Students can take as little as one year to complete this online Supply Chain Assistant Technical Diploma, which provides concentrated learning by focusing on occupational areas. Students learn about supply chain management and how it relates to purchasing, inventory management, logistics, negotiations, global supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, lean, and service operations.

Graduates in this fast-paced, growing field can make a positive impact on an organization by increasing profitability and efficiency through skills developed in this program. Many careers and job titles exist in supply chain management such as purchasing associate, material coordinator, production assistant, receiving lead, recycling specialist, cargo agent, and freight broker, among others.
Supply Chain Management

Fully Online Program!

  • Overview

  • Why Choose Supply Chain Assistant?

    • Flexibility - online delivery is available to work with your schedule
    • Timing - Courses start every eight weeks for your convenience.
    • Concentrated learning - focus on occupational areas to expand your skills in a short amount of time
    • Credit for prior learning - let your work, learning, or life experience earn you credit
    • Pathways - gain skills now with a technical diploma and then apply those credits toward your associate degree

    Is This Program for You?

    Are you interested in business and how different areas work together to provide a great product or service for their customer? Are you good at coming up with new ideas or better ways of doing things? Do you like to solve problems and make decisions? Do you get bored easily and like variety? A career in supply chain management may be a good choice for you.

    Students entering the Supply Chain Assistant program should:

    • Enjoy working with people as well as numbers.
    • Have good communication skills.
    • Be organized and detail oriented.
    • Like planning, prioritizing, and setting goals.
    • Enjoy working with technology.

    Program Basics

    • Technical diploma requiring a minimum of one year to complete.
    • All courses offered online.
    • Courses start every eight weeks.
    • Financial aid is available to those who qualify.
    • High school advanced standing, transcripted, and youth options credits accepted.
    • Credit for prior learning available.
    • Credits earned in Materials Management Pathway Certificate and Logistics Pathway Certificate may be applied toward one-year Supply Chain Assistant Technical Diploma.
    • Credits earned in one-year Supply Chain Assistant Technical Diploma may be applied to two-year Supply Chain Management Associate Degree.

    Related Degrees & Certificates

  • Curriculum & Costs

  • Curriculum

    Note: Session 1 = 1st 8 weeks; Session 2 = 2nd 8 weeks.

    Semester 1 - Fall (Tuition: $2,150 Books: $270-$350)
    Course # Course Title Credits Session
    10-623-110 Lean Concepts 3 Session 1
    10-804-123 Math with Business Applications 3 Session 1
    10-103-106 Beginning Microsoft Excel - 4 week class 1 Session 2
    10-103-118 Intermediate Microsoft Excel - 4 week class 1 Session 2
    10-182-103 Purchasing 3 Session 2
    10-182-104 Inventory Management 3 Session 2
    14
    Semester 2 - Spring (Tuition: $1,840)
    Course # Course Title Credits Session
    10-182-108 Global Supply Chain Management 3 Session 1
    10-182-107 Logistics 3 Session 1
    10-182-109 Service Operations Management 3 Session 2
    10-182-137 Technology in the Supply Chain 3 Session 2
    12
    Semester 3 - Summer (Tuition: $920 Books: $330-$520)
    Course # Course Title Credits Session
    10-801-195 Written Communication 3
    10-804-189 Introductory Statistics 3
    6
    Total Credits: 32
    Estimated Total Tuition*: $4,910

    * These costs reflect the in-state rates

    Cost of Attendance (COA) 24-25

    Cost of Attendance (COA) is a total of all the usual expenses of being a student. The COA sets the maximum amount of financial aid a student can receive.

    Category Amount
    Tuition and Fees $4,820
    Living Expenses (Housing and Food) $9,148
    Books and Supplies $1,466
    Personal Expenses $3,608
    Transportation $4,018
    Charger Tech 360 Fee $600
    Loan Fees $84
    Yearly Total (Living Away from Home) $23,744
    1 Semester Total (Living Away from Home) $11,872

    Based on Wisconsin Residents.

    Approximate school costs are for a full-time (12 credit) student over a semester span of 17 weeks.

    Fees are legislated by the Wisconsin Technical College System Board.

    These costs are estimates and are subject to change without notice.

