1 Preparing the Transportation and Logistics Professionals of the Future
Leslie Gardner Learning Objectives:
1. How are Indiana and other states introducing secondary students to concepts and careers in supply chain management, transportation, and logistics?
2. In what academic subject areas are instructional modules available to introduce students to supply chain management, transportation, and logistics?
3. What is being done to enable teachers to introduce secondary students to concepts and careers in supply chain management, transportation, and logistics?
According to the 2008-2018 Projections of the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment in transportation and warehousing is projected to rise by 10 percent, and the warehousing and storage sector is forecast to increase by 12 percent (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). However, the global nature of the transportation industry and the
adoption of new technologies to support time-specific delivery and electronic tracking of cargo required to support worldwide supply chains has created jobs for supply chain, transportation, and logistics professionals in third-party logistics companies and technology. Supply Chain Quarterly reports a 30-percent increase in these job opportunities for 2011 over 2010 (Cooke, 2011). Employers in transportation and logistics need are interested in developing a pipeline of younger workers from high schools, community colleges and universities to supply their workforce (United States Department of Labor, 2010). Secondary education in supply chains, transportation and logistics is important not only to create the pipeline of workers entering the
2 workforce directly from high school but also for starting the pipeline of students majoring in these disciplines at the community college and university levels.
At the national level, most of the effort toward developing secondary education curricula in supply chain management, transportation, and logistics focuses on preparing students in high school career and technical education programs for entrance into community colleges. The States’ Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI), under the auspices of the National Career Technical Education Foundation (NCTEF), includes aspects of supply chain management under three clusters: (1) manufacturing, (2) marketing, and (3) transportation, distribution and logistics (States' Career Clusters Initiative, 2011). In 2009, the US Department of Transportation joined with the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education to develop a variety of instructional modules for grades 6-12 that include several aspects of supply chain management including:
Logistics Planning & Management Services, Transportation Operations,
Transportation Systems/Infrastructure Planning, Management and Regulation, and Warehousing and Distribution Center Operations (Beauman, 2009).
State education partners in this project include the Nebraska Department of Education, the Virginia Department of Education, the New York State Education Department, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Oklahoma Dept. of Career and Technology Education, and the College of Technology, University of Houston. However, most Career and Technical Education curricula for high schools focus more on transportation and transportation systems rather than supply chain management. An example is the Transportation
3 Systems Curriculum for High Schools developed by the University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA) (Elam, Fonseca, Brumback, & Lindly, 2011).
Indiana is taking a more comprehensive approach to supply chain education (Gardner, 2011). The Indiana Department of Education in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development appointed a work group consisting of three secondary teachers from two high schools, four postsecondary faculty representing two community college systems and one comprehensive university, and six employer and business representatives to design a program of study in supply chain management for high school career centers. The work group's objectives were to
develop a program of study that includes Indiana’s core academic courses and specialized courses in supply chain management and supporting disciplines,
develop course descriptions, course content topics, standards, objectives, assessment measures, recommended end-of-program assessments, and a sample syllabus for each new course in the program of study,
identify community college courses aligned with the secondary courses and develop statewide dual-credit agreements for these courses.
The work group chose business degrees rather than technical degrees as the target for the secondary program of study. Jobs in supply chain management and logistics in Indiana are very diverse, but many of the manufacturing and logistics management, planning, scheduling, and purchasing jobs have similar degree requirements. The specialized degrees tend to be in packaging and technology, but the jobs are also fewer.
The work group decided that students should meet Indiana's standard college preparatory course requirements. In addition, they selected accounting, computer applications, and business
4 law as foundation courses to be taken at the ninth- or tenth-grade levels. Introductory supply chain and computer applications courses from Indiana's two community college systems would be taken for dual credit at the eleventh- or twelfth-grade level. The work group included courses with equivalents in both of Indiana's community college systems to make it possible for students with dual credit to go to either institution with the possibility of transferring to a four year university upon graduation from the community college.
Indiana has piloted professional development workshops in supply chain management for high school and middle school math, science, business, and economics teachers, and guidance counselors to these professionals to support the program of study by enabling participants to recruit students for the program and to connect the material in their own classes to supply chain management (Gardner, Supply Chain Teacher Workshop – Final Report, 2009). The workshops incorporated a mix of slideshows, hands-on activities, field trips, and guest speakers to introduce participants to real supply chains. These workshops were held at the University of Indianapolis and funded by the US Department of Education.
