
DDL™ Program Participant Counter: 1,772 (updated 01/07/21)

Bring the Demand Driven Leader program to your company!
If you have a team that wants to explore the Demand Driven Operating Model and Demand Driven Sales & Operations Planning, we will come to you. Contact us about options.
The Demand Driven Leader™ program qualifies for 16 professional development points towards ASCM certificate maintenance.

The Demand Driven Leader (DDL)™ Program equips senior and mid-level operations and supply chain managers with the ability to design, implement and sustain a Demand Driven Operating Model (DDOM) including parameter settings through Demand Driven S&OP (DDS&OP). Designed by the leading authorities on Demand Driven methods at the Demand Driven Institute, the Demand Driven Leader™ Program is comprised of 7 modules of in-depth Demand Driven education. The DDL Program is THE official preparatory course for the Demand Driven Leader Professional (DDLP)™ endorsement certification test.
Note: Each participant of the DDL will receive a certificate of completion from the Demand Driven Institute.
Staying Up To Date
Our programs keep giving you value. Anyone that has attended a Demand Driven Leader™ Program can:
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Watch the latest recorded online version of the program conducted by Carol Ptak and Chad Smith,
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Take a sample DDLP™ exam comprised of 10 questions,
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Watch a video tutorial of how to solve the sample test questions.
You must request access to the recordings through the DDL Video Recording Access form. All fields are required. Once your DDL participation has been verified you will receive rights to access DDL content at no charge through our OnDemand membership section.
**Please create a complimentary DDI membership account before requesting video access. To create a membership account simply hit the "Login/Signup" button at the top of this page**
DDL Benefits and Recording Access is intended solely for people who have taken the DDL Program.
Scheduled DDL programs
Select your region of interest from the tabs at the bottom of the table.
the Online DDL Program
INSTRUCTORS: This program is personally taught by Chad Smith and Carol Ptak, Co-founders of the Demand Driven Institute.
DELIVERY METHOD: The program will be delivered online via GoTo Meeting. Upon registering the participant will receive a GoTo Meeting link and calendar invite for all sessions. Course material will be provided through the DDI membership section. EACH SESSION IS RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO COURSE REGISTRANTS through the DDI membership section.
SCHEDULE: The program is broken into 8 sessions over 8 contiguous weeks. Each session will be delivered once on Wednesday of each week at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. ALL TIMES ARE IN THE PACIFIC TIME ZONE (Los Angeles time).
NEXT PROGRAM: The next program begins February 3, 2021 and runs through March 24, 2021. Register for this program.
If English is not your native language, you can take the online version of the Demand Driven Leader (DDL)™ Program in many different languages! See our ONLINE CALENDAR for a DDP in your language.


DDL course preparation
Official text #1 of the DDL is Demand Driven Performance – Using Smart Metrics (Smith and Smith, McGraw-Hill, 2014)
Official text #2 of the DDL is The Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise (Ptak and Smith, Industrial Press 2018)
Program attendees should review the Demand Driven Institute Dictionary.
Participants preparing for the course should thoroughly review the following pages on this site:
DDL course content
Module 1: Today’s Organizational Challenges
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Part 1: The Rise of Complexity
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Part 2: Leadership’s Challenge
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Part 3: Flow as the Purpose
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Part 4: The prerequisites for Relevant Information
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Part 5: Conventional Distortion to Relevant Information
Module 2: Conventional Challenges to Flow
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Part 1: Variability and Its Impact to Flow
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Part 2: Distortions to relevant information and materials – Planning Systems
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Part 3: Distortions to relevant information and materials – Finance
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Part 4: The Need for Thoughtware
Module 3: A New Management Model Emerges
Module 4: The Demand Driven Operating Model
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Part 1: Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP)
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Part 2: Part 2: Demand Driven Scheduling and Shop Floor Execution
Module 5: Flow-Based Metrics
Module 6: Demand Driven Sales and Operations Planning (DDS&OP)
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Part 1: Tactical Configuration & Reconciliation
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Part 2: Tactical Review
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Part 3: Tactical Projection
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Part 4: Tactical Exploitation
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Part 5: Strategic Recommendation
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Part 6: Adaptive Sales and Operations Planning (Adaptive S&OP)
Module 7: The Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise Model Development Path
achieving ddlP certification
The Demand Driven Leader (DDL)™ Program is official preparatory education for the Demand Driven Leader Professional (DDLP)™. The Demand Driven Leader Professional (DDLP)™ is a professional endorsement certification offered by the Demand Driven Institute, the global authority for Demand Driven education, training, certification and compliance. The DDLP™ demonstrates that an individual can apply the concepts of the Demand Driven Operating Model, analyze and evaluate an environment according to the principles of the Demand Driven Operating Model and the tactical components of Demand Driven S&OP. For more information on the DDLP endorsement certification process visit the Demand Driven Leader Professional (DDLP)™ page.
Demand Driven Leader and its logo is a trademark of the Demand Driven Institute. Demand Driven Leader Professional and its logo is a trademark of the Demand Driven Institute.