After winning a regional qualifier earlier this year, a group of Arizona State University students and local supply chain professionals are headed to Southern California this month as one of three final teams competing in the Global Challenge – an international supply chain competition that brings students and industry professionals together to discuss ideas and develop winning supply chain strategies for an increasingly global business market.
The Global Challenge finals take place June 17 in Long Beach, California and consist of the competition’s three remaining teams: Arizona (USA), Columbia (South America) and Benelux (Europe).
The five-person Arizona team is made up of individuals from Intel, Naumann Hobbs and graduate and undergraduate supply chain students from Arizona State University (ASU). The Arizona team earned placement in the finals based on high scores at the Global Challenge regional qualifier, hosted at ASU on January 15 by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). That portion of the challenge included more than 50 local participants.
“Placing as one of the world’s top three teams in this competition speaks volumes about the expertise that exists in our Arizona companies, our supply chain professionals and our ASU students,” said Sean Arleth, Secretary for the Arizona Roundtable – CSCMP and Director of Business Development for Point B. “As global business becomes more complex, organizations across all industries must do just what this team has done, which is to continue to mature on their journey toward supply chain excellence,”
Designed to bridge professional generational gaps, the Global Challenge uses a web-based supply chain simulation game called The Fresh Connection that requires teams to make strategic and tactical decisions to save a virtual manufacturer from financial ruin. During the game, which was created by Netherlands-based Inchainge, the teams must serve in functions including sales, purchasing, operations and supply chain.
“Over the past five months, the Arizona team has collaborated across their functional roles to break down silos, turn around a failing organization and turn a profit. Their key to success was the ability to build a common vision, strategy and set of goals prior to making decisions across the supply chain that would impact customers, service levels, inventory, sourcing and more.”
In Long Beach, the three remaining Global Challenge teams will compete face-to-face in the final round of the competition.
Each member of the winning team will receive an all-expense paid trip to CSCMP’s Annual Conference 2016 in Orlando, Florida, where they will be recognized for their achievement.
For more information on the CSCMP Global Challenge, visit https://cscmp.org/media-center/press-releases/cscmp-launches-global-challenge-bridge-generational-gaps-within-supply.
About CSCMP
The Mission of CSCMP is to lead the evolving Supply Chain Management profession by developing, advancing, and disseminating Supply Chain knowledge and research. The association helps supply chain managers connect and collaborate, and become more effective professionals. It also creates awareness of the significance of supply chain to business and to the economy.
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