Synthesis Post

Justin Braford, Adam Seeton, Jordan Thimm

            The blog project was very resourceful, and helped our group learn a lot more about the supply chain management field. We came into this blog uneducated about the field but picked up a lot of valuable information throughout the blog. Through reading various articles from professionals within the field, and then elaborating it helped us to learn more about our field and see a different side of it. There were some topics that kept showing up and stood out to us during the blog project. We realized the increasing importance of getting into the business college, networking, and the supply chain industry in general. With all the information we found, and all the knowledge we gained, we still barely know a fraction of everything that goes into supply chain and logistics, so we will just give you the shorter version.

            Michigan State University has the #1 supply chain management program in the nation. Students travel all across the country to try and get a coveted spot in this major. To get involved, Michigan State opens the opportunity for students to join the Supply Chain Management Club. It is open to all students, no matter their major. Here they will talk to Supply Chain Managers and talk about real life Supply Chain situations. For students who are interested in this major, the first thing they must do is get into the extremely competitive business college. Three specific classes must be completed and are heavily taken into account during the application process.

Core GPA:	WRA101	CSE101	MTH103 or Higher
Pre-Core GPA:	Three listed above +	All other classes for	The overall GPA

Both pre-core and core GPA’s carry heavy significance in the administrative decision. Once within the business college, you are typically able to choose your major. However, for supply chain management, you must apply again to this specific major, due to its competitiveness. One can apply to the supply chain program once they have completed a specific set of classes, and a total of 56 completed credits.

            Networking is one of the most advantageous one can do to succeed in the field of supply chain. Supply chain is the sequence of processes involved in the production and distribution of goods. The more connections you have within this process, the more business you will be able to bring in, and be able to move product more efficiently. Networking is also important in getting a job in the supply chain field. Therefore, taking internships, and building relationships with professors and classmates is vital. These people could eventually help land you a job one day. Building a good reputation is significant because it will attract more partners and people will come back to do business with you. Also, a good reputation with reliable and strong references is critical in getting hired right out of college.    What are some ways you can build reputation or network properly??

            The supply chain field is constantly changing, largely due to technological advancements and higher skilled labor. Companies can stay in touch very easily, and are able to track where certain goods are. Just a decade ago, this was unimaginable to business leaders. Not only is technology progressing, but the skill level of the worker is as well. We talk about this topic in one of our blog posts called How Tech is Reshaping Logistics. The supply chain management education is setting college students up to become successful career-wise more and more every year. The more professionals learn about supply chain, the more they can teach students. Internships are giving college students real life work experience, and helping them learn the job before they have even officially started. Technology advancements are increasing the overall speed and efficiency of the supply chain process, and this combined with the sheer demand for the field is resulting in many students pursuing a career in supply chain management.

            The supply chain field is becoming more important with people ordering goods online and getting them shipped at much higher rates now more than ever. The world population is steadily increasing, which will only give professionals more business. A blog focused on how important it really is can be found here at Importance of Supply Chain. It is crucial to get educated and goal-oriented individuals working in the supply chain field. The job can be stressful because of its increasing significance and the seemingly never ending process of shipping and receiving goods. This fact is one reason why supply chain is so important to the world today, but also why it can be very stressful.