Logistics and Supply Chain Management

The MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management provides you with a detailed understanding and cutting-edge expertise in the discipline, to enable you to proceed to professional and managerial careers in business and the public sector. The programme has been specifically designed for those with no prior knowledge of logistics and supply chain management, as the one-year master’s degree will blend contemporary academic thinking with best practices from industry, to allow you to advance to Logistics and Supply Chain management roles with a highly developed skillset.

During the master’s programme, you’ll develop knowledge that covers and integrates the main areas of logistics and supply chain management. You’ll gain a critical understanding of a range of specialised theories, principles, and concepts and develop extensive, detailed, and critical knowledge of a variety of specialisms, informed by research-teaching linkages. You’ll gain knowledge of how Logistics and Supply Chain Management is developed, by exploring the implementation of emerging techniques of research and scholarly enquiry. You’ll use case studies to interpret data and relate real-life scenarios to the frameworks identified in the academic literature and use appropriate tools to support and enhance academic and professional activities.

Beyond the taught skills and knowledge, you’ll gain key transferrable skills which will set you up for life after graduation. You’ll learn key qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis, learn to work to strict timescales both independently and in self-managed groups, learn to apply academic and business techniques to a variety of business cases, develop your justification and application skills, and develop your general data interpretation and advanced communication skills. You’ll be equipped with the ability to think critically, identify problems, evaluate options, and communicate solutions which will enable you to effectively implement your specialist knowledge to any logistical problem you may face in your career.

You’ll have the opportunity to specialise and choose three optional courses – from business analytics and introduction to big data, measuring and managing performance, green and sustainable logistics, quality management, project management, and systems thinking and analysis – to customise your learning and develop your specific interests. Your logistics and supply chain management dissertation will allow you to further build on your specialist area, by presenting you the opportunity to carry out an original research project at the forefront of knowledge. The knowledge base, subject and transferable skills you will gain will prepare you for lifelong learning and personal development in various industrial sectors.

Our Expertise

Your learning will be informed by the expertise of our research-active academics whose work contributes to tackling grand societal challenges through our Global Research Institutes in areas such as Net Zero and Health and Care Technologies.

Heriot-Watt University stands at the forefront of logistics research and specialises in the study of management, integration, reform, impact, and modelling of logistics activity, particularly from an environmental and sustainability perspective through our Centre for Logistics and Sustainability.

You’ll learn from academics, whose work provides government, industry, commercial and other sectors with insight into logistical trends, transport benchmarking and road use throughout the UK and Europe. Much of our research output is transformed into practical management guides, tools, and techniques.

Your learning environment

The MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management programme is taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials and group work allowing you to get to know and build relationships with your peers and academics.

Outside of the classroom, you can join Heriot-Watt’s Business Society which holds regular social events and provides networking opportunities and insights into relevant career prospects.

Customise your learning

Whilst studying at Heriot-Watt, you’ll learn from the core courses, with the choice of optional courses to explore the area of logistics and supply chain management that interests you the most. This gives you the opportunity to customise your degree to match your specific interests or career pathway by selecting a specialist course option.

In semester three, you’ll explore in-depth your chosen area of Logistics and Supply Chain Management through your dissertation. You will be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by developing new insight from analysis of valuable original research.

You can choose whether to study the programme full-time or part-time. This flexibility allows you to fit your postgraduate studies around your lifestyle. The full-time course will last 12 months full-time or 24 months part-time. If you decide to study part-time, you register for two courses per semester and progress to the dissertation at the end of your second year.

You may have the opportunity to Go Global on our Inter-Campus Transfer. Opportunities for postgraduate study abroad are assessed on a case-by-case basis and if you are interested in studying at our Dubai campus or Malaysia campus for a semester or longer, you should contact the Go Global Team.

Industry

We work closely with the industry to ensure our course content is up-to-date and reflects the current and emerging needs of the industry and employers. You’ll gain the right blend of knowledge, technical skills, and soft skills to set you up for life after graduation.

The Logistics and Supply Chain Management master’s degree will equip you with the mindset, knowledge and expertise to work in logistical processes. Our recent graduates have gone on to roles such as supply chain analyst, supply chain planner, supply chain consultant, supply chain manager, logistics manager, procurement specialist and distribution manager in a range of industries, working globally for companies such as DHL, Diageo, BP Chemicals, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Tesco, Argos, Amazon, Scotland Excel, Heineken, Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, Maersk, Gist, Sky, Rolls Royce and BAE systems. The degree will provide you with the crucial blend of skills that employers so desperately seek. You’ll gain experience in online collaborative working, business communications, and synthesising diverse information sources, which is highly valued by employers worldwide.

During your studies, you’ll gain valuable insights from industry leaders. In recent years, our students have received guest lectures from representatives from a range of sectors on the topics of ethics, sustainability and governance in procurement, supply chain risk management, modern slavery, quality management and capacity and demand in operations.

We often welcome Professor Alan McKinnon back to Heriot-Watt University to provide our students with a masterclass. Professor McKinnon is one of the leading experts globally in Logistics. He launched our programme over 25 years ago and has gone on to work with Kuehne Logistics University and has advised the UK Government, the European Commission and the World Economic Forum.