Master's degree program in Logistics (M.A.)

Our Master's degree program in Logistics has a modular structure and comprises the following curriculum content, structured into individual semesters.

Semester 1

Logistics research (MLO100)

At the beginning of your Master's degree, we prepare you specifically for scientific and hypothesis-driven work based on current, market-relevant issues. You will become familiar with key scientific theoretical approaches and gain an overview of relevant research designs, which you can then build on in the further course of your studies as part of your seminar papers. In addition, you will already be on the move globally in the first semester. In the International Logistics Markets lectures, you will deal with dynamic content such as China's New Silk Road, complex, geostrategic logistics issues and current macroeconomic and industry-relevant developments for international supply chains and their infrastructures across all modes of transport and world regions.

Transportation Logistics (MLO110)

Today, transportation logistics is unthinkable without technological support. From the transport management system (TMS) to the vehicle fleet. You will therefore deal with today's fields of application of modern technologies in transport logistics and supply chain visibility right from the start. In this module, you will also recognize the effects of the ecological footprint in the planning processes of international transport and supply chains. In addition, you will engage in a critical dialog with alternative drive technologies from the perspective of various modes of transport in international logistics through to city logistics.

Intralogistics (MLO120)

Industry 4.0 is closely linked to the smart factory and therefore also to upstream and downstream intralogistics processes. Automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), additive manufacturing processes, sensor-based gloves, new identification technologies and exoskellets. These are just the first examples of the high degree of technological penetration in intralogistics and warehouse management, which you will be working on more intensively from now on. In a project-oriented approach, you will also develop use cases for the optimal selection of technological modules and their implementation in operational intralogistics practice.

Management & Consulting (MLO130)

Start-ups, digitalization, transformation, change leadership and consulting. The Management and Consulting module not only rounds off your first semester on the Master's degree course, but also provides you with important impulses, tools and even business model variations relating to the digital business age from the perspective of strategic management. At the same time, you will learn about instruments for strategic corporate planning, the further development of organizational models in an international context and change management across various industry examples and transfer these to your own application-related use cases.

Semester 2

Logistics law (MLO 200)

In semester 2, you will intensify your legal knowledge of cross-border flows of goods and information as well as international trade regulations. You will be able to legally assess relevant issues and independently apply the relevant legal sources. You will be familiarized with transport insurance and liability issues as well as the contractual principles and legal relationships in freight, forwarding and warehousing law (e.g. CMR, CIM). You will also learn about relevant legal issues in individual and collective employment law and will be able to apply these independently on a case-by-case basis.

International Business Skills (MLO210)

Logistics is a cross-cultural and international field. In this module, you will therefore be sensitized to your own culture and the cultures of other people and further develop your intercultural skills. You will learn to recognize and evaluate cultural differences and to act in virtual collaboration models when meeting people from different cultural backgrounds. Against the background of the international context of logistics, you will deal with ethical issues in economic contexts from both a theoretical and application-oriented perspective and learn how to deal with them appropriately. In addition, you will learn about various negotiation strategies and will have a basic set of skills by the Degree.

Data Engineering (MLO220)

Today, modern IT solutions not only offer opportunities to collect and process data. Business intelligence (BI) or big data applications help you to make the flood of data in companies manageable and at the same time gain better information for reliable operational, tactical and strategic decisions. Based on case studies, you will be taught basic concepts of decision-supporting information systems and their associated business intelligence tools in practice, including machine learning approaches. Furthermore, important and current research approaches to the operationally relevant resource "knowledge" are taught. Prerequisites and obstacles for the successful implementation of a learning organization are discussed as well as an outlook on technical support options.

Network and Tender Management (MLO230)

At the Degree of your semester 2, this module enables you to independently apply logistics planning and optimization methods based on a case study, supported by software and together with logistics consultants from practice, to methodically solve operationally relevant questions on network planning and to reflect on your decisions in a critical dialogue with other students. In addition, you will independently and creatively design an international inbound supply chain from the perspective of an international logistics service provider for an automobile manufacturer on a strategic and operational level. You and your team will then defend your concept in an action-oriented role play about outsourcing and thus the purchasing of transport and contract logistics in front of managers from the business world, who will challenge you realistically as a practice challenger in this module and thus further strengthen you in terms of content and your ability to act in business practice.

