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“It started years ago, when I was working at Albert Heijn. I saw many trucks come and leave again with plastic waste. How did that work? My interest in logistics was piqued then and there. During the study programme’s Open Day, I knew right away: this is it. I was completely sold.”
“During the Open Day, I was completely sold!”
Enjoying classes
“The programme is about many different logistical aspects. You don’t only focus on logistics and warehousing, but also business economics and law. At first I thought: why do I need knowledge of the law? But that quickly became clear in the chapter about importation rights. What if something happens to a truck across the border; then who’s responsible? It’s about more than trucks and goods. There’s a lot involved. All these aspects greatly appeal to me. You apply the theory in practice, for instance, for a company where you can really make a difference. I also learn a lot from the other students, we provide feedback on each other’s reports and you learn from this. This is something I notice in our project as well, it takes us a bit longer, but what we have is done well.”
Practical major
“We did a half-year project for Oldenburger|Fritom in Veendam for the mandatory major subject. They asked us to conduct research into how they could increase the efficiency and quality in their warehouse. Meaning: how do you ensure you have the right number of pallets and that you don’t cause any damage in the warehouse? We came up with a few practical solutions in the end. We proposed the application of lines, so that pallets could be placed in just the right spot. Additionally, we advised them to place the pallet stickers on the front, so that they didn’t need to remove the whole pallet to check if it is the right one. We hadn’t expected to solve problems like these, but as it turned out, these were exactly the type of points that the company’s employees had raised as well. Our work was instantly validated!”
Getting an internship
“Last year I did my internship at Combi Terminal Twente in Hengelo. That’s where I lived back then, and I was doing the pre-master in Enschede. Every day I used to pass the containers, which I found very interesting so I simply gave them a call to see if they could offer me an internship. They did and my assignment was to find a way to map the emissions caused by their client’s transport. I developed a dashboard that displayed the emissions over a certain period of time, expressed in terms of the client’s product. So, for instance, in terms of litres of beer for a beer manufacturer, or the number of chairs a manufacturer of furniture could also have made with the same amount of emissions. A very fun assignment indeed.”
“Internships are important for your career”
Production, warehouse or transport?
“The internships are an important part of preparing for your career. I would like to spend my final internship in the manufacturing industry. Then I would have covered all aspects of logistics during my studies, which would allow me to make a well-informed choice on which direction to go in next. I would prefer to combine everything we have done so far; a manufacturing company with its own warehouse and transport, but most of the time a company only has two of these three components. I still have 2,5 years to go before making a definitive decision, because I will first continue to get my master’s after I graduate from this programme!”
To find out more about this programme, visit the programme’s website International Logistics Management.