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Whitman Wednesday -- Young Alumni

Katie Chae is a young SCM graduate. 

What experience in your first job made you feel like you were in the right career? 

Answer: I'm not exactly sure I'm in the right career, but I am sure that my education helped me feel as though this could be the right career! What I mean by that is supply chain helped me understand and connect all aspects of a business as well as give me an advantage for activities such as pricing, sourcing, communicating- all which are used everyday at my job.

What experiences during your time at Whitman got you most interested in SCM?

I thoroughly enjoyed CORE. I found it interesting to sit through marketing, SCM, and finance all at the same time because it reveals how much these aspects tie together to fluidly run a business. 

Whitman Wednesday: young alumni

Jonathan Munoz graduated 2015 and now lives in Las Vegas with his fiance and their dogs.  We caught up with him for the weekly SCM update.

What attracted you to SCM?

It was a natural attraction for me. It was the idea of using common sense ideas of efficiency to better the world around you, but with the authority and power of statistical analysis as the foundation for the my ideas of efficiency.

What stands out from your time at Whitman?

The most impact-full moments at Whitman were:

               1. Having the constant support and encouragement from all the SCM professors, obviously you from the start with CORE

               2. Being required to read the book "The Goal", by Eli Goldratt - Which reenforced my dream of simple ideas supported by quantitative analysis

               3. Joining the APICS chapter to get the peer support to drive me to CPIM certification

               4. Getting into Prof. LaPoint's Lean Six-Sigma (LSS) class - Which gave me field experience inthe application of LSS principles at GE Sensing and it got me qualified black belt Certification in LSS.W

What big-picture SCM topics are you most interested in? 

            1. Intertwining Accounting principals with efficiency principles of inventory management, purchasing, and negotiations

            2. Collaborative Lean Manufacturing techniques between the vertical supply chain suppliers, manufactures, distributors, etc.

            3. Omni-channel - The eventual solution for all transportation and order processing in the most organized and efficient manner

If you could volunteer your SCM skills to a big-world problem, what would you tackle?

I’d like to develop a national redistribution of excess products for the basic human necessities in the first world (soap, toilet paper, etc.) to the homeless and impoverished.

If you could give advice to your former student self or current students, what would you share?

Get ahead by earning certifications. Realize it doesn't matter where you come from, but how you apply yourself at the next level.

I'd just like to add that it's the little things that get you into the higher end pay scales. Students should focus on getting into an honor society, any of them, even if it's a pay for membership one. They should also get all the certifications they can while in school (Excel, Word, CPIM, etc.) Digital networking and phone calls to potential jobs is important, but nothing beats a handshake and smile. Students should realize that everything is a negotiation in life...everything....so take a class and get some knowledge base. I recommend Prof. Penfield's class. Eat at Picasso's Pastries!

Salzberg Thursday

Looking back at past Salzberg Award winners, we start with 2015.  Ms. Wendy Herrick represented Unilever, who were was honored for their integrated sustainability efforts and global impact through innovative supply chain solutions and standards.  As a global corporation that distributes food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products around the world, Unilever has become a leader in supply chain sustainability thanks to its philosophy that a healthy environment leads to a healthy business. Unilever has applied these values to its operations in 190 countries, setting a supply chain industry benchmark for initiatives such as zero-waste programs and sustainable sourcing, officials said.  

Whitman Profile: On Wednesdays we’ll profile a current student, alumni, or board member in SCM to showcase the people that make SCM possible. Mignon Farnet (’16) is a Whitman senior majoring in SCM and Accounting who was recently named a Whitman Scholar. Each year eleven seniors who excel academically and demonstrate leadership outside the classroom are selected as Whitman Scholars.  Three of this year’s eleven students are SCM majors.  (The other two will be highlighted in coming weeks). Mignon shares this about her choice to major in SCM:

I was drawn to Supply Chain because of my interest in logistics. Understanding the planning that goes into the production of a good sparked an interest from the first SCM class I took as a sophomore. I am looking to start my career in commercial auditing; having a background in supply chain would complement this interest. 

Mignon is also completing an honors thesis which focuses on her mutual studies of accounting and SCM by studying the way international operations are audited and the ramifications of these decisions.

In the world of Cyber manufacturing, advanced technologies are communicating with each other. All of the information is integrated in real time. If companies wish to ‘Take a Lead’ in the business, they need to start investing in low cost manufacturing and stop chasing low-cost labor.  Today at 2PM in Lender Auditorium of the Whitman School of Management, a team of Whitman Masters students will be presenting their research on Cyber Manufacturing as the future of manufacturing.  

Danielle Shields, a senior Whitman/Newhouse student dual majoring in SCM and advertising, won a Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) AWESOME scholarship.  This scholarship sponsors attendance at the annual CSCMP conference (this year in San Diego) to bring together industry experts with exceptional students.   Faculty members from top universities were asked to nominate a young woman demonstrating superior supply chain leadership potential in the university’s MBA, MS or undergraduate supply chain program. A committee of supply chain leaders conducted a review of the applications, and selected the top five scholarship recipients.

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Danielle Shields on LinkedIn

Harry E. Salzberg Memorial Lecture Program Honoring Unilever and special guest: Dana Stiffler, vice president of research for Gartner

October 8, 2015, 2:00 - 5:30pm More Information