TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) –– Supply chain issues have dominated the headlines recently, along with many of our conversations. Until this year, most of us did not realize how much the supply chain impacts our daily lives. While these ongoing problems can be frustrating for consumers, they provide an interesting challenge to ASU students who hope to become the next generation of supply chain leaders and make life easier for all of us.
ASU’s Supply Chain Management program at the W.P. Carey School of Business is one of the best in the country. According to US News & World Report, it is the No. 2 supply chain program for undergraduate students. While the program has seen a recent increase in interest, some current students did not know the first thing about the supply chain a few years ago.
“It was sophomore year, I think, one of my econ professors said supply chain management is a great program,” senior Qike Wong. “I was like, ‘What is supply chain?'”
Wong knows a lot about the subject now.
“When you really think about supply chain, it covers the end-to-end — all the way from the raw material that a company is looking to source all the way to the end consumer, the everyday consumer,” he said.
Roughly 1,500 undergrad and graduate students are in the program headed up by Dr. Gopalakrishnan, known as Dr. G. “It’s interesting because it took a pandemic to create the awareness,” he said. “Supply chains are the backbones of many industries.”
ASU’s program was already solid, but it, like others, has evolved during the pandemic.
“So, rather than just continue to do what we normally do, we expand in their thinking, [and give them the] ability to look beyond … those lean operations, looking at the pros and cons,” Professor Adegoke Oke explained.
Wong believes that critical thinking is the most important thing he’s learned.
“They really push us to think into a deeper level,” he said. “Like, yes, we have a cost increase of the product, but what’s the actual implication behind that? And what can we do to solve that?”
Solving current supply chain problems can seem overwhelming, but these students are ready for the challenge.
“What we can take away from, you know from COVID, and all the supply chain disruptions is to enforce better contracts, and to be prepared — have multiple vendors on hand — so you’re not relying on one sole supplier, for instance” senior Amanda Tanady said.
Seniors like Wong still have six months to go until graduation, but he’s already landed a job post-college, and we might all benefit.
“I’ll be working full time for Apple for their global supply chain team for their supply-demand planning. So, hopefully, next Christmas, your Apple orders won’t be three weeks late,” Wong said with a laugh.
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