Tag: students



With more than ten thousand dollars at stake, student teams competed in the first-ever Project of the Year Symposium, hosted by The Boeing Center for Supply Chain Innovation (BCSCI), on May 17 at Washington University. The BCSCI symposium featured the top five corporate mini-consulting projects executed via our Center in the 2016-2017 academic year. The top prize, $5,500, for Best Project of the Year was awarded to the Emerson team. A second award, $3,000, was given to the Belden team for a project that demonstrated the greatest immediate business impact.  A third award. $2,000, was given to the Monsanto team for delivering the best presentation. All winning teams will be inducted into the Boeing Center Projects Hall of Fame.

Each student team had 15 minutes in front of a panel of judges composed of BCSCI advisory board members and representatives.

While all of our project teams (a total of 15 corporate projects) did an excellent job this year, these five demonstrated a particularly high level of execution, which set them apart. We are grateful to all of our member companies for providing us with interesting and challenging projects, and to all the students who worked on Boeing Center projects this year.

A special thanks goes out to our judges and board members in attendance: Greg Krekeler (Boeing), Mike Woerner (Edward Jones), Eric Carlson (Emerson), Marcelle Pires (Monsanto), Becky McDonough (Monsanto), and of course our own Sergio Chayet (WashU) and Panos Kouvelis (WashU & BCSCI Director). We look forward to developing more innovative supply chain solutions in the fall semester!

Representing this academic year’s projects in the competition were:

ABI student team: Serena Chen, Xinyue Du, Marcus Lei, Yanyan Li, and Cauthen Mordente.

Anheuser-Busch InBev  |  Fall 2016

The Anheuser-Busch InBev team’s project revolved around optimizing the inventory mix at distribution centers for some of ABI’s craft beer products. The need to achieve shipping efficiency by shipping full truckloads is a challenge when lower volume craft beers are involved. It is also important to maintain high service levels of performance when delivering to wholesalers.

The team utilized simulation models to support either the use of higher inventory levels at the distribution center, or shipping lower volume and higher volume beers on the same truck to achieve higher service levels for craft beers.

Belden  |  Spring 2017

Panos Kouvelis with Belden student team: Bonnie Bao, Michael Stein, Yuying Wang, and Yuyao Zhu.

The award for the “Greatest Immediate Business Impact,” with impressive overall cost savings to the company, was given to the Belden team.

The Belden team used the continuous review modeling approach, together with concepts of ABC analysis and market uncertainty, to identify opportunities for lowering costs and improving service levels at PPC, a Belden subsidiary in Syracuse, NY. The proposed decision support spreadsheet will be immediately implemented by the company, and will result in substantial savings. This project delivered the most immediate business impact.

Boeing  |  Spring 2017

Student team: Vineet Chauhan, Phil Goetz, Brian Liu, Sontaya Sherrell, and Fan Zhang.  

The Boeing team’s goal was to determine the most influential order and part characteristics affecting suppliers’ on-time delivery statistics of Boeing’s transactional spare parts business.

Emerson  |  Spring 2017

Student team: Kushal Chawla, Serena Chen, Kai Ji, Jeffrey Lantz, and Zoe Zhao, pictured at top of page.

The judges determined that the Emerson team had delivered the best overall project performance (problem solution, business impact, and presentation), and was declared “Project of the Year” winner.  The Emerson project team worked with ProTeam’s Richmond Hill facility to determine the optimal product mix, optimize inventory management of stock, and develop a data analysis model to facilitate future upkeep of the system. This was a well-executed project, with rigorous analysis and strong presentation by the team.

Monsanto  |  Spring 2017

Student team: Hai Cao, Yanyan Li, Ashwin Kumar, Jonathan Neff, Tom Siepman, and Xukun Zan.

Finally, the Monsanto team’s goal was to understand, define, and map out the credit processes within Monsanto. The audience enjoyed this team’s excellent presentation. The Monsanto team impressed the judges with the quality of its work and its exceptional presentation, and received the “Presentation Excellence” award.

Boeing Center Symposium photo gallery • click here

For more supply chain digital content and cutting-edge research, check us out on the socials [@theboeingcenter] and our website [olin.wustl.edu/bcsci]

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A Boeing Center digital production

BCSCI

Supply Chain // Operational Excellence // Risk Management

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When I first told someone I was going to be a part of this great program called Masters in Supply Chain Management, they gave me a strange look and wondered if I will be ferrying boxes for a logistics company.

Of course, it is not all about managing logistics or suppliers. The program is a mixture of business decision making, operations management, suppliers, demand, inventory, optimization, corporate strategy, finance and accounting. And when you are tired of those you can diversify into honing your skills in leading change or negotiations and conflict management.

As a proud member of the MSSCM community, I can say one thing for sure, there are many things about the program that make you want a career in supply chain management. The small class size not only promotes individual growth but also gives you an opportunity to truly learn from working with a diverse mix of classmates who are geniuses in their own right.

Prof. Sergio Chayet

Prof. Sergio Chayet

I spent some time wondering today how my not-so-long journey through the program has shaped me and there are already a list of highlights that I can share. I remember sitting in Sergio Chayet’s seminar session back in February 2014 before joining the program and thinking to myself, this is going to be amazing. The summer course in Operations Management sealed the deal for me on my belief in supply chain management as a career.

The course is lovingly dubbed as a rite of passage for all supply chain and MBA operations platform students, specifically our very first group case. I remember spending hours with my team analyzing, assessing, thinking and finally arriving at a revelation that operations is not only amazing but invigorating. The next few sessions will expand your understanding of operations all the way from auto manufacturing, hospitals to consumer goods.

