By Angela Shershin, MBA Class of 2014
On April 12th, the SCMA and Supply Chain Faculty visited Amazon’s Fulfillment Center near Allentown, PA. The visit started with a tour of the fulfillment center. The tour Continue reading
By Angela Shershin, MBA Class of 2014
On March 22nd, Chevron and the SCMA hosted an internal case competition for the Smeal MBA Program. There were nine teams of four, making a total of 36 participants. The case was distributed two days before the 22nd, on the evening of March 20th. This year, the case was written by Chevron and loosely based on a real business case that Chevron faced. The teams then had approximately 36 hours to read, analyze and develop a recommendation. Continue reading
Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
On March 15th, the Supply Chain Association organized a visit to the Starbucks Roasting Plant/Distribution Center in York, PA. The group was cordially met by Teresa, who is the quality control manager of the facility, and brought to the conference room where Kevin, the supply chain manager, gave the group a presentation on the history and the functions of Continue reading
By Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
The SCMA held its annual SAP Simulation/Competition on Friday, January 25th. Over 20 of our members participated in the overview and SAP simulation game led by Paul Winkler of Penn State’s Applied Research Lab. Paul provided a detailed description of how SAP evolved and its popular applications in today’s businesses during the one hour overview, as well as an insightful discussion on the impact SAP on supply chains’ Continue reading
By Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
On Thursday, November 15th, the SCMA had the pleasure of welcoming Donna Warton to spend two hours with our members in an introduction to Dell’s supply chain operations.
Donna joined Dell Inc. in 2009 and is currently Vice President of Global Operations Planning. Her responsibilities cover Global Operations Planning and Supply Chain Performance Continue reading
By Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
On November 2nd, the Supply Chain Association organized a visit to the new Office Depot combo-distribution (direct and retail) center in Newville, PA. The group was cordially met by Penn state alumni Bob Zelis – Senior Director of the distribution center – and his outbound manager – David. Throughout the warm welcome and the guided tour, the group received an overview of the Office Depot operations and specifically this particular facility’s uniqueness. This new distribution center is catering to the entire Northeast region – Maine to Virginia – and reduces the need for a cross-dock in Continue reading
By Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
The Supply Chain Management Association held our first official event of the 2012/2013 academic year on 9/11/12: the Annual Intro to Supply Chain Luncheon. With approximately 35 first and second year students gathered together to learn more about what supply chain is and about potential career paths that exist in supply chain, as well as how the Smeal curriculum will prepare students for those careers. Professors Terry Harrison, Doug Thomas and David Huff each spoke about their respective courses and what to expect from the program in general. We had great discussions regarding differences in the MBA courses compared to the undergrad courses as well as the Six Sigma offerings. Additionally, our president – Chris Riling – discussed at length the Continue reading
The MBA Supply Chain Management Association held its annual case competition, sponsored by Chevron on February 9th and 10th.
Eight teams of first and second year students competed in this year’s event which focused on contingent workforce planning strategies. The case presented a situation at Motorola but the themes within the case were closely related to an issue that Chevron had recently tackled. Continue reading
On Friday, February 3rd, the MBA Supply Chain Association traveled to York, PA to visit ES3’s flagship distribution center. ES3 is a third-party logistics provider focused on the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry and is a leading provider of collaborative warehousing with facilities across the U.S. Continue reading
By Jorge Quezada, President SCMA, and Rachel Jones, VP of Student Affairs SCMA, MBA Class of 2012
On Friday, September 30th, members of the MBA Supply Chain Association (SCMA) took a trip to visit the Volvo Powertrain manufacturing facility in Hagerstown, MD. In this 1.5 million square feet facility, Volvo Powertrain designs and manufactures their D11, D13, and D16 engines for use in Volvo trucks. They also manufacture engines and transmissions for use in Mack trucks. Continue reading