Supply Chain
UPDATE Fall 2008
Inside
»» Meet the Class of 2010........5 »» IT as a Strategic Enabler of Supply Chain Excellence.............................11 »» Reports from the Field: 2008 Summer Internships...12 Bruce Fritz
»» Fall Site Visit: S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc...........................15 »» Executive Speaker Series: Supply Chain Management in the Biotech Industry........16 »» Alumnus Recieves Environmental Steward Recognition.........................19
MBA Focus Leads to
REAL SUCCESS he Wisconsin MBA is designed to put professionals out in front in their chosen fields. The program is composed of outstanding and highly focused career specializations in key areas such as supply chain management. The program is about knowledge creation and providing transforming educational experiences. It offers real focus and real success to students. The Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management is the only endowed, university-based center specializing in supply chain management in the United States. Its unique curriculum is cross-functional and takes an integrated process view of supply chains, including marketing, sourcing, logistics, operations, and customer service. It is a personalized and industry-focused program supported by companies known for supply chain excellence. Students connect with and learn from real-world supply chain leaders and are part of a strong, close-knit community. In addition to its MBA program, the Center also offers an undergraduate specialization and assists in the efforts of faculty research in the field.
The Grainger Center
DIFFERENCE
The Center offers a unique promise of career and leadership development for › › individuals who are already working in supply chain management and want the best training and connections possible in order to lead › › individuals who want to manage the whole business (not just one piece such as marketing or logistics) › › individuals looking for a career path where they can leverage both their analytical capabilities and their interest in relationships and systems. This promise is fulfilled through delivering results in four key areas: an integrated learning environment; industry partnerships; personalized attention in a close community; and 100% placement. Integrated Learning Environment The curriculum is cross-functional, applied, and collaborative, allowing students to learn about supply chain management in an integrated business framework from renowned faculty with expertise in supply chain management and other crucial business disciplines. Core supply chain courses include: • New Product Development • Strategic Global Sourcing • Logistics Management • Operations Research • Marketing Channels • Enterprise Systems and Supply Chain Management • Seminar in Supply Chain Management Electives may be chosen from multiple disciplines, including finance, marketing, management, operations, and engineering. 2
The Center also offers an extensive applied learning program. Executive speaker series: Top business leaders visit the campus regularly to share their real-world experience. Global experience: MBA students have opportunities to travel abroad to meet with companies and learn about their global operations. In January 2009, the Center is sponsoring a trip to Brazil. Site visits: Students learn about supply chain practices firsthand by visiting various U.S. locations. This fall, Center students toured the facilities of S.C. Johnson & Son (see page 15). AMR Research Briefings: Senior executive analysts from AMR Research draw on their deep industry experience to share success stories and challenges in presentations about the latest market findings and analysis on supply chain management issues, trends, and developments. AMR Research is the #1 advisory firm focused on the intersection of business processes with supply chain management and enterprise technologies. Industry Partnerships The Center has deep ties to industry. Its extensive network of corporate partners provides real-world perspective that enhances the curriculum and applied learning program, and provides invaluable career guidance to students.
Close Community Students experience the best of two worlds: the resources of a large, world-class university and hands-on, personalized attention made possible by the in-depth resources offered by the Center. Each student receives personalized career and academic advising. Students are connected—directly and personally— with an extensive network of industry executives, alumni, corporate partners, and faculty. Students receive personalized guidance from this network throughout their time in the Wisconsin MBA program. With an entering class each year of between 10 and 20 students, supply chain management MBA students form close ties to each other and to the faculty and alumni dedicated to the supply chain management program. The Center offers generous financial aid packages to qualified students, including fellowships, assistantships, and scholarships. 100% Placement Supply chain management talent is in high demand, as the Center’s record of 100% placement for summer internships and fulltime employment reflects. Our graduates achieve quickly and notably. Average starting salaries are consistently the highest among peer schools, ranging from $80,000 to $110,000. A few facts to consider about the value of the program: Center students are funded for at least one year of their MBA experience, and they typically double (or more than double in the case of the classes of 2007 and 2008) their pre-MBA salary upon graduation.
Executive Advisory Board The Executive Advisory Board is comprised of senior executives at leading firms that are renowned for supply chain management excellence. Board members provide strategic and curricular guidance, participate in applied learning programs, and provide placement opportunities for students. Karl Braitberg Vice President, Demand Management & Planning Cisco John Kenny President FreeFlow Steve Loehr Vice President Operations, System x IBM Systems and Technology Group Tom Pyle Chairman The Pyle Group Doug Raftery Former Vice President, Customer Business Development Procter & Gamble
Home Services
Stu Reed Senior Vice President and President, Home Services Sears Holdings Corporation Jim Ryan President and Chief Executive Officer W.W. Grainger, Inc. Jim Shuman Senior Vice President, Materials Management Genzyme Corporation Brian R. Smith Director, Logistics and Indirect Procurement Harley-Davidson Motor Company Gray Williams Vice President, Worldwide Supply Chain Logitech Carolyn A. Woznicki Vice President, Global Procurement Johnson Controls, Inc.
