You've developed a world class logistics and supply chain strategy, and you've adopted world class inventory and transportation management practices to support it. The next step is to bring your warehouse operation up to the same level.

To help in that endeavor, Georgia Tech now offers a course called "World-Class Warehousing and Material Handling." Designed to teach participants the basic principles of world class warehousing, the course begins with an overview of the warehouse's role in logistics and business success. It then narrows its focus to the key parts of the operation: receiving and putaway, storage, order picking, and unitizing and shipping. Participants will learn about warehousing technology, metrics, layout design, and data analysis. At the end of the course, they will have a chance to tour a local distribution facility to see the theory they learned in the classroom put into practice. The program's overall goal is to equip students to develop a warehouse master plan to support the corporation's overall logistics strategy.

Developed by Georgia Tech's Supply Chain and Logistics Institute, the class takes place July 8-11 on the school's campus in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.scl.gatech.edu.