict future demand and plan accordingly
5	Vendor Management	Evaluate and manage suppliers with structured scorecards
6	Cost Optimization	Identify and eliminate cost inefficiencies in your chain
7	AI Analytics	Build dashboards and reports that drive better decisions
8	Capstone	Optimize a complete supply chain end-to-end

Each lesson takes 10-15 minutes and includes:

Real-world examples from different industries
A knowledge check quiz
Practical exercises using AI tools

What Is a Supply Chain, Really?

A supply chain is everything that happens between raw materials and a satisfied customer. It includes:

Sourcing — Finding and selecting suppliers for materials, products, or services.

Procurement — Negotiating contracts, placing orders, managing supplier relationships.

Production — Transforming raw materials into finished products (if applicable).

Warehousing — Storing inventory efficiently and managing stock levels.

Transportation — Moving goods from suppliers to warehouses to customers.

Fulfillment — Picking, packing, and delivering orders to customers.

Returns — Handling returned products and reverse logistics.

Even if you run a small e-commerce shop selling products you buy wholesale, you’re managing a supply chain. The question is whether you’re managing it well.

How AI Changes the Game

Traditional supply chain management relies heavily on spreadsheets, historical averages, and gut feelings. AI introduces three transformative capabilities:

Prediction. Instead of ordering based on what sold last year, AI analyzes patterns, seasonality, trends, and external factors to forecast what you’ll need next month.

Optimization. AI can evaluate thousands of scenarios—different suppliers, shipping routes, order quantities—to find the combination that minimizes cost while meeting your service goals.

Early warning. AI can monitor for supply chain risks—supplier financial trouble, weather disruptions, demand spikes—and alert you before they become crises.

Your First Quick Win

Try this right now with any AI assistant:

“I run a small online store selling handmade candles. I buy wax, wicks, and fragrance oils from 3 suppliers. Help me create a simple supply chain map showing each step from raw materials to customer delivery, including estimated lead times for each stage.”

You’ll get a clear visualization of your supply chain in seconds. That clarity is the foundation for everything we’ll build.

Key Takeaways

A supply chain covers everything from raw materials to customer delivery
Most supply chain problems come from reactive management instead of proactive planning
AI transforms supply chains through prediction, optimization, and early warning
This course teaches practical fundamentals paired with AI techniques anyone can use

Up Next

In Lesson 2: Logistics Fundamentals, we’ll dive into the physical movement of goods—shipping methods, warehousing strategies, and distribution networks. This is the backbone that everything else depends on.