Sioned Murphy
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Sioned Murphy Welsh SCLM 20/21 |
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"WMG has encouraged us to aim high and will continue to inspire life-long learning!." |
Why did you choose MSc Supply Chain and Logistics Management?
After studying a broad range of business disciplines through BSc Business Management at Cardiff University, I decided I wanted to broaden my understanding of supply chain operations and logistics. I became fascinated with the supply chain challenges reported during COVID-19, including raw material shortages, disruptions to inventory flows, limited transport capacity and panic-buying!
It was apparent that perpetual disruption and uncertainty were having knock-on implications for businesses, and there was a real need for graduates to develop their commercial understanding of this within a supply chain context.
The MSc provided an exciting and purposeful opportunity to gain knowledge of industry-leading practices and to understand how different business units, and organisations, plan and collaborate to create seamless inventory flows to co-create and deliver value for the end consumer. Warwick Manufacturing Group stood out for me as a place to study, with its unique offer of an industry applied education.
Can you tell us about your experience on SCLM?
The blended online learning approach was invaluable for connecting with like-minded students, from across the globe, from a range of cultures, educational and vocational backgrounds. This fostered a collaborative learning environment between staff and students which really enhanced the quality of lectures and group discussions. While we all began the course with varying levels of work experience and qualifications, everyone shared a mutual objective to enhance their professional and personal development together. Team projects also provided an opportunity to network and form friendships. Never did I imagine that I would meet course mates from such a breadth of countries including Russia, India, Germany, Kazakhstan to Mexico who have become like a ‘supply chain family’ to me.
This aspect played an important role in progressing my base-level understanding of supply chains at the start of the course, to an in-depth understanding of supply chain management; so much so, that I chose to do my research project on supply chain management and strategy looking at end-to-end supply chain synchronization. For me, the course was not just about gaining a holistic understanding of supply chain and logistics management but taking the opportunity to explore your own research interests, meet learning outcomes and incorporate them into module assessments.
What did you enjoy most about the course?
The course structure differs from that of traditional university courses and meaningfully reflects real-working life, with a unique blend of intensive lecture weeks, simulations, team presentations, module assignments and an individual research project. The course was certainly demanding and required good time management. Overcoming the challenges of this, coupled with working across different time zones and commitments to extra-curricular activities, was in itself a rewarding experience. The study process helped me to develop my organisation and time management skills around both myself and others. In addition, being accountable for our own time, outside of intensive lecture weeks, provided further scope to develop independent thought, feed this back during module discussions and critically reflect on our learnings from in-module assessments.
The structure, learning philosophy and teaching content on the SCLM course enables students to bridge the gap between theory and practice, in readiness for the real-working world.
How has this course prepared you for your career?
The modules cater to both students with extensive work experience and recent graduates setting you up to be open-minded to different critical perspectives and keep pace with industry developments. The course helped me to develop my business and technical skills. These included leading team projects, using simulation software, interpreting financial information, analysing data to consider business objectives, calculating trade-offs, understanding procurement practices, and critically comparing forecasting and warehousing techniques.
Speaking with my project supervisor, and conducting initial research, inspired me to reach out to leading supply chain practitioners to enrich my learning. This confirmed my desire to work in the FMCG industry, in which I am pleased to have accepted a role as a Supply Chain Manager with the largest global consumer goods company. I truly believe the SCLM course at WMG equipped me with the skills needed, including all-important soft and technical skills, to successfully embark on my supply chain career in this next exciting chapter. I am sure my course mates would agree that beyond the course, WMG has encouraged us to aim high and will continue to inspire life-long learning!