In April of this year, DPD Polska announced a competition for students of logistics universities and faculties. This project was organized as part of the company’s sustainable development policy. We will soon know the winners.
Due to the specific nature of the TSL industry, there is a strong obligation to treat the immediate environment responsibly, both in terms of minimizing the harmful impact of logistics operations on the natural environment and caring for the local community. Cooperation with universities is an opportunity for DPD Polska to share knowledge with young people, and for students, it is a chance to perform concrete, realistic, and very business-oriented tasks. These experiences will certainly pay off in their future careers.
– Such a manifestation of sustainable development, in which a company takes on the role of a guide to the logistics business, is, in our opinion, particularly valuable for young logisticians. We offer them a substantial portion of practical knowledge and expert guidance from professionals. All of this should be useful to them in a few years, in their independent professional endeavors – says Rafał Nawłoka, CEO of DPD Polska. – By supporting the education of logistics students, we increase interest in the industry among the best. Perhaps they are the ones who will co-create innovations and change the market in a few years.
Six universities signed up for the competition – the International University of Logistics and Transport in Wrocław, the Cracow University of Technology, the Lodz University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), and the College of Logistics in Poznań. At the end of March, the universities registered their teams. The participants received the task description and the regulations. They have until June 30, 2014, to complete the exercise. Attractive financial prizes await the teams that best solve the case. The home university of the winning team will additionally receive a grant of 5,000 PLN. The work has been ongoing for almost two months. The teams have identified the first challenges and developed an action model that is intended to lead to the completion of the project on time.
The goal of the competition is to develop a transport network optimization model for DPD Polska, enabling the delivery of shipments in the “next business day” standard. Students were given a case study to analyze, developed based on real data provided by DPD Polska. The analytical horizon regarding possible paths for the development of the DPD network was set by the organizers for the next 5 years.
The exercise consists of comparing practice with theory. Students work on real data. In this way, they enter deep into the business and learn its realities. Mariusz Kozłowski, the creator of the task and manager of transport network development and maintenance at DPD Polska, explains that the scope of the project covers the next few years, which are likely to be very volatile in the courier market. The volatility is caused by the activity of competitors, industry innovation, changes in the legal environment, but above all by the development of e-commerce and the growing share of this sales channel in trade. If the analysis is to be credible, the solution should take into account the factors that will influence the development of DPD Polska in the future.
– We must be prepared for these changes in order to consciously create standards and ensure the highest quality of services for our customers – emphasizes Mariusz Kozłowski.
For the academic supervisors of the young logisticians, the DPD Polska project is a model example of business-science cooperation. Developing an optimal logistics network configuration using real data is a realistic, multi-level problem that young people may encounter in their future professional work. The exercise requires an approach consistent with project management principles, in which knowledge from various areas must be combined in a strictly defined sequence and schedule.
The participants unanimously note that the abundance of data and its correct analysis is the biggest challenge for them in the project. They also point to the volatility factor associated with technical progress, which may limit the innovation criterion of the solution in a short time. Students appreciate that DPD Polska has made information available that the average student does not have access to. Thanks to this, they get to know the courier industry. They are the ones who decide where the warehouses will be built and what the entire distribution network will look like. Every decision must be thought out and justified by meticulous calculations. The decision-making problems that young people face give a foretaste of the future pressure they will be subjected to in their professional work in a few years.
The young logisticians have created several innovative ideas regarding, among other things, the use of new transport systems that will meet the requirements of the “logistics of the future.” The models take into account, among other things, the planned development of transport infrastructure in the country.
Emotions are rising, and there is a spirit of healthy, scientific competition among the teams. The deadline for submitting solutions is June 30, 2014. After two weeks, we will know the team that designed the logistics network best. The ceremonial awards gala will take place after the start of the academic year.