Hands-on experience in the working world is well known as a great benefit to students. In 2010, Michigan State University Assistant Professor of
Supply Chain Management, Tobias Schoenherr, decided to take that concept a step further and make the work of those students a benefit to the community. His supply chain students partnered with nonprofit groups across the state to conduct studies on how the organizations could streamline their supply chains.
After just two years, Schoenherr’s students have identified half a million dollars in savings for those nonprofit organizations, including $160,000 in savings for Lansing’s own
Peckham. Schoenherr suspected nonprofits would especially benefit from his students’ expertise.
“Nonprofits need profit maximization, but they also address needs in the community,” he says. “So they might not have the time or resources to put into finding these savings. They have more important thing to do day-to-day, taking care of disadvantaged groups in the community.”
Schoenherr plans to continue the program and keep growing the list of nonprofits that could potentially benefit from supply chain expertise from students. He has found in just two years that the students themselves would like to grow the program as well, even suggesting it become a requirement for all supply chain students.
“Students have shared that they enjoyed making a difference in the community,” says Schoenherr. “Another benefit is that students are getting exposed to a sector of the economy they might not otherwise. This is something the project intended to do – to motivate them to continue to be involved in the nonprofit sector.”
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