The Workshop ‘An Analysis of Material and Information Flow in The Supply Chain. Mapping The Processes within The Supply Chain’ as A Part of ‘European Supply Chain Day’ Celebration

The Department of Business Logistics, University of Economics in Katowice, Poland

On 16th April 2015 the Department of Business Logistics from the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland in cooperation with Valeo Skawina and BeLean companies has organized a workshop titled ‘An Analysis of Material and Information Flow in The Supply Chain. Mapping The Processes within The Supply Chain’. The workshop was held to celebrate the ‘European Supply Chain Day’.

The workshop started at 09.30 a.m. in the classroom number 213, building F. Its main aim was to pass on the practical knowledge about mapping the supply chain processes to the students. The participants, i.e. students and workers of the University of Economics as well as the trainers, were welcomed by Professor Sławomir Smyczek Ph.D., Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Marketing. In his short speech he emphasized the importance of gaining the practical knowledge about logistics and the possibilities provided by such events. He also thanked the whole staff of the Department of Business Logistics for undertaking such valuable initiative. Next speaker was Piotr Hanus Ph.D. from the Department of Business Logistics, who officially opened the workshop and introduced the trainers for the participants. He also emphasized his department is the only institution in Poland which joined the celebration of European Supply Chain Day.

After the welcome speeches the workshop started. It was conducted by:

·      Anna Ossowska, Msc. Econ., the Director of Valeo’s Supply Chain and the trainer-consultant on Supply Chain Management and Lean Manufacturing,

·         Ireneusz Plaza, Msc. Econ., trainer-consultant on Supply Chain Management and Lean Manufacturing.

The first stage of the workshop was an introduction of the participants into the issues related to material flow analysis and the areas in which it can be conducted. Then the participants became acquainted with the case study presented by the trainers. At the next stage the participants learned about mapping technique – the tool which was planned to be used during the workshop. Then they started to visualize the material flow in the company described in the case study. The participants have the opportunity to discuss with each other and to ask the trainers for support. At the next stage the participants were formulating conclusions  related to the analyzed flow and, as a result, developing the plan of supply chain activities optimization. At the end of the workshop the groups of the participants had the opportunity to compare their optimization plans and to assess their process maps as they exchanged the results of their work. The participants generally concluded, that, despite of using different colors to mark the processes, thanks to the usage of the universal tool which is the mapping technique, they were able to correctly interpret the course of the supply chain process described in the case study.

The workshop was held in the nice and very creative atmosphere. The obvious evidence of the great interest of the participants on the workshop is  the fact that at the end of the workshop they have been asking about its next edition and that the organizers and trainers have received many thanks and words of recognition  from the participants.

The workshop ended at 01.00 p.m. and all its attendants the certificates of participation.

Zur Veranstaltung: WORKSHOPS: Analysis of the flow of materials and information in the Supply Chain. Mapping of the Supply Chain process.