We were honored to have an Egyptian team participate in the supply chain competition organized for students in the Middle East. This team was made up of students from the International Transport and Logistics College of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (http://www.aast.edu/en/colleges/citl/heliopolis/). Their excellent work earned 2nd place award in the competition.
We asked the team members to send us pictures and tell us something about themselves, what they learned, and what they like about the competition and using our supply chain simulations.
(Starting from left: Naira Mohamed Abdelhamed Abdelmaged; Abd El-Maged Abd El-Qader Abd El-Maged Abd El-Sadek; Mohamed Khairy; Ahmed Sayed Abdemfattah Ahmed; Ahmed Ali Mahmoud Ali)
Interview with the team – The Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport
Q: Please Introduce yourselves.
Mohamed Khairy (Mohamed): I’m from Egypt, and I study Logistics & Supply Chain Management at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport. I’m in my third year. I got the highest degree in my college (Excellent GPA: 3.99) and am 1st in my class. I am also a member of one of the winning teams in the Hult Prize International Competition.
Abd El-Maged Abd El-Qader Abd El-Maged Abd El-Sadek (Abd El-Maged): I am 20 years old, and I study in the college of International Transport and Logistics (Supply Chain Department).
Ahmed Sayed Abdemfattah Ahmed (Ahmed Sayed): I am also a student in the College of International Transport and Logistics (Supply Chain Department). I live in southern Egypt near the city of Aswan.
Q: What did you learn while working on this supply chain challenge?
Mohamed: It was absolutely an incredible experiment. I learned a lot and I had fun. The important thing that I learned from the competition is how to deal with the Daily Operating Cost. We studied in college that if The Daily Operating Cost is high, then we should produce more products to minimize the cost of each unit. But in our case, we did the opposite, we reduced the production in the factory. After doing that, the cost curve flattened out and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Abd El-Maged: In the supply chain competition, I learned how to make the most of the company’s resources to achieve efficiency. We did that by reducing unused spaces at facilities, whether in stores, warehouses, or the factory. Also, we reduced costs for transporting and costs of inventory in an appropriate manner to achieve efficiency and responsiveness together. This the central challenge of every Supply Chain, and we were able to find a good balance.
Q: What do you find interesting about supply chains and logistics and what kind of career would you like to have?
Mohamed: I think that Procurement is more interesting because it has the most operations in the supply chain ( Supplier – Transportation – Warehousing – and Production ).
Abd El-Maged: What I find interesting about supply chains is that transportation and warehousing costs are the most important, and so outsourcing logistics can reduce costs. 70% of shippers say 3PL saves them money while improving their services. Some of the popular 3PL services include:
- Fulfillment
- Storage
- Processing
- Reverse logistics
- Timely Delivery (JIT)
3PLs often find the most cost-effective way to perform these tasks, which can be directly related to savings. For example, 3PL could own a warehouse and hire workers to perform multiple tasks, and only a portion of that cost would be transferred to each company.
As for my desire in the field of supply chains, there are no limits. I hope for the field to spread widely in Egypt, the Arab world, and around the whole world.
Ahmed Sayed: For me, the Procurement process is the most interesting part of a Supply Chain because it is the beginning that supports the rest of the chain. So, I would like to have a procurement management job.
Q: What do you want us to know about you individually? Where do you live and what do you like to do outside of your studies?
Mohamed: I want you to know that I’m going to participate in the APICS Competition, it’s a competition in Supply Chain Management and I think it will be a hard one. I am 20 years old. I was born in Saudi Arabia but I live now in Egypt – Qena city. Outside my studies, it’s my dream to travel abroad. I submitted my papers for scholarships outside my country to study there, but I have not got any response, so I am still trying.
Abd El-Maged: I live in Egypt – Aswan Governorate – Edfu city. I love soccer as it is a fun game and I follow the tactics of coaches and analysts.
Ahmed Sayed: Outside my studies, I love reading and participating in student activities as they improve my soft skills.
Q: Anything you want to add?
Mohamed: Thank you so much for letting us participate in this fun experience. Insha’Allah, it won’t be the last, and we will participate again. But, next time we will win the first place insha’Allah.
Abd El-Maged: I would like to thank SCM Globe for their interest in students studying Supply Chain and in helping them develop their potential and skills.
Ahmed Sayed: I would like to thank the SCM Globe company for sponsoring this competition, and I hope that there will be more of these challenges soon.
THANK YOU
These students demonstrated their teamwork skills and their ability to solve a real Supply Chain problem using modeling and simulation. We are impressed with their performance.
Special thanks to all team members for their answers and feedback. It’s good to see talented young students interested in the Supply Chain field.