Faculty Kersi Antia Assistant Professor, Marketing Verda Blythe Lecturer, Marketing Gregory DeCroix Associate Professor, Operations and Information Management Jan B. Heide Professor and Irwin Maier Chair in Marketing Peter B. Lukszys Senior Lecturer, Marketing Director of Applied Projects John M. McKeller Senior Lecturer, Marketing and Procurement/Supply Management Deborah Mitchell Senior Lecturer, Marketing, and Associate Dean, Enterprise MBA Programs James G. Morris Professor, Operations and Information Management John R. Nevin Grainger Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and Chair, Marketing James Rappold Assistant Professor and Director, Supply Chain Management Executive Education
LEARN MORE Go to www.graingercenter.com »»Profiles of our students »»Details about our unique curriculum »»Statistics on placement of our graduates »»Information on our corporate partners
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HISTORY
of the
Grainger Center The Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management at the Wisconsin School of Business was established in August 1991, with a generous gift from The Grainger Foundation of Lake Forest, Illinois. The gift was made to recognize the increasing importance of supply chain management and the industry’s growing need for leaders with advanced education in the area. The contribution by The Grainger Foundation allows the Wisconsin School of Business to fulfill a significant need in graduate business education. During the summer of 1992, the Grainger Center for Distribution Management became operational. The first class of students graduated from the program in the spring of 1994. In July 1999, it was renamed the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management. Since its genesis, the Center has graduated 124 students who have gone on to become business leaders across the industry, in firms large and small.
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: E C N E Home L w L e E N NG EXC BA Has a
BUILDIWisconsin M
In August, the Wisconsin MBA opened a $40.5 million four-story addition to Grainger Hall. The new space is designed to foster interaction and collaboration among Wisconsin MBA students and is designed specifically for the career specialization model of the Wisconsin MBA. The addition: • Offers enhanced space for networking, team meetings, and other uses for each career specialization • Provides student-friendly gathering spaces and common areas • Incorporates new technology • Enhances student interaction with alumni and other business leaders who visit the school • Meets or exceeds standards for sustainability Michael Knetter, dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, states that a major benefit of the enhanced space is that it will “strengthen the already strong community we have among our students, faculty and staff, alumni, and other leaders in business.”
>> Ajay Balasubramaniam
cost savings and cost avoidance initiatives. Samy has been exposed to several functions of supply chain management and is particularly interested in lean manufacturing and global outsourcing.
Ajay joins the Center with six years of industry experience, four of which were focused on product analysis, quality improvement, and integration operations using information technology in the supply chain domain. At supply chain software provider GT Nexus, Ajay was the first product analyst to operate out of India. Pairing up with his manager in the United States, the team implemented projects with quick turnaround times by bringing clarity in information and knowledge flow across the software development and quality assurance teams. During his tenure at GT Nexus, Ajay took on various leadership roles and was instrumental in recruiting and leading the 20-member technical support team from India. Ajay graduated from R.V. College of Engineering in Bangalore with a degree in mechanical engineering. Throughout his academic career, Ajay was involved in sports and represented his school at basketball and cricket. Outside work, Ajay enjoys jogging, reading, and meeting new people. He wishes to apply his IT experience and supply chain concepts learned in the program to solve issues plaguing the supply chain processes of industries today.
CLASS OF 2010
Samy joins the Center with five years of industry work experience in supply chain management. After graduating from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and MIS, he joined the Kimberly-Clark Corporation as a bilingual customer logistics analyst. In this role, he coordinated customer order fulfillment for U.S. and Canadian accounts; troubleshot issues arising in the process; and interacted with different functions of the supply chain such as distribution, operations, planning, and transportation. In his next role, Samy managed inventory levels for Family Care Brands within the North America distribution centers network. He led projects to increase rail utilization for finished-good transfers and to improve forecast accuracy. He also contributed to
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Samy Affo >>
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Awards, Honors, Scholarships Mark Dyer >>
Brad Blackman Delta Nu Alpha Foundation Scholarship Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. Industry Leaders Scholarship
Bellamy Deng George A. Gecowets Graduate Scholarship Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. Modern Materials Handling Magazine Honor Scholarship
Terry Goeldner Today’s Distributor Scholarship
Mark comes to the Center after three years as a senior supply chain consultant at IBM, where he focused on materials management and procurement as they pertain to implementing global ERP systems. He also spent six months in a project management role and created and presented several proposals to potential client organizations. Prior to his time with IBM, Mark worked in several different supply chain functions at Unilever, Ashland Distribution, and Kraft Foods.
Mark earned his bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University with a double major in transportation and logistics and international business. Away from work and school, Mark is an avid triathlete and marathon runner.
Justin Mayer Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
Aaron Prevost Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
Brook Rucinski Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. Bushman Equipment Honor Scholarship Kelly Ketchum Memorial Scholarship
Nina Sastrodihardjo
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George A. Gecowets Graduate Scholarship
Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
Justin Spaeth Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
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Richard Shtivelband
Chris Gadjostik
Chris joins the Center after working as a marketing analyst at the Manitowoc Company, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of industrial cranes and commercial food service equipment. Chris assisted the product manager with marketing plans and new product development, working closely with engineering on application requirements using Six Sigma tools. He piloted a process for new product introduction and field testing. Most recently, Chris worked closely with sales and engineering to create the specifications for an industrial-capacity ice machine, a completely new market for Manitowoc. He played an integral role in positioning Manitowoc as a participant in the Energy Star® program, which was introduced to the ice machine industry in 2008. Chris graduated magna cum laude from St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, with degrees in international business and Spanish. As an undergraduate, Chris spent a semester abroad in Valencia, Spain, and he took several leadership roles at St. Norbert. Outside of school and work, Chris enjoys many sports, including baseball, football, and fishing.
