Michigan school wins supply chain challenge

A team of undergraduate business students from Michigan won an annual contest to solve a suite of logistics puzzles for an academic prize, Grand Valley State University announced in November.

The group from the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, in Allendale, Mich., won first place in the Bowersox Undergraduate Supply Chain Challenge, hosted every year by Michigan State University's Department of Supply Chain Management.

Now in its eighth year, the contest is a simulation-based approach to business, requiring students to use their knowledge of supply chain logistics and apply it to scenarios under strict time limits. The challenges are designed to replicate business cycles related to certain components of supply chain management, such as manufacturing, procurement, operations, and demand management.

Second and third places went to Central Michigan and Western Michigan University, who beat out entrants from 11 other schools: Wisconsin, Western Michigan, West Virginia, Wayne State, Ohio State, Northeastern, Miami, Grand Valley State, Duquesne, Central Michigan, and Arkansas.