Of the sixteen students that comprise the class, twenty-five percent are from Europe, twenty-five percent are from Latin America, six percent are from Asia, and forty-four percent are from the United States. The EMIL-SCS program views the class diversity as a benefit to the program and the class itself as students face the global logistics and supply chain issues they are expected to encounter during their EMIL-SCS journey.
Residence I, which some EMIL-SCS alumni affectionately refer to as the “boot camp” residence, was taught by several members of Georgia Tech faculty and adjunct faculty with expertise in specific logistics and supply chain strategy areas pertinent to the industries the student body represents.
During week one, the class received instruction from Stephen Timme and Ed Frazelle, adjunct professors in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), and Martin Savelsbergh and John Vande Vate, ISyE professors. Timme, co-founder and CEO/president of FinListics® Solutions, taught Supply Chain Finance, and Frazelle, founding director of the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute (SCL) at Georgia Tech and president and CEO of Logistics Resources International, guided the class through an intense and interactive Supply Chain Strategy workshop. Savelsbergh and John Vande Vate introduced the class to Analytics.
Balancing coursework with play, the class met over the weekend for a Braves game. This made for great fun since one of the students from Jakarta, Indonesia, had never heard of baseball (though he is an avid NASCAR fan). The class bonded instantly upon meeting each other and enjoyed their first outing together. The EMIL-SCS experience will provide the class with many more opportunities to socialize during the eighteen-month program.
Week two brought its share of theoretical intensity. ISyE Associate Professor Anton Kleywegt led the session on Revenue Management, and College of Management Associate Professor Mark Ferguson taught the session on Inventory Management. The next session of the week was an overview of the 3PL industry taught by John Langley, ISyE professor and director of Supply Chain Executive Programs.
Just as the students were becoming a bit overwhelmed, relief was offered. At the beginning of the residence, the class had been asked to complete the #1 Wall Street Journal and #1 BusinessWeek bestseller StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment. This best-selling book and individualized personal assessment provides an in-depth look at a person’s strengths and how to best utilize those strengths within the workplace. Upon completion of the assessment, the class was joined by Karla Brandau from Improving Human Capital, LLC, for a fun and thought-provoking session on how to understand and focus on individual strengths, making the student more powerful and promotable.
The final chapter of the residence was to form the Global Supply Chain Project teams..With the guidance of EMIL-SCS executive director, John Vande Vate, and managing director, Greg Andrews, the class formed five teams that range in industries from retail to 3PL’s. When the class meets again for Residence II, the Global Project Teams will provide project updates now that their projects have begun to take shape.
The class will meet again from June 13 through the 24, 2010, for Residence II in Europe. While there, the class will visit Cologne and Munich, Germany, during week one and complete the residence in Krakow, Poland. The EMIL-SCS program is excited about the newest members of the EMIL-SCS family and eagerly anticipates the next eighteen months while they take on the unique EMIL-SCS academic and socialization experience.
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