Greetings.

This is the first newsletter since our Florida Supply Chain Summit was held last month and we could not be prouder of the presentations and quality of discussions at the event. The feedback has been tremendous and just reveals how supply chain management has evolved over the past few decades and paricularly over the past pandemic-blanketed year.

If you did not get a chance to attend the daylong event, you can watch a recording to catch up on what was talked about. If you did attend, we'd like to hear from you. Please take this survey to let us know what you think about our signature summit.

The virtual event, hosted by the USF Muma College of Business’ Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability, featured more than two dozen speakers addressing hundreds of virtual attendees involved in the supply chain field.

For more information, click here.

Thank you all for your support. And please stay safe and healthy,

Elaine Singleton

Executive Director

Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability

The Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability provides student scholarships -- more than $5,000 this year alone (covering tuition and textbooks) -- that went to our diverse student enrollment. We hope to increase this to $50,000 over the next three-to-five years. We provide innovative learning, teaching and technology tools for the interactive classroom, preparing students for immediate immersion into jobs upon graduation.

Our students graduate with demonstratable skills in ERP (SAP), WMS (Datex), TMS (MercuryGate), Supply/Business Analytics (Tableau), AI (Packback), and Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt/MS Supply Chain program) to name a few.

This does not happen in a vacuum. We must have the support of our faithful business and industry partners to ensure success for our students. This past year, our program supported five students with scholarships though the generosity of our business partners and the amazing gift from Monica Wooden.

The cost of high-tech innovative education is exorbitant and this may stand in the way of some financially challenged students who find it difficult to meet tuition expectations. Our students are diverse, and this is important to our business partners, many of whom offer internships or work experiential opportunities for students through the year. This contributes to the 92 percent who graduate within four years, with an average GPA of 3.4.

Philanthropic donations shoulder the burden of the good work we do here. All the money received from donations go directly to scholarships, student/faculty research, industry-partner engagement and innovative education. Please help us help our students. To donate, click here.

April 7, 5 p.m., Virtual Coffee Meeting—To RSVP, contact esmeraldag@usf.edu 

April 8, 5 p.m., USF CSCMP Executive Board Elections—For more information, contact victoriakang@usf.edu

Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability Grand Opening—Located in Muma College of Business; times and details to be announced.

Monica Wooden Scholarship Recipient Interviews 

Emily Gilbert: The amazing faculty and students I'm surrounded by! 

Denzel Tracey: Learning about the problems that businesses face and how to provide practical solutions for those issues. So many alumni from our major have gone on to solve important issues for companies and provide incredible value. I hope to follow in their footsteps.

Clark Mulligan: I love learning about the process of how individual materials come together to form a larger, more complex product. I find it fascinating that each and every product has its own story of how it was made and where each part came from.

Emily Gilbert: I see myself pursuing my master's degree while working in a leadership position for a company that values their employees' growth.

Denzel Tracey: I hope to gain enough knowledge and experience to help companies successfully adapt to the inevitable changes within the workplace and business. Additionally, after having benefited from such great leadership at USF and Amgen, I hope to have to opportunity to lead others and provide mentorship. 

Clark Mulligan: I see myself working in international transportation and distribution for a well-known company. I aspire to assist in import and export management.

Emily Gilbert: Be curious. Gain knowledge from others by asking about their thoughts and experiences. 

Denzel Tracey: Jump in and take advantage of the opportunities around you! Within the supply chain major, there is an amazing support system of professors who only want to see you succeed. Every month of work that I have put into this major has been returned in a way that will benefit my career for years to come. 

Clark Mulligan: “Make sure to always present yourself with a good and uplifting attitude, as supply chain is all about having good relationships with your suppliers, manufactures and customers. This will also help improve your communication skills, which is highly needed in supply chain.” 

Trenton Waldron 

Clark Mulligan 

Denzel Tracey  

Emily Gilbert 

Latallia McKenzie  

Q: What industry do you think Vietnam should focus on becoming a primary exporter in over the next five years? 

A: I believe Vietnam should focus on IT and electronics industry, especially with Intel’s latest (January 2021) $475 million investment towards 5G and core manufacturing in Vietnam bringing their total investment in Vietnam well over $1billion. Through developing additional work force availability in these sectors, Vietnam may realize a competitive advantage in global supply chains.

Q: What supply chain management capabilities does Vietnam lack?  

A: Vietnam has proven itself to be a reliable supply chain partner in many different sectors such as IT and electronics, textiles, etc. Vietnam should focus on keeping up with its reliability through on-time and high-quality product deliveries, while investing in deep seawater ports, which can berth Post-Panamax vessels, so that they can send/receive direct shipments without having to stop at other ports such as Singapore.  Read the article. 

Q: Where are the vaccines primarily being sent from? And is the United States assisting in exporting vaccines internationally?

A: Vaccines are primarily shipped from out of Florida production facilities and distribution centers such as Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, which were impacted by the winter weather in February. This was a major disruption for the supply chain due to the fact that at some locations, because of the below-freezing temperatures, the roadways were impacted, and the work force was unable to reach production facilities, DCs, etc., resulting in delays. The United States is helping with domestic distribution of the vaccine, however international shipments are more commonly handled by each company separately.

Q: How do you think the supply chain management of the vaccines will evolve once there are multiple manufacturers? 

A: This is already the case and it brings more supply to the market and a combined and stronger supply chain for all of the vaccine manufacturers. I expect the vaccine supply to increase and become more reliable as multiple manufacturers work together to supply the large demand for COVID-19 vaccines. To read the story and view the video, click here.

Some outside business partners had good things to say about our students:

Survey link was sent out to student participants via email!  

Contact esmeraldag@usf.edu for meeting info.

Interviews 

All applicants must send a resume prior to interviews and prepare the 1-minute pitch. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Victoria Yang.

Do you want more insight on supply chain management? Watch this video to learn the basics and why you should major in Supply Chain Management (hint - high paying jobs and sky-high demand). Also, get to know CSCMP on campus and the incredible perks it provides to USF students!