ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 30, 2009 – Quickly changing world markets are testing the skills of supply management professionals, and ADR North America has responded to that need by launching the ADR Academy, an online resource for professional development.
“Companies are scrambling to keep the skills of their buyers and supply managers up to the task of responding to wildly fluctuating costs and availability of key supplies. They need high-quality training courses that are easily and instantly available,” said ADR North America CEO Bill Michels, C.P.M. “The ADR Academy fills that need with nine key courses that anyone can take if they have Internet access and a credit card.”
Content for the courses is based on ADR’s 20 years of experience with more than 200 clients worldwide. The courses offer practical tools, hands-on exercises and case studies to help learners gain a working knowledge in each critical area. A self-test at the end of each course validates what each student has learned.
Course topics cover:
- Portfolio Analysis (PA) – PA is a planning and decision support tool that helps strategic sourcing and supply management professionals better understand and manage purchases of goods and services.
- Opportunity Analysis (OA) – OA is a powerful technique used by strategic sourcing and supply management professionals to systematically identify and implement cost saving opportunities for each category of spend.
- PACE & Market Analysis – The PACE© model is a lifecycle theory of price and cost evolution. It provides a framework for identifying appropriate ways of working to lower the total cost for purchased goods and services. This course also covers two tools proven helpful for understanding the dynamics driving supply markets.
- Price Analysis – Price Analysis will help strategic sourcing and supply management professionals understand and apply price analysis methodologies used to determine if prices are fair, reasonable and competitive.
- Cost Analysis – Cost Analysis teaches strategic sourcing and supply management professionals how to use Purchase Price Cost Analysis (PPCA) to understand supplier costs and compare the relationship of those costs to the selling price.
- Introduction to Global Sourcing – This introductory module is designed to help purchasing professionals understand the concepts of global sourcing and associated risks and opportunities.
- Global Sourcing Analysis – This second module builds upon the first by covering processes and tools to guide a global sourcing initiative. It teaches the five-phase sourcing process as it is adapted to global sourcing and how to analyze global sourcing opportunities.
- Supplier Financial Analysis – Planning and Data Gathering – This introductory session covers the steps in planning and gathering data for a supplier financial analysis.
- Supplier Financial Analysis – Ratio Analysis – This course helps sourcing professionals apply supplier financial ratio analysis. It shows how to read financial statements and identify and apply key financial ratios to analyze a supplier’s health.
ADR is a global leader in providing high-quality professional development for supply managers, using workshops, eLearning modules, Webinars and blended forms of teaching. It recently joined the Institute for Supply Management to create the ISM-ADR School for Supply Management. The joint venture offers prepared or customized training programs in essentially any format anywhere in the world. ADR Academy courses are available through the ISM-ADR School, as are more than one hundred other online offerings.
ADR International is headquartered in London, UK and its North American affiliate is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ADR also has offices in Sydney, Australia; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Prague, Czech Republic.
