Other Voices: There’s nothing academic about this initiative

“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
- Thomas A. Edison

Mr. Edison summed it up succinctly; we are literally astounded when looking at our supply chain capabilities today. Our supply chains are extensive networks of interconnected global businesses used to provide products and service to customers on a 24/7, 365 days a year basis.

Critical in providing this ability is the proper understanding and employment of supply chain technologies (e.g. demand planning systems, order management systems, supplier lifecycle management, warehouse management systems, etc.) by supply chain managers. These tools are used to help drive competitive advantage through differentiated customer service capabilities, expansion of business to new market segments, and greater operational efficiencies and operating cost reductions. This, however, can prove to be a daunting task for many supply managers who are faced with time constraints as well as the multitude of technology choices available today or the general lack of experience with specific supply chain technology solutions.

Equipping supply chain managers with an understanding of how to select and efficiently use these tools is essential in today’s operations. Yet, too often these decisions fall to the responsibility of an IT staff that may or may not fully understand the operational impacts of a chosen solution. This situation can result in the exact opposite effect for the company when employing supply chain technology.

What can be done? In Columbus, IBM and the Ohio State University have teamed up to provide companies with future managers who have a solid understanding of the “right” tools needed to meet customer service and business expectations. Back in 2012, the two organizations formed a partnership through IBM’s Academic Initiative to add supply chain technology solutions into OSU’s logistics management curriculum at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Students in the logistics major get “hands on” experience using IBM supply chain solutions such as ILOG®, SPSS®, and IBM Sterling TMS® during their programs. Students are able to use these tools on classroom exercises as well as on business-sponsored projects. These projects are “real world” supply chain problems provided by our business partners, Fortune 100, 500, and 1000 companies, for students to develop solutions using supply chain technology. Since 2012, this partnership has been a huge success for OSU’s Logistics Department, our business partners, and more importantly our students.

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Guest columnist David Widdifield is a senior lecturer and the director, master in business logistics engineering program, at The Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. He welcomes your comments at [email protected] .