Business Logistics and Circular Supply Chain Management

For these courses, we use a flipped classroom approach, which is supplemented by a portfolio assessment.

Flipped Classroom:
The flipped classroom approach is an innovative teaching method in which traditional teaching activities are reversed. Before class, students receive learning materials such as videos or texts, which they work through independently at home. During class time, students then deepen and apply their understanding by solving problems together, engaging in discussions, or working on projects. This method promotes active learning, individual adaptation, and interactive collaboration in the course. A major advantage is that students engage with the materials in a flexible manner—regardless of time or location—and at their own pace. Class time is then used to deepen their knowledge, ensuring that time spent in class and in the group is utilized effectively.

Portfolio Assessment: See the section “Note on Portfolio Assessment” at

After completing this module, students will be able to analyze, manage, and optimize a supply chain for a given context by…

• analyzing the key characteristics of a supply chain and identifying weaknesses and challenges,
• selecting an appropriate supply chain strategy based on the supply chain’s framework conditions, making corresponding business decisions, and analyzing their impact on the supply chain, identifying decisions that deviate from the strategy (“misfits”) and taking measures to improve them,
• gain a comprehensive understanding of the circularity of supply chains, apply this understanding in the transformation from linear to circular supply chains, and thereby develop sustainable and resource-efficient value creation networks that combine environmental and economic goals,
• Master methods and competencies in risk, financial, and sustainable SCM, and apply measures for designing supply chains using specific examples,
• discuss (innovative) technologies, assess their potential in context, and apply them to SCM,
• Evaluate supply chains from the perspectives of digitalization, financial status, resilience, and sustainability, and optimize them using examples,
• carry out complex decision-making processes as part of a team and develop and present results in a coordinated manner,

in order to operate an “end-to-end” supply chain consistently aligned with a suitable strategy and with the greatest possible economic success, and to transform it from a linear to a circular structure that is also resilient and digital.

Please note: This event is limited to 100 participants.

Registration is open only to M.Sc. students. Since this is a course with limited enrollment, unfortunately, no request for early enrollment can be submitted while still in the Bachelor’s program.

Interested students must register in the Moodle workspace by April 30 at 11:59 p. m.

If the number of registrations exceeds the number of available spots, admission will be determined in accordance with § 7 of the Examination Regulations for the master’s programs in Mechanical Engineering, Logistics, and Industrial Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund. Students who require special consideration due to specific criteria (Section 7(4) of the Examination Regulations) are required to provide proof of this by the end of the registration period. An email to the course coordinator demonstrating that the special criteria have been met is required. After the lottery process is complete, the selected students will be notified of their participation, and the remaining students will be removed from the Moodle room. Applications for hardship exemptions under Section 7(4)(1) of the Examination Regulations must be submitted by the applicant along with official documentation (e.g., a certificate from the Examinations Office) that clearly demonstrates a delay in the student’s studies resulting from non-participation in the course. Requests for special consideration without supporting documentation will not be considered.

In accordance with the resolution of the Examination Committee dated February 4, 2016, acceptance of a spot in a course with limited enrollment is binding and simultaneously constitutes registration for the exam. Enrollment in the Moodle course is considered a binding commitment to participate. Failing to attend a course for which a binding commitment has been made counts as an unsuccessful attempt. Anyone enrolled in the Moodle course by the deadline commits to participating in the course.

The portfolio assessment accompanies this learning process throughout the entire semester. As part of this process, students produce several pieces of work (artifacts) during the course, which are created as part of assignments and serve to apply, deepen, and reflect on what they have learned. The portfolio is supplemented by a final oral or written exam administered by the department. The final grade is determined by the evaluation of all examination components. The specific structure of the portfolio assessment will be announced at the beginning of the semester in the respective course. The examination regulations are governed by the currently valid examination regulations.