However, Cho was looking to round out her education and thought Humber's program sounded interesting. She viewed the supply chain as a career choice, which is what educators would like to see happen more often.

      So far, Cho has established a name for herself in the workplace. The Canadian Association of Supply Chain and Logistics Management (SCL) recently selected her composition on vendor managed inventory as the winner of its national essay contest.

  "Reading about supply chain management, you knew it was an untapped market," said Cho in a telephone interview from her office at Bell Canada, where she manages supply chain operations. "They [employers] were looking for people in the industry and there was a lot of potential for growth."

      David Chen, a classmate who now works for Tyco Electronics in production planning, enrolled in the Humber program because he was looking for a career change. Like most of his classmates, Chen was snapped up by a company before the course was even completed.

      When developing Humber's offering four years ago, that's what program coordinator Susan Krausz had in mind. "The course was very good preparation," says Chen. "I think Susan was bang on with what industry needed and the curriculum really reflected that."

  And why wouldn't it? Krausz's 16 years in the product supply organization of Proctor & Gamble gave her a wealth of functional supply chain experience. As one of only two full time teachers, Krausz is looking to pass some of this experience on to her students.

      "Most of the students already have a university degree, we're just giving them the skill set within logistics," says Krausz. "By the time they leave, they'll understand demand management, purchasing, customer service, transportation, warehousing and information technology. They'll also have a base in marketing, sales and finance."

      The post-diploma program, now in its fourth year, has been building a formidable reputation for putting out quality supply chain professionals. This year, Humber took aim at students graduating from high school by introducing an undergraduate program in the area of logistics. The three-year offering draws significantly from the post-diploma's curriculum, but focuses more on the development of students' analytical and communication skills.

      "They're getting the same logistics skills as students in the supply chain program," says Krausz. "But when you get someone out of high school, they haven't developed the same kind of interpersonal skills, so we spend more time on that."

      In the first year students are exposed, on an introductory level, to some functional supply chain areas, including warehousing, transportation, purchasing and operations planning. By their sophomore year, students are involved with forecasting/demand management, distribution and inventory management. As with the post-diploma program, students in the second year dabble with enterprise planning software through the training lab, which was generously donated by SAP Students aren't SAP/R3 certified upon graduation; Krausz uses the software as a teaching aid.

Fast Hire

      Attracting students to the programs continues to be the biggest challenge for Krausz. Currently, the program in logistics has only 10 students, while supply chain management fairs only slightly better with 18. Humber has launched a number of initiatives, such as advertising in newspapers that are aimed at prospective students.

      "It's hard to find students, as they don't understand the logistics profession or that there's a real career in it," says Krausz. "Once we get the students, we've no problem putting them out - there's lots of jobs for them. The problem's on the way in."

      It's a reality that educators around the country still face at the undergraduate level. For example, George Brown and Sheridan College in Toronto have closed their logistics programs.

      Tom Grossman, coordinator for the University of Calgary's transportation and logistics specialization program, says the various buzz words used to describe the supply chain industry do little to impress young people.

      Transportation and logistics aren't sexy names," he says.

     "Students think about logistics and their eyes glaze over. There's something in their prior life experience that says to them 'logistics is low status and boring', where the reality is different."

      Grossman recently unveiled the universities unnamed supply chain concentration to students as part of the Bachelor of Commerce degree. "The intention is to combine the Van Home Institute [for International Transportation and Regulatory Affairs], which does research and industrial relations, with the teaching program," he says.

      Deciding an attractive moniker for the program will be the first challenge, but attracting undergraduate students could prove to be the more difficult test. "MBA-level business students are

"They're getting

                        the same logistics

                                                skills as students in the supply chain program."

sold on the supply chain before they walk in the door," says Grossman. "It's the undergraduates who need to be sold on supply chain's importance, and one of our big challenges is to make this important topic non-boring."

      Canada's university and college institutions are waiting for industry to up its profile, a movement that's moving forward, although slowly. In recent years, there's been a steady growth in the number of students opting for the undergraduate TLOG specialization, according to Garland Chow, associate professor of logistics and transportation at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.

      "Word travels fast, and I'm sure this is true in all institutions. As soon as the undergraduates hear that the jobs are there, more will enter the program," he says, adding that UBC is thinking of expanding its introduction to logistics and operations management class from four sections to five.

      For more than 40 years, UBC has offered undergraduate specialization in transportation through the faculty of Commerce and Business Administration. Chow says the courses UBC offers today have evolved to focus more on the supply chain. The university is also offering a five-year degree, extended through a one-year internship where students take positions in industry to gain practical experience.

      "It's been very successful," says Chow. "We're sending people out to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. In some cases, students don't finish the program because they go work for the company and graduate without the co-op."

      Other Canadian educational institutions are also heeding the call for more skilled people. In the near future, Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, will begin offering supply chain management. It has been working with the SCL to determine the types of courses to be offered, although much of this depends on repackaging courses already being taught. As well, the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, ON, is rolling out a program in logistics management. The logistics MBA, which isn't focused on the military, is now in its second year and gaining steam.

Taking supply chain education a notch higher

No one knows the importance of supply chain education better than the professionals practicing it in the field. This was evident at the recent packed-house turnout for SCL's education forum. The organization has long been involved in education through its short‑course executive development program.

      When most of today's logisticians entered the industry, they had to work their way up to high-level supply chain positions. Often guiding them on their path was a sturdy foundation of institution-based training.

      Since the 1950s, the Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation (C.I.T.T.) has offered logistics education. For some time, this was the only industry-recognized certification.

      The program has changed over the years, but the association's identity as an educator has remained (see Last Word page 86). Other programs, like the Canadian Professional Logistics Institute's (CPLI) P.Log designation, are proving popular. Churning out its first P.Logs in 1995, the CPLI has seen that number grow to more than 800.

      The Logistics Gateway, a new Internet platform, contains information on CPLI's new certification program. It will be rolled out in December and provide access to online education modules.

      According to CPLI president Victor Deyglio, it will also allow candidates to meet colleagues and facilitators online to exchange ideas, conduct business and contribute to institute governance. "We've reinvented ourselves and gone live into the world of online electronic community building," he says.

      Like the P.Log, the Materials Handling & Management Society (MHMS)—Toronto Chapter's training program isn't legally recognized. But Marc Spagnuolo, MHMS past-president and manager of logistics and transportation at Spalding Canada, and Dan McGarry, MHMS' education coordinator, are spearheading a move to make it so.

      Despite having to meet a number of specifications, the two are passionate about the need for materials handling certification.

      "When you look at automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems, carousels, narrow - aisle forklifts and different racking systems - everything's changing," says Spagnuolo, listing innovations that have added to an increasingly complex warehouse.

      McGarry agrees that it's not the way it was in the old days. "It's not your work boots and torn jeans anymore, but working on computers with technology. If we can show the proper way to do that and get them working in industry, it'll really help productivity."

Materials Management & Distribution