In August and September 2019, 16 students from four colleges inaugurated the first annual Follow the Supply Chain Study Abroad program. The students followed products through the supply chain from Washington state to Vietnam and vice versa. One of the products they followed were Brooks running shoes, designed at their headquarters in Seattle and assembled [...]
In normal days, the supply chain is content to hum along, humbly minding its own business, disregarded by a world wholly reliant on it. But last week a cheery couple walked the aisle of a grocery store, stocking up on this and that, never thinking of the complicated supply chain that brought these goods into [...]
The COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected the air travel industry, and airports including Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) are seeing reductions in the number of passengers flying by 90% or more. This also means fewer airplanes are flying, which has an impact on air cargo logistics and trade. You may not know that air cargo is regularly [...]
In the Director’s Report, we noted that our new Jobs Dashboard we will make it easy to find training to get a good job in the global trade and supply chain sector. One of the great training programs for this sector is the Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Certificate (PSCM) provided by Shoreline Community College [...]
What if we could make it easier for Washingtonians to learn about, find training in, and ultimately gain work in an industry with more than 100,000 family wage jobs? What industry am I talking about? The global trade and supply chain sector which regular readers of The Chain know there are 152,000 global trade and [...]
On November 15 2019, the Center of Excellence, the University of Washington’s Global Business Center and Center for Global Studies will be hosting a workshop on internationalizing business curriculum organized by Michigan State University. This workshop is open to all business faculty across the northwest who are interested in learning more about globalization and community [...]
I had an excellent opportunity to spend a week in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with a group of students from Washington state on a follow the supply chain study abroad program. I learned so much from the meetings and tours we participated in, Did you know that there are at least 230 'touches' required to [...]
If you're lucky, you keep getting older and with each year you meet more people. And, again if you're lucky, a good percentage of those people you meet will be interesting, smart and helpful. We upped our percentage tremendously the last few weeks during the inaugural Follow the Supply Chain Study Abroad program to Wenatchee, [...]
It’s economy is strong, it’s bigger than you think, more diverse than you realize and has become an important cog in the global supply chain. Which country am I describing? Vietnam, and we’ll be there in a few weeks advancing this fall’s Follow the Supply Chain Study Abroad program. Vietnam has the 15th largest population [...]
What if students could have both a theoretical and practical understanding of supply chains? Whatever device you are reading this newsletter on, it didn’t drop into your lap magically from an elf’s shop. It was delivered to you through a long, complicated supply chain. Your tablet, computer or phone’s many parts were manufactured in a [...]
