Supply chain software company Blue Yonder has partnered with Monash Business School’s Department of Marketing to deliver practical supply chain management skills for aspiring retail managers. The partnership will see 150 students provided with practical job-ready skills through its a program.
The core element of the partnership is the ‘Space Planning Education Program,’ which provides students in the Business School’s Retail Management stream with hands-on work experience and additional pathways into the workforce.
Students are given the opportunity to apply real-world skills in a simulated retail environment. They are also tested on their ability to design planograms that maximise the sale of products, and their initiative in making positive business decisions, such as the replacement of low-performance product lines.
The program was designed in collaboration with Department of Marketing Retail Management Principles Unit Coordinator Karen Lurati and Blue Yonder Director of Customer Success in Australia Matt Furlong.
Mr Furlong says the partnership provides students with an opportunity to learn realistic and job-ready skills on a market leading solution.
“Students now have the advantage of working with this technology to gain the experience and skills required in a category management position, thereby improving their chances of potentially obtaining a job,” he says.
With the explosive growth of e-commerce in recent years, innovative technologies have been a key factor enabling retailers to keep up with the ever-changing demands of customers and remain competitive. The program reflects this rapid change, by giving students access to the cutting-edge solutions retailers are using in the market right now and equipping them with future-ready skill sets.
The program also gives students the ability to build industry connections with the Blue Yonder team and advance their future job prospects. Three top-performing students from the program, Miller Anderson, Amy Khuu and Amelia McGrath, were awarded the opportunity to undertake a two-day intensive course of accredited training in Blue Yonder solutions to further develop their skills and expand their career opportunities.
This is the first partnership between Blue Yonder and a university in the Asia Pacific region.”