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Terry joins the Center with over ten years of professional experience in logistics and project management within the international relief and development industry. Terry spent three years in Afghanistan, where he initially worked as a provincial logistics coordinator for the United Nations during the presidential and parliamentary elections. He developed and implemented plans for the distribution and recovery of election materials for over 3 million Afghan voters. After the election, Terry worked as a program finance officer, managing an annual operations budget of more than $20 million for The HALO Trust, a British humanitarian agency specializing in clearance of mine fields. Prior to his work in the nonprofit sector, Terry spent several years working for the U.S. government’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, where he directed the delivery
of emergency relief supplies across the globe. Terry also worked with the United Nations’ World Food Programme in Africa and the Middle East, where he coordinated the delivery of food assistance to several million households. Terry’s international, government, and private-sector work experiences have provided him with a broad perspective on logistics operations.
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Andrew returns to Wisconsin after three years working as a personal financial advisor at an Ameriprise Financial Services practice in Twin Falls, Idaho. He assisted in the successful management of over $80 million in client assets by producing intricate asset allocation spreadsheets, creating personal financial plans using optimization software, and conducting client meetings to review portfolio performance. He also organized and led several successful client marketing events.
Andrew McMurdie
Andrew graduated from Brigham Young University–Idaho with a BS degree in business management with an emphasis in marketing. Prior to graduation, he served as a volunteer missionary in Venezuela for two years, where he supervised the activities of dozens of representatives and cultivated language, cultural, and teaching skills. He also coordinated humanitarian aid donations in seven cities.
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Terry Goeldner >>
Xiaoyan (Gloria) Guo Xiaoyan joins the Center after working as vice general manager at Corcoran Piping Systems. She led the OEM outsourcing team and launched the first UL-listed and FMapproved fire pump manufacturer in China that meets U.S. standards, leading to a 30% increase in revenue. She managed 35 people in Corcoran's China-based logistics center and managed the inventory and cost control systems. Xiaoyan is a results-oriented professional with comprehensive and interesting experiences. She earned a master’s degree in applied linguistics and language teaching from Shandong University, a top institution in China. During her studies, she interned with Pepsi’s marketing department to analyze customer needs and expand marketing channels. She also worked as a part-time English news anchor on the Shandong state television station, strengthening her communication and presentation skills.
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David Poytinger >>
Amber Sleichter Amber joins the Center after working for the University of North Carolina system in Fayetteville State University’s IT department. As a technology support analyst, she was responsible for the technical integration of over 60 classrooms. Keeping with the university’s goals to enhance distance learning to military students and reduce costs, Amber spearheaded research and development of video conferencing– enhanced classrooms and virtual seats for deployed students. Amber also led the procurement of a new campus television provider, saving the university over $65,000 each year. Amber graduated from Hofstra University with a BA degree in video and television production. As an undergraduate, she was the lead producer for senior-level television programming and brought those skills to the public in the form of four public affairs shows that aired on the WB45 in Albany, New York. She has also worked for MTV, Viacom Networks, Sony Pictures International, PBS, and Disney. Amber plans to combine her television production and technology expertise with the skills learned at the Center to lead supply chain innovation in the hightech industry.
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After his two years in Austria, David took a position in Florida as the international logistics manager for Brennan International, a holistic energy healing school with programs in the United States, Japan, and Germany. David was the primary coordinator for the school’s European branch and received on-thejob training in sourcing equipment and logistics staff and managing international shipments. He also worked to optimize scheduling to reduce labor costs and took on the role as lead negotiator for all European vendors and venues.
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David studied economics and German literature at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduation, David accepted a scholarship from the Austrian Fulbright Commission to teach English in Austria.
Richard Shtivelband
David led an eight-month project to relocate the company’s European headquarters, which required him to evaluate more than 100 different cities and their infrastructures. David’s experiences with logistics management eventually led him to the supply chain specialization of the Wisconsin MBA program.
Richard comes to the Center after working as a chemical engineer at Pilkington North America in Toledo, Ohio. Pilkington is a glass manufacturer for commercial building, automotive, and solar cell applications with annual revenues totaling nearly $6 billion. Richard worked in the on-line coatings department and contributed to the research and development of new products. His primary duties included the maintenance and operation of pilot scale equipment, analysis of experimental samples with laboratory equipment, and the sourcing of new equipment and materials for purchase. Richard earned dual bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and philosophy from Oregon State University.
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Justin joins the Center after working as an electrical controls engineer for Alkar-RapidPak, an original equipment manufacturer that makes processing and packaging machines for the food industry. He worked on an international platform to design, manage, and provide support for the electrical and control needs of the RapidPak thermoforming machines and Alkar ovens. Most notably, he took on major troubleshooting duties to free up the engineering team for more design-oriented projects, thus allowing the company to adapt the use of new technology.
Aaron Prevost
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Justin Spaeth >>
Justin graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville and plans to take the field experience gained in operations and the lessons learned from the Grainger Center to lead projects dealing with all areas of the supply chain.
