On Tuesday 6th June, 2023, fourth year students undertaking the B.Sc. Supply Chain & Operations Management at Strathmore University visited the East African Breweries as a part of their industry based learning.
The factory visit was organized with the aim of exploring a link between theoretical and practical aspects of supply chain management as a way of enriching the students’ learning experience. This anchored two units, Operations management in practice taught by Mary Aming’a and Supply Chain Auditing and Risk Management taught by Dr. David Mathuva. The students were accompanied on the factory tour by Dr. Mathuva, Prof. Jonathan Annan, Mary Aming’a and Clinton Wanjohi.
The students had a chance to have a real industry classroom with a team of three EABL staff with supply chain, production and engineering experience. At the industry classroom, the students were taken through excellence in supply chain and supply chain sustainability. More specifically, the students were taken through the pillars of excellence in supply chain and the manufacturing management system.
It was mind boggling for students to notice a number of practices and concepts engraved in the B.Sc. Supply Chain and Operations Management curriculum being practiced at the company. For instance, practices such as autonomous maintenance, the Japanese 5S methodology, equipment capability, total productive maintenance and supply chain sustainability etc. The sustainability commitment of the company was a strong take home message for the students as future change ambassadors within the supply chain line.
From the industry classroom, the students were taken through the production line for both the spirits and beer. Here, the students got a chance to learn about the beer supply chain with emphasis on the brewing process (malting, kilning, mailing, wort boiling, hops drying, fermentation, maturation etc.). The beer transformation process was an eye opener to the students to learn as it firmed up their knowledge around the production input-output model.
About the BSc. Supply Chain and Operations Management Programme is designed to integrate supply chain, logistics, operations and digitization. Special emphasis is placed on Production, Logistics, Big Data, BlockChain, Automation and Artificial Intelligence, and how they will impact supply chain and operations management in the near and far future. The July 2023 intake is ongoing! Learn more here.
By Mary Aming’a
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