Unbox Your Future
UW-Stout's 100% online, ACBSP-accredited Master of Science (M.S.) in Operations & Supply Management (OSM) provides a flexible program for working professionals seeking specialized management expertise in business operations and supply chain. We offer a high-quality, affordable option that goes deeper than generalized master's degrees to help you advance in your career through personalized assignments and industry-aligned projects that apply to real-life business challenges.
100% of Graduates Are Employed or Continuing Education Within 6 Months
Career-Defining Curriculum
Operations, supply chain, and logistics management are areas that need managers who can apply both existing and emerging technologies to plan, organize, and implement effective systems. If you're committed to living or working away from campus the program's accessible curriculum provides the flexibility to prepare for a career path tailored to your personal and professional goals.
Program Overview
Fulfill Your Electives Earning a Professional Certificate
Online Program Highlights
Our operations and supply management industry-experienced faculty have created a customized instruction learning environment that provides you with a diverse curriculum, endorsed by UW-Stout's OSM industry advisory board.
- 100% Online Course Delivery: Flexible and self-paced, the 30-credit degree can be completed in a short period of time through evening or online courses and independent study programs.
- Practice-Oriented Approach: Tailored leadership training with technical emphases, such as Industry 4.0, automation, SAP ERP, and Lean manufacturing.
- Industry-Applied Curriculum: Work on job-related projects in courses under the supervision of faculty with industry experience and knowledge.
There is an increasing need for supply chain management expertise in the industry. Rise above the competition with an online master's degree in our well-respected program. Use the Request Information form to receive a program summary and learn more about the M.S. Operations & Supply Management online program.
Request Information
UW-Stout's M.S. Operations & Supply Management Online is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
Industry-Experienced Faculty Instruction
At UW-Stout, building close relationships with our industry-experienced and academically accomplished faculty will play a key role in your graduate education and your career. From Six Sigma, PMP, and Lean credentials to real-world expertise in business management, ethics, and organizational leadership, our instructors will ensure you develop distinction in your field. Learn more about your future instructors!
Industry Focus & Value
The M.S. Operations & Supply Management program focuses on the goal of three wins:
- Students receive high-quality, graduate education to advance their careers.
- Industry benefits from course projects that students complete to improve operations performance.
- UW-Stout fulfills its mission of supporting industry and workforce needs.
Student projects have generated more than $4.5 million in savings for the students’ organizations. That’s the value the M.S. Operations & Supply Management program provides to the industry.
Train on the Latest Operations & Management Applications
- Excel Solver: Model real-world challenges, minimize costs, and maximize performance with precision and confidence with a tool that turns analytical thinking into optimized solutions.
- Microsoft Project: Enhance your ability to deliver results on time and drive continuous improvement with a product that helps plan, organize, and execute complex initiatives.
- Microsoft Visio: Turn complex, abstract processes into clear, strategic diagrams that enhance understanding, communication, and operational excellence.
- Minitab Statistical Software: Strengthen your ability to make confident, data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and drive organizational success by transforming complex data into clear, actionable insights.
- Simio: Transform innovative ideas into data-driven strategies that drive smarter, more-efficient decision-making with an application that simulates, visualizes, and optimizes real-world systems.
- SPSS: Uncover meaningful patterns in data by transforming raw information into strategic insights that drive smarter decisions and measurable organizational improvement.
Impactful Research Applied to Industry
Enhance your value to your employer or illustrate a new expertise by creating real-world solutions to existing industry challenges! Unlike theoretical research, your applied research opportunities in operations and supply management will exemplify your ability to translate investigation into meaningful action and impact.
Recent Research Topics
- Automation and Defective Percentage in Plastic Injection Molding
- Autonomous Mobile Robot Capacity & Utilization Expansion Analysis
- Boosting the Productivity for a Department in a Manufacturing Organization
- Impact of ERP System & RF Technology on Distribution Operations Network
- Impacts of Digital Enablement on Daily Management in Manufacturing
- Lean Manufacturing Implementation with Focus on Procurement & Materials Management
- A Modernized Approach to Mergers & Acquisitions
- Root Cause for Low on Time Delivery
- Spare Parts Management System Analysis of Company XYZ
- Supply Chain Disruptors: Barriers to Transition in the Renewable Energy Industry
“It is very important for the M.S. Operations & Supply Management students to apply what they’ve learned in the program to improve the operation performances for their organization. The program strongly focuses on business impact. All of our faculty have professional industry backgrounds, some of them have multiple professional certifications and are still working with industry in some types of consulting capacity. This allows the program to stay on top and deliver content that meets industry needs.”
~ David Ding, Associate Dean
Professional Internships in Operations & Supply Management
Take your education into the field with professional internships and other placements that benefit you and industry. Whether you put your internship to work for your employer or use it to connect with leaders in your field, these opportunities are all about impact and establishing your leadership long before you graduate.
