Academic programs prepare the logisticians of tomorrow

David Hannon, News and Transportation Editor -- Purchasing, 5/6/2004 6:00:00 AM

Changes in supply chain strategy have made the typical logistician's job much more challenging than it was even a few years ago. A greater emphasis on technology, an increasingly complex and global supply chain, and the ever-present pressure on costs means logistics and supply chain professionals need to have a much broader array of skills today than in the past. And the growing list of academic logistics programs around the country are working to prepare the logisticians of tomorrow for this new environment, offering a broader array of logistics courses and attracting a wider base of students.

"Logistics and supply chain management are receiving more attention today due to increasing globalization and the growing need for an efficient and productive logistics industry," says Chip White, executive director of the Logistics Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology. "As a result, we are seeing an increasing need for mathematically well-educated and computer-literate students in logistics and supply chain management."

Howard Forman, assistant professor of marketing at Drexel University, agrees that as corporations better understand the importance of managing supply chains (with Wal-Mart the shining example), there will be increased growth in logistics, both professionally and academically.

"Logistics is still relatively new compared to some of the other business fields of study," Forman says. "As such, there will be greater interest in logistics. It would be difficult to study logistics today without having an understanding of supply chain management concepts and the impact technology has had on managing supply chains."

New trends, new programs

The simple fact that more logistics programs and courses are showing up at major universities is testament to the function's growth and importance in today's business world. According to one estimate there are now more than 78 full academic logistics programs in the U.S.

"The longstanding programs are expanding both enrollment and content," says Hugh Turner, a logistics professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, which offers a master's program in logistics, an MBA with a concentration in logistics and a Ph.D. program in logistics which graduates one to two new logistics professors each year. "Universities that previously did not offer logistics as a program are introducing logistics and supply chain management courses and in some cases creating new academic units to deliver these programs."

Many newer programs are experiencing strong growth, including the one at the University of North Texas (UNT), now in its seventh year. UNT's program recently began offering graduate degrees and moved its logistics program from a bachelor of arts program to a bachelor of science.

The UNT program started out of the marketing department in 1997 as the first academic logistics program in Greater Dallas. Today, there are competing area programs at (in order of creation) University of Texas-Arlington, Texas Christian University, University of Dallas, University of Texas at Dallas, and several local community colleges.

The Center for Logistics Management at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) started in 1988 when the local business community approached the College of Business and asked the school to create a logistics program. The College of Business then hired Dale Rogers to become the director of the program. "This program was started in direct response to a greater understanding from the business community of the importance of logistics," says Forman.

Many other schools, like Drexel, that may not have an established logistics degree program, are working to create certificate programs through the existing business schools and majors such as marketing or operations management.

In addition to the number and size of the programs today, the focus and level of complexity in the courses taught are a clear reflection of the direction that logistics has taken. Most academics polled say programs are focusing more on supply chain management and end-to-end logistics as opposed to simply transportation and distribution functions. Some academic institutions are merging several disciplines including logistics to make more supply chain-oriented programs.

"Many courses have become more strategic in nature rather than operational, as logistics is now taken more seriously at higher levels of a company and is considered more of an asset than just a cost cutting activity," says Susan Golicic, assistant professor at the University of Oregon. "Standalone transportation courses are fewer in number because transportation is now covered within broader logistics courses. Supply chain management is now being covered in operations courses and programs as well."

Ted Farris, executive director of the Logistics Center at UNT, says its program works to differentiate supply chain management from logistics. "We treat logistics much differently than supply chain management, defining logistics as controllable within the firm and supply chain management bridging across firms," Farris says. "We view them as two completely different concepts and continue to emphasize the blocking and tackling of logistics."

Farris says current business trends have also impacted the kind of backgrounds his program looks for from professors. "When adding to our faculty last year we made sure we picked up a professor strong in metrics as well as someone strong in 3PLs and NAFTA," says Farris.

Certainly new technologies are impacting the type of courses that academic programs are offering. A course in the program at University of Nevada-Reno called Advanced Logistics System Design and Analysis covers "logistics computer systems used in industry along with advanced tools such as simulation, optimization, autonomous software agents, and worldwide web" according to a course description. In addition to Internet and software-based technologies, RFID and other sensor/asset visibility technologies are showing up in courses more.

Maryland offers a Supply Chain Education Lab, which gives upper level undergraduate or graduate students in logistics hands-on experience with real-world supply chain applications from Oracle, SAP, and Caps Logistics among others. All upper level logistics classes at Maryland use its client-server network to access a wide range of supply chain management applications, which are integrated into each topic and range from transportation execution to demand forecasting, network optimization, advanced supply chain planning and real-time management of the supply chain.

"These are not demos, but current versions of the actual applications used in the industry," says Turner. "It takes a significant commitment of capital and human resources to bring these tools to the students but it is adding significant value to their education. You can't effectively teach technology to today's students with videos, chalkboards and software demos. They are already too tech savvy for those medium to stimulate them or even maintain their interests."

The changing face of logistics

Logistics educators report a much broader field of students enrolling in their programs today than at any time in the past. Most say the level of technical competence among logistics majors is much higher and the ratio of female students to male is rising and may almost be an even ratio in some programs, thanks to increased opportunities for women in the industry. (A 2003 survey compiled by the logistics department at Ohio State University found that 86% of female logistics professionals feel the opportunities for building a sound career in logistics are better today than ever before.)

"Gone are the days when logistics classes were dominated by 'guys who liked trucks and trains,'" says Turner. "We have a large proportion of dual majors in the logistics program, which means they are not only pursuing a major in logistics but a second major as well."