Aaron has worked for four years in the biotech and medical device industry. Aaron received his BS degree in bacteriology at UW-Madison and brought his interest in the life sciences to his job at Third Wave Technology. He worked in the manufacturing group, ensuring that molecular diagnostic kit components were produced to the strict quality standards set forth by the Food and Drug Administration’s cGMP regulations. From there, Aaron moved to Stratatech, a small regenerative medicine company specializing in the production of living skin equivalents. In his first six months at Stratatech, he worked to optimize the production of tissue culture media and transition its manufacturing to a contract manufacturing organization. Aaron then shifted to a role preparing Stratatech’s initial product StrataGraftTM for clinical manufacturing. As the clinical manufacturing proceeded, Aaron worked at simplifying and reducing the cost of the StrataGraftTM production process.
Mao (Emily)Zhang Emily joins the Center with three years of work experience in quality control, business analysis, market modeling, system development, and project management for Citigroup China. As a software configuration manager and senior software engineer, Emily’s job was not only to understand Citigroup’s operations in China, but also to improve them by implementing the most efficient management systems. Emily led or participated in numerous development projects in banking, stock services, and insurance. She developed a sales performance management system for Citigroup consumer banks and designed an insurance sales telemarketing system, which has been adopted by CitiInsuranceChina/Taiwan and many other financial organizations. Emily earned bachelor’s degrees in computer science and business administration from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2005. In 2003, after receiving the Sichuan Province Innovation Award, Emily started a software company based on the winning innovation. Emily’s managerial experience gives her valuable knowledge about inventory management, market analysis, human resource distribution, and client communication.
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Executive
Advisory Board Meeting By Gloria Guo The Grainger Center’s annual Executive Advisory Board meeting was held on October 9, 2008. As usual, second-year MBA students made formal presentations to the board about their summer internship projects. A few themes emerged about the students’ various projects: how to manage demand, how to use current data to make accurate forecasts, and how to select appropriate IT tools to assist the supply chain management in different companies. The meeting provides a unique and valuable opportunity for the second-year students to showcase what they have learned at school and what they have applied in their jobs. First-year MBA students learned about many new trends in supply chain management. The panel discussion was a lively exchange on the topic of current supply chain concerns or risks that are likely to impact companies’ supply chain structures and decisions. Some of these key concerns include rising transportation costs, volatile commodity prices, weakening consumer demand, rising inflationary pressures, the credit crisis, and the increasing importance of environmental impact and sustainability. These issues add many new dimensions to an already complex supply chain change equation. Board members delved into the topic and provided valuable insights. Many spoke of rising transportation costs and the importance of sustainability in supply chain management. As we know, the cost and allocation of energy resources heralds a potentially dramatic reshaping of the globalized trade flows that have emerged in the past two decades. Rising energy costs are suddenly a key factor in decisions about both where to place factories and how much inventory to hold. The focus for many companies today is developing a sustainable supply chain—one that is robust enough to support itself and improve the environment. The world’s resources are being depleted and used faster than ever before, and raw materials are becoming costlier and scarcer. Many companies are struggling with expenses while trying to increase profits. It makes sense for companies to embrace sustainability. The return on investment is now feasible for companies so that they can employ processes that use less energy and material. After the formal meeting, the day concluded with dinner and socializing at Nakoma Golf Club, where students had the opportunity for personal and relaxed interaction with the board members, faculty, and a number of alumni.
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Alumni News Kerri Yarbrough (MBA 2007) and her husband Al announce the June 27, 2008, birth of son Cameron Gray. Kerri is a stationed in London as a naval supply officer with the U.S. Navy.
AMR Research Briefing: IT as a Strategic Enabler of Supply Chain Excellence By Ajay Balasubramaniam he day after the Grainger Center’s Executive Advisory Board meeting, students, faculty, staff, and board members attended a presentation delivered jointly by Kevin O’Marah, Chief Strategy Officer at AMR Research, and Karl Braitberg, Vice President of Demand Management and Planning at Cisco. AMR Research is a leading provider of comprehensive analysis and advisory services for various disciplines, including supply chain management and operations. Kevin focused on how supply chain performance is at the heart of a company’s ability to grow in the increasingly global economy and how best companies execute an IT strategy that can both lead and enable operating performance. He described the evolution of technology, highlighting where we are in terms of the evolution and the direction that technology is going to be heading in the future. For organizations looking to implement technology, he emphasized the benefit of thoroughly understanding their specific needs and using technology to cater to these specific needs. Organizations today cannot ignore the power of the web and should explore technology opportunities that are available as applications on the web. The concept of service-oriented architecture is a reality today and is the way forward in terms of technology development. Karl picked up the discussion and provided a focused view on the importance of IT from the operational side at Cisco Systems. Cisco has one of the most complex supply chains in the IT industry. Its partners provide electronic manufacturing, test, design, transportation, logistics, and other services. With this breadth of supply and critical partners, managing relationships in the supply chain is a complex, demanding, and ongoing process. Karl discussed the demand side, addressing business requirements and technology solutions and the gap that can occur between the two. The Cisco perspective as shared by Karl tied nicely back to Kevin’s discussion on some of the efforts that were being made by leading organizations looking to capitalize on IT to optimize their supply chain processes. The well-packaged presentations of current technological trends and a real-world example provided an education on the skill sets that are needed to stay competitive today and an understanding of what it will take to be supply chain leaders of tomorrow.