Recent Internship Employers
- Banner Engineering
- Cascades Tissue Group
- Imperial Supplies, LLC
- Phillips-Medsize
- Voith Group
Select Internship Positions
- Lean Six Sigma Intern
- Quality Engineer
- Safety & Operations Intern
- Sales Account Manager, End Users
- Senior Manager, Logistics & Trade Compliance
Graduate Ready to Solve Tomorrow’s Management Challenges
Each year, Stout operations and supply management graduates routinely beat out applicants for competitive positions and outpace their peers in career advancement with leading employers. Why? Everything you learn at Stout enhances the skills you use on the job. Where others list their education, you’ll be able to identify your experience.
Select Recent Employers
- Andersen Corporation
- Banner Engineering
- Bayer
- FUJIFILM
- Johnsonville, LLC
- Komatsu
- MacIver Institute
- Nestle Health Science
- Ocean Spray
- Organic Valley
- Oshkosh Corporation
- Phillips-Medisize
- Polaris Inc.
- Rockwell Automation
- Sargento Foods Inc.
- Terumo Medical Corporation
Reside out of the state of Wisconsin?
Please read the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements to learn more about your state’s regulations for online degree completion.
General UW-Stout Graduate School Application
All prospective graduate students at UW-Stout must follow a standard application process through our Graduate School. Beyond that, each graduate program has specific requirements that must be met to be successfully admitted to the program:
Program-Specific Application Requirements
- Curriculum Vita/Resume
- A statement of intent which describes the candidate's academic history, employment history and professional goals
Please include your statement of intent and attach your curriculum vita/resume within the UW System application or submit it to the UW-Stout Graduate Studies Collection Form.
Please know that the MSOSM Program Selection Committee will favor applicants who have a minimum overall undergraduate GPA of 2.75 as well as academic and workplace experience which align with the broad demands of a profession within the operations and supply management industry.
Upon completion of the MS OSM program, students will be able to:
- Recognize ethical issues, propose solutions to an ethical dilemma and use ethical reasoning to justify the solutions.
- Implement leadership skills in leading others engaged in operations and supply chain management.
- Demonstrate awareness of the current U.S. legal and global regulatory business environment.
- Apply decision-making techniques, both quantitative and qualitative analysis, to operation and supply management issues.
- Construct and communicate a logical, relevant, and professional quantitative and qualitative assessment of business information in an effective manner.
Graduates of our program have gone on to hold a variety of leadership positions:
- Project manager
- Quality manager
- Supply chain manager
- Materials manager
- Industrial production manager
- Six Sigma black or green belt
- Continuous improvement leader
- Industrial engineer/technologist
- Manufacturing engineer/technologist
- Supply chain analyst
- Information systems manager
Advisory Committee Members
| First Name | Last Name | Title | Organization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli | Aba | Associate Professor; Program Director | UW-Stout |
| Zaid | Abdullah, CACP ('25) | Procurement Engineer | Automation Displays, Inc. (ADi) |
| M. Affan | Badar | Professor | Indiana State University |
| Avanthika | Ciddagouni | Student | UW-Stout |
| David | Ding | Associate Dean; Director, Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering | UW-Stout |
| John | Dzissah | Professor; Chair, Operations & Management Department | UW-Stout |
| Greg | Fisher ('77) | Executive Vice President | Reliability Mgmt. Group (RMG) |
| Dan | Freedman | Dean, CSTEMM | UW-Stout |
| Shannen | Jochim | Adult & Student Services Coordinator, Stout Online | UW-Stout |
| Chris | Lani | Director, Logistics & Trade Compliance | Imperial Supplies |
| Charles | Lehman ('97) | Director, Operations | Retired |
| Andy | Ring | Continuous Improvement Manager | Signicast LLC |
| Dipesh | Sharma | Student | UW-Stout |
| Renee | Surdick | Associate Dean, School of Management | UW-Stout |
Customized Tuition & Fees
UW-Stout degree programs using the all-inclusive customized instruction model are designed with the adult learner in mind. Other universities will present costs and value differently, so make sure you're comparing apples to apples. If you're comparing UW-Stout's online degree customized instruction (CI) tuition to our competitors, keep in mind:
- Customized instruction tuition rate includes the textbook rental fee.
- There are no additional or hidden university-based semester or technology fees.
- Students in customized instruction programs pay the same rate of tuition regardless of where you live--Wisconsin, California, Texas, or in a foreign country.
More Value for Your Money
Customized Instruction also provides:
- Program Director/Coordinator: Faculty with academic and industry expertise.
- Student Services Advisor: One point of contact, providing dedicated support throughout your degree program.
- Course Sequences & Matrices: Plan ahead with clear program outlines so you know what courses are offered when.
- Stackable Courses & Programs: Many of our courses and certificates can be applied to our degree programs.
- Flexibility: Courses are designed to offer the flexibility and convenience working professionals need to get ahead in their careers without sacrificing their current income and responsibilities.
Tracking of Key Student Performance Measure
UW-Stout's M.S. Operations & Supply Management program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
The M.S. Operations & Supply Management Student Achievement report has enrollment, final exam, employment and retention data. The Student Learning Assessment Results report is an analysis of student learning and performance standards based on specific competency attainment.
