Wayne State, AIAG Partner to Offer Vehicle Supply Chain Certificate

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Wayne State University in Detroit, in cooperation with the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), will offer a Vehicle Industry Certificate in Supply Chain Management. Course work is set to begin in February. 

“This program is targeted at high-potential staff who may or may not have had formal SCM (supply chain management) training in school,” says John Taylor, director of supply chain programs at Wayne State’s School of Business Administration, and one of the creators of the partnership. “It covers many of the big issues they face in their current jobs, and that they will face as they continue to advance in their careers.”

During 24 weekly sessions, participants will learn about SCM strategy, SCM finance, forecasting, negotiations, procurement strategy, supplier development, risk management, production operations, quality management processes and Six Sigma, trade management, logistics, and transportation management. Courses are taught by academic faculty and industry professionals at the AIAG headquarters in Southfield.

The yearlong program includes a three-month summer break in which students will work on a company-related project. “We try to ask the student and company to work out an appropriate project in those cases where the student is employed in the field,” Taylor says.

Examples of potential projects include the evaluation of inbound and outbound transportation costs and recommendations for savings; the development of a crisis response plan for various contingencies; and mapping several tiers of the supply chain for the company using a new AIAG tool based on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program.

If a student does not work for a company, or is not in a related SCM position, he or she can work on a paper that is more literature review oriented, Taylor says. “An example might be how a company could go about cutting logistics costs by 15 percent without harming service levels too much,” he says.

For more information about the program, click here.