Husheng (Harrison) Ding (MBA 2001) has been promoted to Executive Delivery Manager for IBM’s SCM BTO Engagement Team. Shane Strohl (MBA 2008) and his wife Jodi welcomed a daughter, Hayden Barrett, on July 18, 2008. Shane is with the U.S. Navy’s Joint Contracting Command in Iraq until March 2009, at which time he will relocate to the U.S. Navy Special Operations Command – Pacific in Aiea, Hawaii, as deputy director for logistics. Marcia Brandes (MBA 1999) is Director of Strategy and Business Development for E-One, Inc., in Ocala, Florida. Daniel DenBoer (MBA 1998) is the owner of Armitage Wine Lounge (www. armitagewine.com) with locations in Scottsdale and Tucson, Arizona. He’s also president of DenBoer Associates, Business and Operational Strategy Consulting. Jeff Bubbers (MBA 2002) and his wife Tracy announce the June 8, 2008, birth of son Jackson Matthew. Jeff is the operations manager for Summit Commercial Fitness in Madison. Jonathan Ward (MBA 1997) is a political/ economics officer for the U.S. Embassy. He’s currently in Arabic language training and will transfer to the U.S. Embassy Baghdad in March 2009. Steve Holzman (MBA 2004) and his wife Shelley announce the birth of son Eli Kenneth on September 19. Steve is the director of inventory planning and procurement at The Lang Companies. 11
Reports from the Field>>
2008 SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
Brad Blackman
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Logitech Fremont, California
Jake Dean Cisco San Jose, California 12
Brad was able to recommended ways to ensure the accuracy of product launch dates that were promised to customers and also gave recommendations and insight into why some new products were selling better than others. Other recommendations included ideas for better utilization of shipping options, improved launch timing, and new-product forecasting.
As an intern in Cisco’s global supply chain management group, Jake spent his summer working on projects related to demand planning. All of Cisco’s manufacturing is outsourced, so Cisco must provide a weekly demand signal to its manufacturers, which is derived by evaluating numerous forecast streams and arriving at a final consensus forecast. Cisco had recently implemented a new demand planning tool, and since the implementation, there had been a continuing large discrepancy in terms of dollars forecast between the final signal and one of its inputs. Jake identified the root cause of this discrepancy and designed a process to rectify the situation, closing a forecast gap of over $200 million annually.
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Brad spent the summer in Logitech’s worldwide supply chain division. He worked with the new product introduction team, helping them analyze the new product launch process, which is crucial to the always-changing and quickly moving tech industry. Brad’s main task was to analyze fiscal year 2008 new product introduction data and make strategic recommendations for process improvement. Brad’s analysis concentrated on two areas that were crucial to improving this process: dealing with product launch date accuracy and the actual selling of the product.
Som Daripa Ecolab St. Paul, Minnesota Som interned at Ecolab, one of the world’s largest food safety and sanitation product and services companies. The company is divided into many divisions that provide various products and solutions. Most of the divisions initiate and maintain customer relationships independently. There was little synergy and, as a result, less value for both the customer and Ecolab. Working in the institutional food service marketing division, Som’s project was to come up with various service models that could bring together the various divisional service organizations under one platform. The success of this project would form the basis for realizing the company’s long-term growth objectives. Som created three service organization models that could be applied across different markets based on the market complexity and maturity. Som presented his findings to the senior leadership team and enjoyed the experience of being involved in a crucial business strategy project.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Madison, Wisconsin
Perry’s project was accepted by management and is expected to realize $900,000 in supply chain savings over the next five years. Perry’s action plan will also be used as a framework to establish other foreigntrade zones throughout the remaining Thermo Fisher Scientific sites.
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Shure’s top ten revenue generating product categories. Working closely with the demand planning team and the sales, supply planning, purchasing, and marketing teams, Bellamy developed a new forecasting method specifically for Microflex products that increased the forecast accuracy and reduced the forecast oversell due to unplanned demand.
Bellamy Deng Shure, Incorporated Niles, Illinois Bellamy spent her summer as a demand planner on the operations team at Shure Incorporated, a top company in the music industry that manufactures microphones and professional audio electronics to amplify, process, and mix sounds. She was responsible for demand planning of over 100 SKUs for Microflex, one of
In addition, Bellamy was a member of an inventory strategy and safety stock project team, with the objective of reducing inventory levels and increasing turn rate and customer service levels to meet FY2011 targets. The project is estimated to reduce the inventory by $5.5 million and more effectively allocate inventory across worldwide locations. Shure selected the Microflex product group for the pilot implementation, and Bellamy will be involved in further system training and mass implementation.
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Perry Heard
Perry interned as a project manager in the scientific instruments division of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Because of the company's growing reliance on imported material, Perry’s internship focused on the establishment of a foreign-trade zone. Working with the Madison Regional Airport, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Perry conducted a project feasibility study for the $37 million worth of imports to assess the potential savings. After the project was determined to be feasible, Perry developed an action plan for Thermo Fisher Scientific to establish the first foreign trade subzone in southern Wisconsin.