  • Requirements

  • Admission and Program Requirements

    • Submit Application
    • To make sure your classes are the right fit, we consider any previous college credit you've earned, Accuplacer or ACT scores, high school GPA, or an assessment at your registration session. Submit High School Transcripts, College Transcripts, and Test Scores to: Southwest Tech, Attn: Admissions, 1800 Bronson Blvd, Fennimore, WI 53809
    • Admissions Meeting: After applying and submitting transcripts, make an admissions meeting with the advisor by clicking "Make an appointment" with the program Advisor.

    Requirements for Online Students

    Chromebooks are not compatible with some testing features within Schoology (our Learning Management System). Southwest Tech recommends not to use Chromebooks for classes.

    • Cable/broadband/DSL internet with a minimum speed of 1.5Mbps. You can test your local internet speed at www.speedtest.net. Run this test from the location you will be working from.

      Higher bandwidth and speed will greatly assist you in your online learning environment, so where possible, a faster internet speed is recommended. Cable internet tend to be faster than DSL or 4G wireless, although DSL or 4G wireless may also work depending on other factors. Your computer, other software (such as anti spyware), other users on the system, and system configurations can all influence your ultimate line speed. Many instructors use videos as a part of their instruction, as well as synchronous meeting times (Skype, Adobe Connect, etc). Having an acceptable internet connection speed will be important to your success.

    • Convenient access to a computer that has one of the following current versions of Internet Browsers:
      • Microsoft Internet Explorer
      • Mozilla Firefox
      • Google Chrome
      • Safari
      Call 608.822.2302 for verification of other browsers.
    • An active e-mail account (all Southwest Tech students are issued a free email account)
    • Word processing software (Microsoft Word is the recommended word processing software at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College). Free Microsoft Office software is available to all Southwest Tech students at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
    • Availability of 10-15 hours per week for each 3-credit course
    • Self-motivation and self-discipline

    Program Fees

    • This program is eligible for Financial Aid.
    • Estimated cost for each semester can be found under the Curriculum tab. Please note that costs are approximate and are based on the current academic year.
    • Please discuss additional fee questions with the program advisor or instructor.
  • Outcomes

  • Program Outcomes

    At the completion of the program, students are expected to be able to:

    • Implement Supply Management practices in a global environment
    • Demonstrate operations management techniques across product and service industries
    • Analyze logistic interfaces and activities in a supply chain
    • Evaluate demand management techniques and customer service policies
  • Career Pathways

  • Career Pathways

    Career Pathways offer new ways to achieve your education goals. Instead of studying just one program, the Career Pathways model links related academic programs in a sequence. Each program offers direct job preparation AND a path to the next higher academic program.

  • Career Opportunities

  • Supply chain management includes a broad range of occupational titles. Those listed below are commonly found in industry, but specific titles will vary according to each individual employer.

    With additional education and/or work experience, Supply Chain Assistant program graduates may have additional opportunities in roles such as shipping supervisor, buyer, materials planner, production scheduler, manufacturing supervisor, team leader, and transportation dispatcher, among others.

    Southwest Tech's Career Connections Center offers Services to assist students looking for job placement.

  • Prior Learning

  • Credit for Prior Learning

    Experience Pays! You've Been There... You've Done That... Let's See If You Can Get Credit For It!

    Credit for prior learning gives you opportunities to earn credit for college-level knowledge that you have already acquired. This may be the result of work or volunteer experiences, certifications, apprenticeships, military training, extensive self-instruction, or professional development. Credit for Prior Learning affords you the opportunity to accelerate the completion of your educational goals.

    For more information on Credit for Prior Learning see our Credit for Prior Learning page.

    At any time, you may Request Credit for Prior Learning.

    Supply Chain Assistant Courses that may have Credit for Prior Learning options:

    Course # Course Title
    Challenge Exam
    (Demonstration)
    Challenge Exam
    (Standard)
    CLEP
    Credential
    Portfolio
    10-103-106Beginning Microsoft ExcelYes
    Any Microsoft MOUS certification (even an old certification) will also be considered for CPL
    10-103-118Intermediate Microsoft ExcelYes
    Any Microsoft MOUS certification (even an old certification) will also be considered for CPL
    10-182-104Inventory ManagementYes
    CPIM Tests - Basic Supply Chain Management, Detailed Scheduling and Planning, and/or Execution and Control of Operations
    10-182-109Service Operations ManagementYes
    CPIM Certification in all 5 tests
    10-623-110Lean ConceptsYes
    Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification – Requires approval of course instructor
    10-801-136English Composition 1Yes
    CLEP Test - College Composition
    10-804-123Math with Business ApplicationsYes