Elizabeth Brown, a student in the logistics program at Georgia Southern University, says the program is about 70% male and 30% female, but the ratio was not a concern for her when selecting a major. "The industry is definitely male-dominated but I was not concerned with this when I chose logistics as my major. Those that are successful will rise to the top. It has been my experience that companies are recruiting men and women equally, not one more than the other."

Michael Crum, professor of transportation and logistics at Iowa State, also sees more women and minorities interested in logistics today than ever before. "Also, many of the students have greater experience through part-time jobs or internships than ever before when entering logistics programs," he adds.

Farris points out that increasing tuition costs are forcing many potential logistics majors to start off at a community college for their first two years. As a result of that trend, Farris is meeting with local community colleges to discuss transition of community college coursework into the UNT program.

Keeping up to speed

Many current logistics professionals are interested in pursuing their education further to provide greater opportunities in their career. UNT will have 87 of Verizon's managers taking its online logistics course. Rogers sees many firms expanding their internal courses, with some even using their educational offerings as marketing tools, with some 3PLs hosting large educational conferences every year.

Some logistics companies are becoming aware of this trend and creating more educational offerings to attract better employees. For example, Pittsburgh-based 3PL Genco hosts a large educational conference every year and Menlo Worldwide offers the Menlo University, a training program for its 15,000 employees worldwide.

To keep their finger on the pulse of the industry and prepare logistics students for the real world, most university programs and professors keep close relationships with corporate logistics organizations and service providers. Some professors use periodicals instead of textbooks to keep classes updated with current professional trends.

UNR has a National Advisory Board and an Alumni Board that suggested 10 years ago the school offer a course in supply chain management, which eventually grew to became the supply chain management program, with logistics a single component of that program.

Iowa State University recently restructured its undergraduate and graduate supply chain management programs with the help of several logistics professionals. "Two companies in particular stand out as being most helpful in this regard— John Deere and Caterpillar Logistics Services," says Crum. "Some of their specific recommendations included better integration of traditional logistics activities with traditional production/operations management activities, more applied problem-solving opportunities for the students, and inclusion of customer or downstream activities and relationships."

Georgia Tech's Institute of Logistics relies on close relationships with logistics companies to shape its curriculum. For example, it recently teamed with truckload carrier Schneider National to host an hours of service summit to provide faculty with a much better understanding of the possible impacts of the new regulations on the truckload industry and the broader impact of governmental regulation on the transportation industry.

Pennsylvania State University works closely with IBM's Integrated Supply Chain organization on curriculum development, according to John Tyworth, chairman of the Supply Chain and Information Systems department at Penn State. In addition to providing feedback on course design, critical skills, and topics, IBM has also donated a supply chain lab to Penn State, including hardware and software. Penn State also works with major corporations such as Exxon-Mobil to develop seminars for employees looking to gain advanced knowledge.

Golicic says even casual conversations with executives in the logistics industry can quickly turn into coursework if the impact is strong enough.

"An executive from DeRoyal told me that demand forecasting was extremely important for managing a supply chain and now I devote one to two classes to forecasting and demand management," Golicic says. "Contacts at Lowe's and Intel both mentioned how important crossing functional boundaries was to their job, so I devote a class to discussing cross-functional integration."

Forman says frequent guest speakers in class from industry help keep him and his students informed on what is going on in the professional world. "I have speakers in my class who are executives from 3PL firms and they consistently indicate that firms look even more to outsource logistics activities to 3PLs when the economy is in a downturn. This is creating more student awareness and interest as evidenced by their attendance in local logistics industry meetings."

Turner feels more routine contact between academia and industry is needed through mentoring, internships, and career events. Maryland's Robert H. Smith School sponsors a Logistics Career Day annually which brings in representatives from industry to meet and interact with its logistics majors.

"I think, in some cases, academia drops the ball by failing to follow up with interested industry professionals," Turner says. "In other cases, some industry participants are simply looking for cheap labor, which is a disservice to the students and the academic program. We need to seek out more opportunities to foster mutually beneficial relationships between industry and academia with an emphasis on the long-term needs of both the students and the employers."

Where are they headed?

Most academics feel the logistics job market is strong right now, but the sectors where jobs are most readily available are changing, due to the increased outsourcing trends.

Farris says out of the UNT program, 45% of graduates go into sales and marketing positions in the field, 40% go into operations positions and 15% go into the quantitative/analysis areas.

Most students today are using internships and real-world experience to find out what aspects of the industry they are interested in. For example, Brown completed two internships, one with a Wal-Mart import distribution center as a merchandise coordinating assistant and another at Georgia-Pacific as a demand management and planning intern. (See the "Student Profiles" for more examples).

Forman says the logistics industry will continue to grow in importance, as corporations further comprehend the importance of managing supply chains (like Wal-Mart did). As a result, more employment opportunities will be created.

"The 3PLs are hiring but many of the manufacturers are not hiring as much," says Rogers. "The 3PLs often do not pay as well as manufacturing sector but firms are not hiring for the same kind of position that they used to. They used to look for functional help like buyers and distribution analysts but today they are much more likely to hire program or project managers."

Golicic feels it is important for an academic program to look at the industries that hire their students and the types of jobs that students take. "For example, many students at Oregon take positions in logistics sales management, but I don't think we offer enough in that area to help prepare them."

"As educators and perhaps more importantly as practitioners, we must do our best not to dampen the enthusiasm of our future logisticians and encourage them to look beyond the way it's always been done toward the future and how they will get it done tomorrow," says Turner. "That is the best preparation we can offer for an uncertain future."