2013-11-21 04.22.53-2If you are wondering why else should I be in this class – The Beer Game. There is beer, a game and there are awards! There is also an important lesson in operations which will remain etched in memory for many years to come.

Another interesting class of the program is project management. I know what you are thinking, the same old stories on critical path method and PERT, what is new with that? The panache with which Professor Chayet brings in variety, humor, and elements of incredulity to these classes are unprecedented. Project management education takes on the form of involved discussions, experiential learning and wonders of the world (yes, you will learn a thing or more about history and world events).

The program makes a special effort not only to weave in industry experience through the practicum projects but also interestingly connects the courses with each other. You may be in a class talking about Hewlett Packard’s supply chain strategy and in another class you will experience the method and math behind making the strategy work.

In one class you will learn all about your personal negotiation style and walk into another class the same week where you use these skills in a supply chain negotiation against your classmate. Some classes will encourage you to present group projects and cases, while the professional communication forum throughout the semester will be preparing you for these exact skills. The program brings a unique flavor by weaving together all these seemingly disconnected elements.

Are you prepared to storm the operations and supply chain industry with style (and knowledge)? I for one can’t wait!




I can’t believe that it’s April.  I can’t believe that this is Admitted Students’ Weekend.

Where has time gone?  I remember exactly where I was last year when this weekend occurred and we weren’t in St. Louis.  No, we couldn’t attend the festivities because one of my dearest friends was getting married and we were attending her wedding.

I remember being anxious that we couldn’t attend.  What will we miss?  Will everyone meet great friends over the weekend leaving us trying to meet people when everyone else has their group of friends?

WAIT A MINUTE.  Am I missing an MBA admitted students weekend or missing my first day of middle school?

As much as I was able to rationalize how missing this weekend would not be the end of the world, I was still anxious that we would miss something that everyone else would discuss when we all gathered together again in August.

My husband, Turner, would have a chance to meet fellow students during orientation and in classes, while I sat at home and looked for a job in my new city.  SO in many ways, this was one of the few times (I thought), I would have to meet other partners.

Then I realized something else, we were moving to St. Louis in July and Turner was attending Olin no matter what.  So while a lot of prospective students were attending to see if Olin was the right fit for them, Turner had already decided that it was where he wanted to earn his MBA.

So now you might be wondering why all of these things are so important to me and if my husband was attending Olin, why is it so important for ME to attend this weekend.  Truth be told, I was hoping to meet another partner who was already locked into Olin to be an email buddy with (an new age pen-pal, if you will), someone that I imagined would also be moving from a big, east coast city and adjusting to the midwestern lifestyle and we could swap transition stories and maybe even meet for coffee before Olin officially started in August. This way,  I would already know one person and have one friend.  But as you already know, that didn’t happen.

The good news is that I have since met many fellow partners, like myself, who are new to the area and together we go on many fun adventures exploring St. Louis.  But more on that later…

For now, as my calendar fills up with Admitted Students Day weekend activities, I am so excited to meet with potential students and their partners who may not be enrolling at Olin, but will be supporting their partners as they begin their MBA.

My friends are all excited for the weekend, too, and we hope that we have a chance to meet you.  There will be so many opportunities to see if Olin is the right program for you and rumor has it that some of the 2014 MBA class made their decision to attend Olin based on this weekend.

If you can’t attend the weekend and you are even a fraction as anxiety-driven as I am, do not worry.  You are not alone, many soon-to-be Olin students can’t make it.  There are MANY opportunities for you to meet other Olin partners later this summer.  Even though we haven’t officially met yet, I very much look forward to meeting you.

 

 




Olin’s BSBA Class of 2013 is proud to announce the 2013 Senior Class Gift Campaign, a campaign led by seniors across all five undergraduate schools. This year, Olin aims for 85% participation, and we are approaching our goal, with 59% participating as of March 25. The campaign will continue through May 9.

The Senior Gift Campaign allows students to receive their first glimpse into giving back to their alma mater while helping future classes of BSBA students. Individual students designate where their donation goes, with most deciding to support scholarships.

If you would like to contribute to the Olin Senior Class Gift Campaign, please visit: https://gifts.wustl.edu/GiftForm.aspx?brd=Olin.

To learn more about the campaign, please contact Susan Evans in Alumni and Development at susan.evans@wustl.edu or the Olin Business School Co-Chairs, Lauren Ortwein ’13 ortwein@wustl.edu or Amanda Signorelli ’13 asignorelli@wustl.edu.

Guest blog post from BSBA senior class gift co-chairs,
Lauren Ortwein and Amanda Signorelli.




Life in a relationship at Olin Business School is an added level of complexity and thankfully we are given opportunities to connect the student life with the home life. Recently, Olin hosted a spring formal where wives, husbands, fiancées, and significant others were able to let their hair down and socialize in grand fashion. I say in grand fashion because the location of our party was at a historic site, home to many grand slams.

We rented out Busch Stadium and threw a dinner dance in The Champions Club. Being in the same room with all 11 Cardinals World Series trophies was a treat but it was a real honor to be able to stand next to the 2011 World Series trophy and pose with your best business school friends/family for a professional photographer.

Only one other team in the world has at least this many major league baseball championship trophies and few business schools have close enough ties with the ball club to host a formal event in their home.

Olin Business School has an intimate relationship with St. Louis businesses, many of which are global and world class, and the student’s family has those perks, too! My wife and I are excited to meet Olin’s class of 2015 and their respective significant others. Please feel free to reach out with any questions about Olin family life. OlinJointVentures@gmail.com