Ilitch School supply chain team excels at the 'biathlon of case competitions'
A group of four global supply chain management students from Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business was named division champion and placed among four finalists at the 2019 Weber State University supply chain skills competition in Ogden, Utah.
This year’s team included students Marianna Samano, Danielle Metevier, Blake Groves and Jad Hamdan, along with Assistant Professor Hugo DeCampos, who served as coach.
Billed as the “biathlon of case competitions,” the Weber State completion allowed students to showcase their general supply chain knowledge, as well as the ability to think critically and present persuasively, in a game of supply chain knowledge-based Jeopardy (25 percent of total score) and a 24-hour case competition (75 percent of total score).
The case focused on Henkel, a laundry detergent manufacturer and supplier to Costco, Walmart, Target and Kroger. Students also toured Henkel’s Salt Lake City facility, where Costco’s Kirkland brand of liquid and powder detergents are manufactured and distributed.
“It was great to challenge ourselves,” Hamdan said, “and wonderful to network with others from the around the U.S. and Europe.”
The competition featured 12 schools, including Ohio State, West Virginia, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Wyoming and Brigham Young University.
The WSU team’s performance follows a recent first place finish by a different group of Ilitch School supply chain students at the 38th annual Operation Stimulus Case Competition in Denver.
