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The unprecedented boom in regional cross-border trade and consumption strengthens Singapore’s relevance as a highly secure and efficient logistics and supply chain management hub. Singapore is a prime location for major logistics firms with the top 25 global players overseeing their operations here. Hence, having a modern supply chain helps to improve the standard of living by enabling consumers to buy essential products at a lower cost. However, many are concerned or have a stereotype towards operations being a dying breed, so how does one get started with supply chain management and overcome challenges faced along the way? To address these queries, the Business Career Development Committee (BizCare) invited Research Director (Industry Research) at the National University of Singapore, Professor Mark Goh, and aspiring Y4 and Y3 Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management students, Derrick Liew and Ivan Lim respectively for the OCSM Specialisation Networking Sharing Session on 2 March 2023.
With more than 10 years of experience in the education and corporate industry, Professor Goh has been providing guidance for students that seek advice to pursue their interests in operations through a series of specially curated curriculums. Professor Goh highlighted the importance of knowing what one is interested in to avoid a miserable and mundane work life in the future. One major takeaway mentioned by him is to establish and design a competitive strategy in order to stay efficient and relevant in this industry.
Derrick Liew is currently a Y4 student specializing in both Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management while pursuing a career as a Real Estate Agent. Prior to his current internship at SAE, a software company, he was a former intern at 2 startup companies handling the authentication and shipping process across different countries. Meanwhile, Ivan Lim stumbled across this specialisation while studying at Temasek Polytechnic which sparked his interest and eventually embarked on a career related to it. He used to serve as a Procurement Coordinator Intern at Noble Energy before progressing to Johnson & Johnson where he experienced different roles such as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Currently, he has a position at Unilever as a Spare Analysis intern under the Marketing Department.
Both reached a common consensus that the supply chain management industry is constantly evolving and companies will face a range of obstacles that must be overcome to succeed. One of the main issues that is commonly faced amongst many in this industry is the repetitiveness of manual tasks. Hence in order to stand out, one must be equipped with the relevant expertise such as leveraging on different tech tools to streamline the processes. One thing students can take away from this sharing session would be that there is no limit to how much you can grow as a person and how much you can contribute and valuable skills cannot be replaced easily. Hence one should always seize the opportunity to learn and try different internships in order to gain experience and knowledge.
Post-Panel Opinions from the Audience
“The talk was very insightful where each speaker shared their experiences and provided useful advice in getting ahead of their peers in such a competitive and booming industry. With the rise in technology, it is especially useful for me to be equipped with the relevant skills such as excel to streamline processes and increase efficiency. One takeaway I had from this sharing is to seize every internship opportunity as every company is different. Furthermore, time is money and hence this sharing has helped me to carefully evaluate which specialisation I would like to venture into and find an industry I would like to pursue in the future."
~ Jasmine To, Y1 BBA