Middle school is not too young to introduce students to careers in supply chain
management, transportation, and logistics. Indiana piloted Young Executive Camp, a summer enrichment program for middle school students in at McKenzie Career Center in 2007 and 2008. Each of the camp's five days featured a stage in the supply chain. Monday was manufacturing day. The students simulated a Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing system, using poker chips and dice. They also designed a snack made of graham crackers, bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, which would be "manufactured" later in the week. Tuesday, packaging day, featured campers making foam-lined, corrugated boxes for eggs and dropping them to test the box's ability to protect an egg. Package design is a mathematically rich experience, as it involves
5 geometry and the use of fractions. Wednesday was distribution day. The students visited a distribution center in 2007 and an air freight hub in 2008. These field trips were the highlights the camps. Thursday, retail day, involved a computer simulation of a business enterprise. Finally, on Friday, the campers manufactured the snacks designed on Monday and were judged by
classmates and adults from local businesses, who also brought prizes. The students participated in quiz games as part of the competition. Young executive camp was funded by a grant from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. It proved to be a rewarding experience for students, teachers, and businesspeople alike (Gardner, Gausman, & Silvers, 2009).
Efforts are being made in a number of states to start the supply chain of tomorrow’s professionals in supply chain management, transportation, and logistics. Middle school is not too young to start but the effort needs to be sustained throughout secondary education and needs to be infused into traditional disciplines such as mathematics. Real world experiences are essential. Industry, education and government collaborative efforts are necessary to motivate young people to prepare for careers in supply chain management, transportation, and logistics.
6 References
Beaman, F. (2011). Fully Tested Problem Based Scenarios. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from Transportation Careers: A Resource for Teachers:
http://www.transportationcareers.org/?page_id=55
Beauman, F. (2009). About Careers in Transportation Curriculum Project. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from Transportation Careers: http://www.transportationcareers.org/?page_id=2 Conexus Indiana. (2012). Curriculum Ideas & Sharing. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from Dream
It Do It Indiana.com: http://www.dreamitdoitindiana.com/educators/curriculum-ideas.aspx
Cooke, J. A. (2011, Quarter 2). Help Wanted: Must Be Multi-Talented. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from Supply Chain Quarterly:
http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/departments/scq201102dialogue/
Elam, M. E., Fonseca, D. J., Brumback, T., & Lindly, J. K. (2011, February 2). Transportation Systems Curriculum for High Schools. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from University Transportation Center for Alabama:
http://utca.eng.ua.edu/projects/final_reports/06101fnl.pdf
Gardner, L. L. (2012). Supply Chain Management and Logistics. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from Perkins Collaborative Resource Network: cte.ed.gov/file/RPOS-IndianaOct2009.ppt Gardner, L. L. (2011). Designing a Statewide Program of Study in Supply Chain Management
for Secondary Schools and Career Centers in Indiana: A Case Study. Operations Management Education Review , 5, 1-48.
7 Gardner, L. L. (2009, August 15). Supply Chain Teacher Workshop – Final Report. Retrieved
February 5, 2012, from Perkins Collaborative Resource Network: http://cte.ed.gov/file/SupplyChainTeacherWorkshopReport.pdf
Gardner, L. L., Gausman, L., & Silvers, K. (2009). Recruiting the Supply Chain Professionals of the Future: A Supply Chain Summer Camp for Middle School Students. Decision
Sciences Journal of Innovative Education , 7 (1), 221-232.
North Carolina State College of Engineering. (2012). Welcome to the Mindset Project for Mathematics Instruction. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from Mindset:
http://www.mindsetproject.org/
Penn State Smeal College of Business. (2010). State College Area High School Uses Smeal as Key Resource in Creating Class. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from The Smeal Report: http://report.smeal.psu.edu/archives.php?section=feature&id=59
States' Career Clusters Initiative. (2011, February 2011). Career Clusters. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from Career Clusters: http://www.careerclusters.org/
United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010, December 3).
Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition . Retrieved February 4, 2012, from United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm#industry
United States Department of Labor. (2010, March 8). High Growth Industry Profile. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from United States Department of Labor:
8 Dr. Leslie Gardner is a Professor of Operations Management and Mathematics at the University of Indianapolis with a joint appointment in the Department of Mathematic and in the School of Business. She holds a B.A. degree with double majors in physics and mathematics and a minor in chemistry from DePauw University, an M.S. degree in mathematics from Indiana State University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue University. She can be contacted at lgardner@uindy.edu.
