ISYE 6340 Global Supply Chain Seminar, Spring 2025

Description

The Global Supply Chain Seminar is a core component of Georgia Tech’s MS in Supply Chain Engineering degree program. The course includes site visits where we travel as a group to see first-hand the operations of supply chain facilities of many types. The course also includes presentations on modern supply chain topics by guest speakers, both on-campus and via virtual seminars. Students are immersed in the supply chain domain to observe supply chain practice first-hand.

Readings

Class discussion

The GSC Seminar is designed to encourage discussion and questions so that students can form opinions and critique the state-of-practice in the supply chain domain. Students in the course will be graded in part on participation. Please be prepared to contribute to class discussions; for virtual seminars, it is best if you turn your video on so please dress appropriately for guest lectures.

Site visits

It is very important that you arrive on time for all events, but especially for site visits. The bus will depart ruthlessly on schedule. The loading location will be on Ferst Drive across from the ISyE Main Building, just south of the GT Campus Recreation Center:


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You may not travel separately to the site unless you have made prior arrangements with the instructors.

All of the sites we will visit are workplaces and appropriate dress is business casual. Furthermore, many of these are industrial sites and safety is a concern. Do not wear sandals or open-toed shoes, shoes with heels more than one inch high, or hoodies. Do not wear dangling clothing, such as scarves, or dangling jewelry. If you have long hair, put it up above your shoulders. Students not meeting the dress requirements will not be allowed to join the tour.

Bring a photo ID, a notepad, pen, and camera (but take no pictures until we have asked permission). Leave backpacks, purses, coats, etc. on the bus.

Calendar

Sites or visitors may reschedule on short notice so check this schedule frequently, and especially the morning before a site visit. Additional calendar dates will be released as the schedule becomes more firm. Green rows will indicate days when we meet either in the classroom for a lecture, guest speaker, or for an interactive discussion. Blue rows will be for facility tours, and meeting times will be specified. Yellow rows will be either asynchronous sessions or webinars that can be viewed remotely. Red rows will be days with no scheduled activities.

Date Mode Topic Notes
Jan 6 In-person MS SCE Spring 2025 Orientation An orientation for the Spring 2025 MS SCE program will be presented, and student questions will be answered.
Jan 8 In-person Introduction Introduction to course. Student introductions. Slides available on course Canvas.
Jan 13 In-person Supply chain fundamentals Supply chain fundamentals. Slides available on course Canvas.
Jan 15 No class SCL Supply Chain Day Students should attend Supply Chain Day up until 12:30 pm. At 12:30 pm, I will run ISYE 6336 in the classroom so ISYE 6340 will be cancelled.
Jan 20 No class Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday We will not hold class today. For those who may not know, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta in the Auburn Avenue area just east of downtown and he did much of his important work based here. The US maintains a National Historic Park in the area, and it is worth a visit before you leave Atlanta.
Jan 22 No class Georgia Tech Modified Operations day, so we will cancel a class meeting to save time for future tours and events.
Jan 27 In-person Food supply chains Food supply chains are fundamental to society. How are they organized?
Jan 29 Facility Tour: Americold Brick-and-mortar retail We will meet at bus location by 8:50 am to visit a cold-storage distribution facility operated by Americold for palletized freight. Americold serves both food producers and retailers as customers, with this automated facility focused on producers. Return to campus by 12:30 pm.
Feb 3 Discussion Food supply chains Class discussion on roles and designs of distribution facilities in food supply chains.
Feb 5 Guest speaker Supply chain software Guest speaker Adam Kline will deliver an in-person seminnar on supply chain software offered by Manhattan Associates.
Feb 10 No class No class meeting to save time for future tours and events.
Feb 12 Facility Tour: Geek+ Warehouse automation This tour has been postponed to March 3.
Feb 17 Lecture E-commerce retail We will introduce e-commerce retail supply chains. Using Amazon as an example, we will focus on fulfillment and delivery of e-commerce orders.
Feb 19 Virtual Tour: Amazon FC E-commerce retail We will together join a virtual tour of Amazon fulfillment centers (FC). The modern FC enables the rapid pick-pack-ship of orders and is the heart of an e-commerce fulfillment network.
Feb 24 Facility Tour: Luxxotica Warehouse operations We will visit a distribution center for Luxxotica, a company producing and retailing eyewear. The bus will depart early at 7:45 am and we will return to campus at 1:15 pm.
Feb 26 No class No class meeting to save time for future tours and events.
Mar 3 Facility Tour: Geek+ Warehouse automation We will tour the Geek+ innovation center and learn about the newest advances in warehouse robotics and automation. Bus will depart at 11:30 am and return to campus by 3:30 pm.
Mar 5 Lecture Truck transportation in US We will introduce trucking transportation in the US, with a focus on the key differences between truckload, LTL, and package transportation.
Mar 10 Facility Tour: Delta Technical Operations (TOP) Maintenance supply chains We will visit the Delta Airlines Technical Operations Center at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. This is a primary aircraft maintenance facility for Delta.
Mar 27; 12 pm Guest speaker Supply chain software Guest speaker Ishai Menache will deliver a special seminar on GenAI and Optimization and how it is used within Microsoft's cloud supply chain. Please note the special date and time and please register here.
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