Grads that Need a Profession Should Look at Supply Chains

For those lucky enough to be starting college in the Fall I have two words - supply and chain. I was recently speaking with some of the folks within the government and they are searching high and low for graduate students with supply chain expertise to help secure the US borders, particularly the US coastal shipping ports .

The movie "The Sum of All Fears" with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman is a perfect example of what can go wrong. A bomb enters the us via the Port of Baltimore. By the time its too late Affleck discovers the bomb has entered the country by consulting with several FBI supply chain experts who track down the invoices and cargo data. These are the types of experts the FBI and the US Customs & Border Patrol department so desperately need today. Students that understand shipping and receiving and the technology that can be used to make it more predictable and accurate are in strong demand today and it's only going to get stronger.

Several universities such as Penn State, Arizona State, Michigan State, Stanford and M.I.T. have very extensive supply chain curriculums that can prepare students. And if you aren't interested in the public sector, corporations as well are rapidly building supply chain divisions to leverage their massive supply chains to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. But students need to take the first step.