$2.2 million gift to help the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative achieve its vision

Raleigh, N.C. – July 28, 2008 - “Our vision for the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) is to create a clearinghouse for industry, faculty and student interaction,” said Robert Handfield, SCRC director. A $2.2 million gift made recently by the Caterpillar Foundation and James E. Owens, Caterpillar chairman and chief executive officer, will help the SCRC achieve that vision.

Established in 2000, the SCRC - one of the centers and initiatives in the College of Management at North Carolina State University - works with companies to prepare graduate and undergraduate students for careers in supply chain management.

“We have done a lot to make sure companies are integrated into the curriculum, providing an ongoing forum for discussion and knowledge exchange and research between the students and the companies,” Handfield said. Caterpillar has been part of SCRC's activities since 2004. Ed Rapp, group president at Caterpillar, spoke with Handfield at July 25, 2008, meeting at NC State College of Management following the gift announcement.

The cooperative was created by the college’s operations and supply chain professors to fill a need they saw for closer engagement with industry. “Industry members desire to develop their capabilities by learning and implementing new techniques, but are challenged by difficulties finding information and qualified employees,” Handfield said. “NC State students seek to combine classroom knowledge with real world experience in order to be more marketable and connected.”

SCRC responds to that need by working with about 15 companies each year, bringing them into the classroom for discussions of current issues. The students also work in teams with companies to solve real world problems, presenting the results of their work at the SCRC’s biannual meetings. Since 2000, nearly 470 students have worked on over 150 projects with SCRC’s national and international partners.

This highly integrated approach provides students valuable practical experience and leads to research that helps companies strengthen their supply chain management processes while contributing to the pool of knowledge for the industry. The SCRC’s website has become an information portal through which this information is disseminated. In addition to the student-company projects, the college’s faculty present executive education programs to help company employees gain knowledge and skills in targeted areas.

“We may be one of only a handful of schools that offer this level of integration with industry,” Handfield said. “This new support from Caterpillar and Jim Owens will help us grow our program further, enabling us to recruit additional faculty and attract quality students,” he said. “I think all of the companies associated with the cooperative will benefit.”