Wynright partners with Olive-Harvey College to offer ‘living laboratory’ to supply chain students

Wynright Corporation convened its first class for students of Olive-Harvey College’s transportation, distribution and logistics (TDL) program at Wynright’s Oak Lawn, Ill., technology center on Wednesday.

Olive-Harvey College, based on Chicago’s far South Side, offers a number of programs in transportation, distribution and logistics – one of the region’s fastest growing industry segments. The logistics management curriculum’s focus on procurement, inventory, customer service, international logistics, warehousing and distribution, and transportation will help to prepare students for the 110,000 TDL jobs anticipated in the Chicagoland region over the next decade.

At Olive-Harvey, a $45-million 103,000-square-foot TDL facility is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2015. Currently, Olive-Harvey offers certificates and degrees in logistics management, commercial truck driving, public chauffeur training, and forklift certification. Once the new TDL facility is completed, automotive technology and diesel technology will be added to the TDL course program offerings.

The new TDL facility will also serve as City Colleges of Chicago’s Central Distribution Center for all seven City Colleges. Students enrolled in the logistics management program are required to take three courses dedicated to warehousing and distribution theory and hands-on training. By partnering with Wynright, students will be able to achieve both learning objectives while the new TDL facility is under construction.

“Giving our students the hands-on experience to enable future business success is a key part of our mission at Olive-Harvey College,” said Dr. Ruben Howard II, Dean of the TDL Program. “Wynright enabled our students to experience a logistics environment firsthand, an important step toward building the skills critical to their roles as the next generation of logistics professionals.”

The Wynright tech center showcases conveyors and sortation equipment under the Automotion brand name, warehouse control systems, robotics (including the Robotic Truck Unloader), structural solutions (including mezzanines), light and voice directed technologies, and automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).

“We are honored to be playing a small part in the training of a new generation of logistics and supply chain leaders through our tech center program,” said Kevin Ambrose, president and CEO of Wynright. “Olive-Harvey College is part of one of the largest community college systems in the U.S., so having the opportunity to share our expertise and experiences with students passionate about distribution and logistics is very gratifying.”

As a result of proximity, TDL students also are invited to visit Wynright/Daifuku North America Booth No. 1013 at ProMat 2015, the largest expo for manufacturing and supply chain professionals in North America, to be held March 23-26 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.