Lazaridis Students Shine at the World Class Supply Chain Summit

May 31, 2024

On May 1, 2024, supply chain leaders from industry and academia gathered at the Granite Ridge Golf Course in Milton for the 2024 World Class Supply Chain Summit (WCSCS). Hosted in partnership between the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, the Milton Chamber of Commerce and CN, the annual event featured a keynote presentation from Wendy Tate, professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Lazaridis Professor and WCSCS Academic Co-Chair Michael Haughton said the event was purposely designed to bring together researchers and professionals to learn and spark conversations on supply chain issues. 

“There are so many conferences where academics speak to themselves or where practitioners speak to themselves. We needed to have a conference where both of those communities can interact and share ideas because we each have something to teach the other,” Haughton said.

The World Class Supply Chain Summit also provides students with an opportunity to learn about career opportunities in the field. Since students will be the leaders of tomorrow, Haughton said it is critical for them to have a voice in the conversation and the event itself.

“In the beginning, students had a very passive role in the summit. As we moved on, we realized the younger voices need to be heard, to be part of the conversation,” Haughton said.

Amorette Rubio and Aldo DeBiase are third-year students in the Lazaridis Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program, co-presidents of the Laurier Supply Chain Association, and served as the student co-chairs for the summit. DeBiase said the Student Forum is a fantastic opportunity for students to share their perspectives on the industry based on what they learn in the classroom.

“I view the summit as an intergenerational conversation. It brings together academics, industry, and students to engage in a meaningful discussion around our work,” DeBiase said.

DeBiase plans on pursuing a career in supply chain management after graduation, but that was not always part of his university plans. Like many people over the last four years, his first exposure to the global supply chain was during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he had never thought about how supply chains worked, let alone a career in the field, until his first year on campus.

“I started learning more about the issues affecting the global supply chain, and that’s when I learned that Laurier has a dedicated centre for supply chain management. That really sparked my interest,” DeBiase said.

Being the student co-chair for this year’s summit gave DeBiase a new perspective on the event. His favourite moment was seeing the hard work and dedication of the Student Forum participants in action.

“They've been working on this since November, and I saw how happy and excited they were to present and get feedback. My goal as a student leader is to provide value for my fellow students,” DeBiase said.

Keith Reardon, WCSCS Industry Co-Chair and Senior Vice President of Interline and Network Development at CN, said the calibre of the student presenters and co-chairs has continually inspired him. Reardon was on the summit's founding team and will retire from his role at CN this summer. He said seeing the students inspires people like him who have worked in the supply chain industry for most of their careers. 

“They are so mature and professional. The skills that they have are robust and refined,” Reardon said.

Haughton and DeBiase both credited Reardon for pushing to give students more opportunities to participate in the summit. Reardon said when students see their colleagues speaking or organizing at an event, it inspires more participation.

“Amorette and Aldo ran the show. That’s great for their own self-worth, but it's also good for all of their fellow students to see somebody like them up there doing that. That's really what we were trying to accomplish from the very beginning,” Reardon said.

This year’s summit theme was Thriving in Volatile Times, with presentations focused on exploring the opportunities and challenges in building, operating, and leveraging the supply chain of today and tomorrow. The theme was suggested in a post-event survey by attendees at last year’s summit.

“Some people say, ‘We have always been in volatile times.’ But I think particularly now, things are very volatile,” Haughton said. “We're not only talking about supply chain volatility, but the world itself. Things that don't seem to have much direct linkages to supply chain should matter to supply chain professionals.”

The global supply chain is still recovering and adapting after four years of disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Haughton says the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland will continue to affect it.

“It’s critical to know how those things disrupt supply chains. We wanted to take a view that says yes, there's a monster under the bed. But we can’t cover our heads and forget about it. We need to confront these issues,” said Haughton.

Reardon added that while many of these challenges are outside our control, supply chain leaders have the right skill sets and experience to find solutions.

“At the end of the day, we are problem solvers. We never give up. We always try to find a solution by working with our partners and customers,” Reardon said.