Sometimes moving to the next rung of the career ladder requires you to step outside your comfort zone and area of expertise. But how do you gain the knowledge you need? If you're looking to expand your horizons beyond, say, logistics and distribution, enrolling in a comprehensive supply chain course might be the way to go.

One group that offers this type of course is APICS, the association of operations management. Its "Basics of Supply Chain Management" class provides a complete overview of the flow of materials in a supply chain, covering topics like just in time, master planning, inventory management, total quality management, and purchasing. The class is also designed to prepare candidates for the APICS CSCP (certified supply chain professional) certification exam.

APICS offers both a live and an online version of the course. The next live course will take place Sept. 23-25 in Chicago. You can register for the online course at any time on APICS' Web site.