{"id":520,"date":"2016-05-04T11:33:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T15:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/business\/?p=520"},"modified":"2024-01-30T13:49:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T18:49:26","slug":"supply-chain-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/business-educational-information\/supply-chain-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Supply Chain students get real-world experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPC Supply Chain students recently toured two local firms to see first hand what working in the Supply Chain industry is like.<\/p>\n

Most of us remember the days of permission slips and field trips. Typically scheduled to reinforce classroom lessons, these breaks from the routine literally bring learning to life.<\/p>\n

This educational strategy was effectively evidenced in the past few months when we took the students enrolled in our LINCS Supply Chain Management<\/a> program to tour Great Bay Distributors<\/a> and Valpak<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n

An inside look at Supply Chain from Great Bay Distributors<\/h3>\n

Renowned for their almost 50 year history, Great Bay Distributors is Florida\u2019s largest independently, and family-owned distributor of Anheuser-Busch produ\"GB4\"<\/a>cts. The tour itself was facilitated by Mr. Scott Penland, Chief Operations Officer at Great Bay Distributors, and Mr. Matt Sokolowski. Our students were treated to a first-class, behind-the-scenes view of the operations of the distribution center. Whether new to the workings of the supply chain management industry or not, for many students, this was their first time inside a distribution center.<\/p>\n

Great Bay Distributors is a local powerhouse, and according to their website, has \u201crapidly become a leading wholesaler in the beer industry \u2013 distributing six of the top 10 beers in the Pinellas, West Pasco, Hernando and Citrus county markets.\u201d They currently operate two distribution centers in the greater Tampa Bay area, including St. Petersburg in Pinellas and Holiday in West Pasco. The message inherent in their success speaks volumes about the supply chain employment opportunities that exist in our geographic region and how powerfully privately-owned companies can emerge.<\/p>\n

Valpak shows supply chain students state-of-the-art facility<\/h3>\n

Valpak, a subsidiary of Cox Target Media and North America\u2019s leading direct marketer, has built one of the most advanced and automated manufacturing centers in the world. LINCS Program students were treated to a special floor tour of the facility tha\"Supply<\/a>t enabled them to observe the operation up close.\u00a0 Valpak\u2019s state of the art facility, occupying nearly 500,000 square feet of space, is a hub of technology where automation and robotics is at the core of the operation.\u00a0 The implemented technology and automation has allowed Valpak to decrease business processing time for a new marketing piece from four days to four hours. In addition, they use extensive targeting tools to get the right offers to the right consumers. The tour, which was facilitated by Ms. Tonya Jones, Logistics Operations Manager, and Mr. Scott Graves, Logistics\/Planning & Scheduling Operators Lead, also included a short video presentation about the company providing students with additional insights.<\/p>\n

Besides being very informative, the tours brought a dimensionality to the concepts that supply chain students have been learning in the classroom. Seeing such operations up close, allowed students to witness how supply chain concepts and principles of management are applied in a real world setting.<\/p>\n

To learn more about SPC\u2019s LINCS Supply Chain Management<\/a>, please contact us at LINCS@spcollege.edu<\/a>.\u00a0 Our program allows students to earn SCPro Fundamentals industry certifications, endorsed by the national Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), in as little as six-weeks.<\/p>\n

Our SCPro Fundamentals industry certifications tracks include:<\/p>\n