(TVU) – On February 27th, 2023, Tra Vinh University held a discussion on Logistics and E-commerce. The main speaker for the event was Dr. Neil Hart from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Representing Tra Vinh University were Dr. Thạch Thị Dân, Vice President of Tra Vinh University, Dr. Lê Thị Thu Diềm, Director of the Logistics and E-commerce Training Center, as well as representatives from various departments and over 100 students majoring in Logistics and E-commerce.
Dr. Thạch Thị Dân shared that Tra Vinh University is one of the leading public universities in Vietnam in the field of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, offering CO-OP (Cooperative Education Programs) with large enterprises in the industry. This program allows students to work as interns in these companies for one-third of their training time, providing them with practical professional skills and improving their employment opportunities after graduation.
During the discussion, Dr. Neil Hart, an expert with years of experience in the fields of Logistics and E-commerce, shared several issues related to Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He discussed the impact of the Covid pandemic on the global supply chain, which caused disruptions and supply chain breakdowns worldwide. He also touched on the prospects of the Logistics industry in the current period, particularly in Vietnam and the Mekong Delta region.
Dr. Hart further elaborated on inventory management issues such as Just-in-Time (JIT) and Just-in-Case (JIC). He emphasized that the Covid era has prompted reconsideration of the benefits of JIC and the use of global supply chain management strategies for emergencies when the world is facing continuous stagnation for many months.
Dr. Hart also shared that before the pandemic, supply chain management was focused on sourcing raw materials and components at the lowest possible cost, regardless of their origin. Nowadays, supply chain managers and procurement professionals are diversifying their supplier bases. Many of them only relied on one or two suppliers for their supply chain operations, which performed well before 2020. Since then, this approach has been considered risky with a focus on few suppliers. Now, procurement managers are likely to increase the list of alternative and backup suppliers.
The discussion provided an opportunity for professors and students to exchange practical experiences about supply chain issues in the current context.
By Thy Truong