Justin Mayer Logitech Fremont, California
Justin interned this summer in Logitech’s worldwide supply chain group. He was responsible for quantifying the relationship between the inventory held by Logitech's own distribution center and the inventory held by customers within the company's distribution channel. Despite a struggling economy, Logitech continues to have remarkable growth with its innovative products. The company wants to make sure it can support that growth with sufficient inventory. Justin's project focused on helping the company more effectively manage inventory while maintaining high service levels. He built a model that showed the supply chain management team appropriate levels of inventory for each business unit and multiple product categories. The model gave an end result for Logitech's current situation, as well as a way to continue to utilize these findings in the future. As a result, Logitech is able to lower inventory levels of many products in each business unit, thereby improving the company's operating expenses while supporting its growth initiative.
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Hewlett-Packard San Diego, California
Brook interned with Hewlett-Packard’s imaging and printing group. His project focused on influencing a new printer product platform early in the product lifecycle to design for supply chain efficiency. It included substantial operations initiatives to drive cost from the supply chain. The project involved sharing the initial printer concept designs with the regional postponement commercial partners for product recommendations. After gathering product DFx (design for x) recommendations—where the focus areas were manufacturability, postponement, testability, packaging, logistics, environment, ergonomics, and serviceability—and meeting with key partners, he compiled his feedback into a DFx handbook regarding inputs that apply to all commercial regions that can be a reference for printer designers. Brook then took the key recommendations and turned them into product requirements by presenting his ideas at the product design forum. Brook had the opportunity to interface with many functions involved in HP’s global supply chain. Many of his requirements were incorporated in the product design to increase supply chain efficiency and reduce costs. 14
>> Grace Xiang Genzyme Corporation Framingham, Massachusetts
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>> Brook Rucinski
Nina spent her summer in the global repair division of Motorola’s mobile device business unit. Her internship goal was to create a process to eliminate systemic issues that propagate throughout different cellular phone models by utilizing a field return database owned by the repair division. This task will enable the organization to nip systemic issues in the bud to generate operational savings in service parts and warranty. Nina interacted with the quality, reliability, manufacturing, and integrated supply chain groups as the process users, which enabled her to gain more understanding of each group’s priority. Nina identified areas where systemic issues can be easier to recognize and improved the return database based on her findings. This project received users’ buy-in and is expected to be implemented within other repair divisions of Motorola’s business units.
Nina Sastrodihardjo Motorola Libertyville, Illinois
Grace interned with the distribution and logistics department at Genzyme Corporation, a Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company. Her primary project was to provide analytical support in selecting a new transportation management system to eliminate operational redundancy, reduce process error, and perform electronic filing for trade compliance. After the initial end-user communication and vendor system demonstration, Grace gathered direct user feedback via a vendor evaluation scorecard. An NPV analysis was then performed based on quantified recurring and nonrecurring cost and benefit items from each department. Intangible benefits were also considered in the analysis, such as the TMS's longer-term compatibility with Genzyme's future ERP system. Her final presentation successfully received management's approval for pursuing with the recommended vendor.
Fall Site Visit: S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. By Gloria Guo
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n October 31, Grainger Center students traveled to Racine, Wisconsin, world headquarters of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. S.C. Johnson is a global manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals. It has operations in nearly 70 countries, and its brands are sold in over 110 countries. It is the largest component of the Johnson Family Enterprises, which also includes the Johnson Financial Group, JohnsonDiversey Inc., and Johnson Outdoors. Through five generations of family leadership, S.C. Johnson has brought to market innovative products while upholding high environmental and health standards and supporting the communities where the company operates. We toured the administration facilities and Waxdale, the company’s largest manufacturing plant. During an informative meeting with managers in various supply chain management functions, we learned about the strategies that S.C. Johnson
has adopted to deal with ongoing supply chain challenges. A recent example is the company’s Truckload Utilization Project, which eliminated 1,882 tons of greenhouse gases over a 12-month period—the equivalent of making 90 two-person households carbon-neutral for one year. Another supply chain strategy that S.C. Johnson implemented was to join the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary, collaborative partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As part of joining the program, S.C. Johnson has completed various SmartWay goals, including increasing the use of SmartWay carriers to 80 percent, converting where possible to smaller containers to reduce wasted container space, and increasing the percentage of intermodal shipping to almost 51 percent from 45 percent in 2005. It is now developing a three-year SmartWay action plan that will set higher targets and implement additional steps such as a noidling policy at S.C. Johnson facilities.
The last stop on our tour was the Johnson Mutual Benefit Association, a private recreational facility equipped with conference rooms, swimming pool, gym, mini golf course, child care facilities, and more. S.C. Johnson makes great efforts to take care of its employees and ranks 27th on the list of 100 best companies to work for in 2008. Not surprisingly, it was also on Working Mother magazine's 2008 list of the 100 best companies for working mothers. The trip provided a great opportunity to learn about the company’s supply chain management issues and solutions and its strategies for supply chain sustainability.
