• Coventry University logo

Sustainable Manufacturing and Warehousing

Learn the principles of lean production and green warehousing, and use appropriate tools to measure and improve their performance.

  • Duration

    2 weeks

  • Weekly study

    10 hours
Overview
Requirements

Reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing and warehousing systems

In this course you’ll have the opportunity to learn the main principles of lean manufacturing. Focusing on Toyota’s production system, you’ll master suitable tools to detect and eliminate inefficient production processes and will examine the basic design and functional requirements of green warehouses.

You’ll determine how the use of eco-friendly materials, renewable energy resources and automation systems can improve the environmental and operational performance of warehouses.

Lastly, you’ll learn how to monitor and measure the environmental performance of production and storage systems.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1: Lean manufacturing

  • The concept of lean
  • Toyota’s production system
  • Jidoka
  • Just-in-time (JIT)
  • Kanban
  • 14 lean management principles
  • Seven wastes
  • MUDA
  • Value stream mapping
  • Six Sigma
  • Total quality management (TQM)
  • Kaizen etc

Week 2: Green warehousing

  • Green buildings
  • Eco-friendly building materials
  • Energy design standards
  • Renewable energy
  • Environmental management standards
  • LEED, ISO 14001
  • Warehouse management systems
  • Automation technologies
  • Environmental assurance
  • Green building certification etc

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the lean concept and its application on production processes and warehousing systems
  • Explore the Toyota Production System (TPS) philosophy and examine how the adoption of its main pillars (Jidoka and Just-In-Time) and lean management principles can help businesses to maximise value by saving storage space and minimising waste
  • Identify the Seven Wastes (MUDA) that typically occur during production and apply Value Stream Mapping techniques to locate and eliminate inefficiencies and Six Sigma principles to improve the quality of products and production processes
  • Assess the effectiveness of lean practices and use continuous improvement tools such as the Total Quality Management (TQM) model to ensure collective responsibility to quality and Kaizen to determine and resolve the the root cause of inefficiencies
  • Develop a thorough knowledge of the basic constructs and elements of sustainable warehousing considering the latest building material technologies, energy design standards and environmental management regulations
  • Showcase how the adoption of automation and IT technologies can minimise the environmental footprint and energy consumption in warehouses while improving their operational efficiency
  • Critically evaluate various warehouse assurance and certification initiatives created by businesses and governments around the world for the measurement and monitoring of their environmental performance

Who is the course for?

This course will be of particular interest to those involved in the design, production and storage phases of a supply chain, including production and warehousing personnel, junior and middle business managers, logistics planners, researchers, etc. It will provide them with the tools and the techniques to design and implement lean production and warehousing systems and minimise their social, economic and environmental impacts.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992

  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn