Supply Chain Frontiers issue #6. Read all articles in this issue.
How MLOG 2004 Graduates are Already Making an Impact
By Becky Schneck Allen
"I manage a supply chain network from start to finish," explains MLOG 2004 graduate Rose Mei. "It's a leadership role I would not have been prepared to take on without the MLOG program."
Less than a year after graduating from the Master of Engineering in Logistics Program at MIT, Mei is the Operations Director at Warner Brothers Home Video China in Shanghai. She is in charge of designing the company's entire supply chain network in China across the retail, wholesale, and Internet channels. "Everyday I need to make complicated decisions accurately and efficiently," says Mei. "The modeling and business decision support skills I learned in MLOG make that possible. I know where to find and how to analyze the critical information."
The goal of the MLOG program is to arm each of its graduates with that exact skill set, says MLOG Director Chris Caplice. "The combination of analytical expertise and change management leadership is critical for any supply chain professional today. Realizing the solution is only half the battle, you must be able to implement the change."
MLOG prepares its graduates for this challenge by handpicking 30-35 top business professionals from around the world and putting them through an intensive nine-month professional degree program. In less than a year, MLOG students take specialized classes taught by leading logistics and supply chain professionals in areas such as logistics systems, supply chain design, inventory planning and transportation management. And outside the classroom, students are given the opportunity to work closely with corporate members of the Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) on research projects and travel to the center's newest global logistics center in Spain.
The program generates top professionals such as Mei, but she is not the only recent MLOG graduate to find high-level success after earning an MLOG degree. Fellow MLOG 2004 alumnus Jared Schreiber is currently the Senior Supply Chain Consultant in Teradata's Manufacturing Global Industry Consulting organization. "I am responsible for all supply chain and RFID related solutions sold to manufacturers worldwide," Schreiber says. "This includes the creation and delivery of new software products, service offerings and joint-partner solutions to the world's largest manufacturers."
Before MLOG, Schreiber managed logistics planning, optimization and decision-support functions at Intel Corporation. While he describes his experience at Intel as exciting, Schreiber felt the job lacked opportunities to truly be entrepreneurial. "That was a key reason I decided to attend MLOG - to build upon my logistics expertise while developing new skills related to entrepreneurship," says Schreiber. "Now in my new role at Teradata, I am able to leverage all of the logistics work I did at Intel and MIT as I create new products, services and partnerships to grow revenue rather than to simply reduce supply chain costs."
Mei and Schreiber are less the exception and more the rule when it comes to MLOG graduates. When hired, they joined the ranks of the almost 150 MLOG alumni who have graduated over the past 6 years of the program and now work around the world as supply chain and logistics professionals in a variety of industries to include consulting, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and software. The positions they hold range from Supply Chain Analyst to Business Development Manager to Six Sigma Black Belt to CEO.
The class of 2004 specifically has been placed in a wide variety of industries. Besides Teradata and Warner Entertainment, some other companies that welcomed MLOG 2004 graduates onboard include McKinsey & Company, Dell, Celestica, Colgate-Palmolive, Deloitte & Touche, Johnson & Johnson, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Pepsi Bottling Group, Staples and WR Grace.
With graduation only 7 months behind them, MLOG alumni are already leading the charge in supply chain innovation in both the private and the public sectors. Deena Disraelly is a Research Staff Member for the Strategy Forces and Resources Division within the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, DC. Another MLOG 2004 graduate, Disraelly is responsible for program, equipment, and policy analysis for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, focusing on Chemical and Biological Defense.
Disraelly says her MLOG education allows her to have a broader perspective on the job. While she describes all of the military personnel she works with as extremely knowledgeable, many have limited industry knowledge. "My MLOG education introduced me to a huge number of different industries and organizational models, which is information that the military has not yet learned to utilize," Disraelly explains. " I often find myself looking back to industry organizations to see how they are tackling problems that we've been asked to look at in the military...and without the MLOG program, I don't think I would have had that background."
The Master of Engineering in Logistics Program was initiated in 1998 by MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics. For more information about the program, go here or email mlog@mit.edu.