I spent the last couple of days at North Carolina State University to work on a joint research project with my good friend Robert Handfield. I was very impressed by NC State’s Supply Chain Resource Cooperative, an “industry–university partnership dedicated to the development of future supply chain professionals”. Robert and two of his colleagues have published an article to describe how this cooperative works: NC State’s Supply Chain Resource Cooperative educates in the real world (published in Interfaces in 2011). Essentially, it integrates “field-based student course projects with real problems that companies are facing”. The projects are identified by the company, but NCSU narrows the scope and assigns the projects to students. The SCRC’s organizational structure enables projects to be jointly led by SCRC directors and supply chain managers that financially support the SCRC. I believe that this cooperative might become a role model for other industry–university partnerships, as it perfectly combines supply chain theory and practice.
Handfield, R., Edwards, S., & Stonebraker, J. (2011). NC State’s Supply Chain Resource Cooperative Educates in the Real World Interfaces, 41 (6), 548-563 DOI: 10.1287/inte.1110.0584