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Executive Speaker Series
Supply Chain Management in the Biotech Industry By Ajay Balasubramaniam The Grainger Center Executive Speaker Series kicked off on November 6 with a presentation by Jim Shuman, Senior Vice President of Materials Management at Genzyme Corporation. Founded in Boston in 1981, Genzyme is one of the world's foremost biotechnology companies. It has grown from a small start-up to a diversified enterprise with annual revenues exceeding $3 billion and 11,000 employees in locations spanning the globe. Genzyme has more than 80 locations in over 40 countries, including 17 manufacturing facilities and 9 genetic testing laboratories; the company's products are available in nearly 90 countries. Jim first provided an overview of the company and its core values. Genzyme is driven by its commitment to patients. The company is working to develop new medicines, improve its existing therapies, secure approvals for its products around the world, and ensure that patients have access to these treatments. Genzyme was chosen in 2007 to receive the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor awarded by the president of the United States for technological innovation. Genzyme focuses on six broad areas of medicine: lysosomal storage disorders, renal disease, orthopedics/biosurgical specialties, transplant and immune diseases, oncology, genetics/ diagnostics, and research and development. To further deliver on its mission, Genzyme focuses its operations in four areas: • employing supply chain management to ensure supply reliability and support the launch of new products and product site transfers • integrating acquired products, processes, and facilities and providing clinical supplies and process scale-up for new products • building new facilities and technologies to meet future likely demand • continuously improving operating performance; enhancing multisite operations processes and systems; and developing people, organization, and leadership Jim described some of the complexities involved in the supply chain processes of biotech industries, with specific instances and challenges relevant to Genzyme. Some of these challenges include globalization, government regulations, and the lack of standardization of information across business units of Genzyme. While planning its long-term strategy, Genzyme needs to be keenly aware of these challenges and address them. Jim answered a number of questions posed by MBA students and faculty regarding Genzyme and its supply chain processes. What were some of the challenges with regards to information security that a biotech company faces due to globalization? What are some of the changes that we are likely to see in the biotech industry as a result of the change in the political environment? What are the effects of the financial crisis on the biotech industry? Jim provided his insights to these and many other questions. The event was typical of the Grainger Center’s applied learning curriculum, which strives to provide an enlightening and optimum mix of theoretical education and real-world experience.
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Staff
John R. (Jack) Nevin
Verda A. Blythe
Caryl Knutsen
Jack is executive director of the Grainger Center. He served as chair of the Marketing Department from 1988 through 1992 and associate dean of masters programs from 1999 to 2002. Jack earned a PhD in marketing from the University of Illinois.
Verda is the director of the Grainger Center. She is responsible for marketing the Center to prospective students and employers, developing the applied learning program, and providing academic and career guidance to undergraduate and MBA students. She works closely with the Center’s faculty and Executive Advisory Board on program strategy and leads outreach activities with alumni, employers, and professional associations. Verda has presented at various conferences about industry-educational partnerships in supply chain management, and she teaches a course, Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management, in the undergraduate curriculum.
Caryl is the assistant director of the Grainger Center. Managing the daily operations of the Center, she works with current and prospective students, alumni, employers, faculty, the Executive Advisory Board, industry professionals, and administrators within the Wisconsin School of Business. Caryl leads the marketing and communications activities and manages the production of Center publications. She also coordinates the applied learning curriculum, which includes executive speakers, industry-led seminars, networking events, and corporate site visits. Caryl develops and recommends improvements for processes related to admissions and recruiting, student services, and programming for undergraduate and MBA students; coordinates alumni development activities; and manages the work of three project assistants. Caryl holds a bachelor of arts degree in English. Before joining the Wisconsin School of Business, she worked in scholarly publishing for many years at the University of Pennsylvania.
His research is primarily concentrated in three managerial-oriented areas of marketing: marketing channels, supply chain management, and marketing strategy. His research has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing and Public Policy, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Marketing Channels, and Law and Society Review, among others. Jack’s teaching responsibilities include traditional full-time MBA classes on marketing channels, marketing strategy, and supply chain management. He also actively participates in executive development programs and has served as a research consultant or expert witness for a number of organizations. He has been heavily involved with the American Marketing Association and the International Society of Franchising in a professional service capacity
Verda brings thirteen years of supply chain industry experience to her position, having worked in various functions, including procurement/sourcing, production, and logistics. After earning a BBA degree in logistics from Iowa State University, she worked for Ruan Transportation Management Systems in various roles, including quality, planning, and customer development. In 2002, she graduated with an MS degree in supply chain management from the Grainger Center. Her summer internship during graduate school was in logistics and materials management at Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Upon graduation, she joined IBM’s integrated supply chain, where she worked in global procurement and the systems and software group, both domestically and abroad.
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Supply Chain Management
UNDERGRADUATE SPECIALIZATION
Popular with Students, Employers The following companies offered undergraduate students full-time employment and summer internships opportunities:
Bruce Fritz
Company
In addition to the highly regarded MBA program in supply chain management, the Grainger Center offers a specialization in supply chain management to all undergraduate students enrolled in the Wisconsin School of Business. Students can add this specialization to their current business major. To complete the supply chain management specialization, students take six required courses and one of three electives. Required Courses Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management Procurement and Supply Management Production Planning and Control Marketing Channels Logistics Strategies Enterprise Systems and Supply Chain Management Electives Marketing Research Retail Management Operations Research I
Undergraduates experience the close community, career development opportunities, and industry partnerships similar to that experienced by the Center’s MBA students. Thirteen students undertook the specialization during the 2007–2008 academic year. Two graduated in December, and seven graduated in May. Four will graduate during the 2008–2009 academic year.
Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management is the foundational course in the specialization curriculum. The course provides students with an understanding of the link between key business functions and how effective supply chain management can improve performance and provide competitive advantage. The course includes an exciting web-based simulation project, where student teams compete in managing a high-tech company’s supply chain.
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Location
Best Buy Richfield, MN Brady Corporation Milwaukee, WI Buell Motorcycle Company East Troy, MI Discover Financial Services Riverwoods, IL General Mills Golden Valley, MN Harley-Davidson Motor Company Milwaukee, WI Intuit Mountain View, CA Kimberly-Clark (2 offers) Roswell, GA; Neenah, WI Kohler Company (2 of 3 offers accepted) Kohler, WI Kohl's Department Stores (2 offers) Menomonee Falls, WI Kraft Foods Oscar Mayer Madison, WI Lands’ End Dodgeville, WI Lowes Mooresville, NC Macy’s San Francisco, CA Medicine Industries Mundelein, IL Procter & Gamble Cincinnati, OH Shure Inc. Niles, IL Target Corporation Minneapolis, MN 3M Dekalb, IL True Value Company Chicago, IL TTI Milwaukee, WI Virchow Krause Consulting Milwaukee, WI Average annual full-time base salary accepted: $48,878 Average monthly summer internship salary accepted: $2,617
A little more than a year ago, Kyle Ramey (MBA 2007), started working full time as a principal process specialist for Genzyme Distribution in Framingham, Massachusetts. Kyle had previous intern experience at Genzyme, and Genzyme’s environmental commitment was a critical factor in his decision to return as a permanent employee. Kyle’s “Kill the Peanuts” project, eliminating expanded polystyrene (EPS) peanuts from product shipping, is an initiative that demonstrates both Kyle’s and Genzyme’s commitment to the environment.
“Kill the Peanuts”: Alumnus Receives Environmental Steward Recognition sealed air bags. I give him full credit. I just put it on my list of things to get done,” Kyle adds. Kyle soon found out that Haverhill’s senior distribution operations manager was also interested in finding an alternative to EPS peanuts, so he and Kyle combined their efforts. One of them investigated heat-sealed air bags vendors, and the other focused on getting the bags validated.
EPS peanuts are used at the three Genzyme sites—Framingham, Waterford, and Haverhill—that ship product. Framingham Distribution is the busiest, shipping roughly twice as much as Haverhill or Waterford. The expanded polystyrene peanuts currently used in shipments do not biodegrade and, if not recycled or incinerated for energy, stay in a landfill. Biodegradable peanuts made from cornstarch are not used because product is shipped cold and the condensation would melt cornstarch peanuts. “In 2007, we shipped about 71,000 boxes. Just about everything gets peanuts,” Kyle explains. “Early on, packaging engineer Rick Azaroff spoke to me about replacing the peanuts with heat-
Because the air bag system requires an operator, Kyle brought the vendors and their equipment to the Framingham distribution center for material handlers to try. “It’s foolish to make decisions without direct involvement of the guys that have to use it,” states Kyle. Once the air bag system was chosen and validated, the Waterford warehouse manager was brought on board to “standardize across the company as much as we can,” says Kyle. All three sites were using the heat-sealed air bag system by the middle of August. EPS peanut storage required between 20 and 30 pallet spaces in the Framingham warehouse. Air bag storage takes up less than one pallet. The switch to air bags will help the environment and free up much needed distribution space to meet
the increasing demand. Even though the air bags can be recycled, the team is investigating a biodegradable bag that breaks down in landfills. Kyle is also considering a voluntary EPA green transportation certification called the SmartWay program. Genzyme would voluntarily agree to follow program guidelines for fuel efficiency and emission reduction: “things like no idling and proper tire inflation, which we do now anyway, and then we in turn agree to try and use participating SmartWay carriers for our trucking runs whenever possible. We’re looking into it. If it makes sense we’ll do it, but, it’s not worth risking product by shipping with a ‘green’ carrier who is unreliable just to say you’re in the program,” Kyle cautions. Kyle believes that is important to make decisions that support a sustainable future both at home and at Genzyme. Kyle reminds everyone that “the Environmental group cannot do it all on their own. Without real support from within each of the business units, they can’t be truly effective. And make no mistake about it—we need them to be effective. The era of cheap gas and lax environmental regulations is over. We either do this today on our own terms, or have it done to us tomorrow.”
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Six supply chain management MBA students participated in the FedEx Freight International Graduate Logistics Case Competition, held annually at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Twelve teams competed for cash prizes and other awards. This year's case focused on the competitive challenges facing the fourth-largest manufacturer of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. Issues included shrinking market share, rising costs of raw materials, package price points favored by customers, economic order quantity, optimal case pack sizes, efficient truckload loading, and the personnel issue of how to form the management team to solve the challenges. L to R: Brad Blackman, Terry Goeldner, Ajay Balasubramaniam, Samy Affo, Gloria Guo, and Brook Rucinski
Supply Chain Update is produced with funds made available by the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management Opportunity Fund. Editor..........................Caryl Knutsen Reporters....................Ajay Balasubramaniam (MBA 2010) ..................................Gloria Guo (MBA 2010)
Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management 975 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706-1323 Phone: 608.262.1941 www.graingercenter.com
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