Semester 3

Supply Chain Management and Sourcing (MLO300)

In your final semester, the focus is strongly on end-2-end related supply chain issues. And across functions and industries. In this module, you will therefore deepen your knowledge of strategic-operational procurement in the industrial, retail and service sectors. Questions about due diligence obligations in the international supply chain, sustainability criteria when selecting partners and current solutions for Purchasing 4.0 all play a major role here. In a project, you will also examine the requirements, developments and specific supply chain architectures of a wide range of industries in depth. From electronics, pharmaceuticals, aviation and defense, chemicals, food and FMCG to semiconductors and photovoltaics. You and your team then have to present your findings convincingly in a role play in English and make recommendations.

Automotive Supply Chain Management (MLO310)

In the past, the automotive industry has repeatedly played a pioneering role in new logistics concepts, including the lean philosophy. Many of your fellow students will be drawn to this challenging sector during their studies. An industry that is characterized by transformation in the product, but also in the supply chain itself. Starting with the purchasing of Tier 1 suppliers, through process auditing and quality in ramp-up management, to supplier management, area forwarding and the latest concepts in the end-2-end supply chain for battery cells. In this module, you will develop into a proven expert in the automotive industry along the entire value chain and also conduct your own negotiations, including compliance issues in automotive supplier purchasing.

Top Management Consulting Pitch (MLO320)

In addition to your specialist development, we place great emphasis on sharpening your awareness of decision-maker issues at the top of the company. Industry 4.0 is strongly process-driven and continuously determined by waves of restructuring. With all the associated questions for the analysis and optimization of business management processes in the organizational and operational structure through to questions of shared service centers and management spans in multinational companies. The application-oriented nature of the course is reflected in this module in that you will apply all the knowledge you have acquired during your studies, including consulting techniques. In a holistic top management role play, you slip into the role of a strategy consultant and have to sell your pitch in English as part of a team. In this role play, managers from industry and logistics services authentically play against the background of their management experience and challenge you once again in your ability to act. At the end of the module, you will have refreshed and deepened your business knowledge and acquired convincing presentation techniques at management level, including the design of management consulting documents. As a result, you will be optimally prepared for a career in consulting as a staff or line manager, as an in-house consultant or as a consultant in a management consultancy.

Compulsory elective module 1: ERP systems and processes  (MLO330)

The Master's degree program in Logistics also gives you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of a business management field. In the compulsory elective module ERP Systems and Processes, the focus is on the optimization of business processes and  ERP and IT-related management consulting techniques in the supply chain management application context. In this context, you will learn about the performance features and architecture concepts of selected business application systems in this module. On the basis of use cases, you will develop a realistic understanding of the complexity of IT projects and the integration of new applications into an established system landscape through to questions of user acceptance, change request management and possible approaches in the context of development and implementation phases in a company.

Compulsory elective module 2: Human Resources  (MLO340)

Instead of ERP systems and processes, would you like to go one better at the end of your studies at  when it comes to your business soft skills as a future specialist and manager? Then this compulsory elective module is just right for you. Together with experienced lecturers with broad international management and shopfloor experience, you will have the opportunity to coach and personally reflect on your budding leadership skills in workshop mode, including the moderation and resolution of tricky conflict and project situations in face-to-face and virtually organized teams. 

Semester 4

Master's thesis

In the fourth semester, you will complete your Master's degree by writing your Master's thesis. In line with the orientation of our degree programs, we focus on application-oriented research work and thus on a practical reference point in the operational environment. This gives you the immediate opportunity to work on operationally relevant issues by drawing on your theoretical knowledge, to apply your soft skills and specialist skills directly in a company, to gain extended professional experience and, in this way, to expand your personal network of potential employers. We are also open to current issues that can be dealt with from a theoretical-conceptual point of view and within the framework of independent empirical research.

Professional supply chain simulation software. Excursions to innovation centers in the logistics industry. Factory tours in the automotive industry. Top managers and management consultants as challengers in seminars. Practical guest lectures directly from the companies. Internships, case studies, projects and theses with practice partners from a wide range of industries through to dedicated lecturers from renowned companies.  

Cooperation with our practice partners has different faces. We continuously develop our Master's degree program in dialogue with practitioners and in line with their needs. Due to the restrictive handling of company logos, you will find below an abbreviated excerpt of our partners who actively contribute to transfer and application-oriented education in our lectures and seminars.

Dear companies: Feel free to contact us if you, too, take maximum pleasure in developing people and decisively shaping their professional biographies in a high-performance cooperation.