Master on Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Progress Report

Public Part

Master on Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Project information
Project acronym: Project title: Project number: Sub-programme or KA: Project website:

LSCM Master on Logistics and Supply Chain Management 134522-LLP-1-2007-1-ES-ERASMUS-ECDSP Erasmus CD www.master-lscm.eu
From To

Reporting period:

1/10/2007 30/9/2008 1.0 September 2008 Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona Juan Jos Ramos Gonzlez Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona +34 93 581 3038 Juanjose.Ramos@uab.es

Report version: Date of preparation:

Beneficiary organisation:

Project coordinator: Project coordinator organisation: Project coordinator telephone number: Project coordinator email address:

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Executive Summary
This document is elaborated as a progress report for its evaluation and it summarizes the current state of the Erasmus Curriculum Development project Master in Logistics and Supply Chain Management after one year of work. The project aims at the design, development and implementation of a Master joint programme in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, by addressing the main principles, priorities and objectives for supporting the European Higher Education Area according to the Bologna Declaration. The new curriculum is intended to define a suitable academic answer to an identified need of well-educated professionals in a crucial sector for European economy, with the responsibility to enhance the employability of the graduated students: specific and transversal learning outcomes, competences and skills, should be defined for their better acceptance in the LSCM labour market. Four main beneficiary groups can be identified: Students at master level: bachelor awarded students of economics and engineering, forwarding in their training at the tertiary level at universities and professionals requiring new skills and continued training and lifelong training. Higher Education institutions (consortium partner and others): the participating institution since the project will contribute to enhance the pooling of expertise of the collaborating groups, in teaching but also in research. A consortium enlargement is considered after the master implementation starts. European Higher Education: this project aims to support the main objectives and priorities for higher education in Europe. Labour market: by giving response to a need in present economy of welleducated professionals in the logistics and supply chain able to fit the expected competencies from a graduated at the master level. LSCM industry performance will be favoured with new professionals educated in an international environment, with a transnational view of the discipline, and according to current needs of the market

The consortium carrying out this project is composed by six European Universities: The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB-Spain), the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg (MAD-Germany), the University of Genoa (UDG-Italy), the Riga Technical University (RTU-Latvia), the University of Linkping (LIU-Sweden) and the Montan University of Leoben (MUL-Austria). All partners are university departments and all have a long lasting tradition in teaching and researching in the subject areas and topics of the proposed master programme. Education situation of the participating universities in relation to the proposed Master is as follows: UAB: Bachelor degree (Aeronautics Management), a Master degree (Industrial Computing and Automation) and a Master Joint degree on Aeronautics Management, all of them adapted to the Bologna process; MAD: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen Logistik (Diploma degree course on Industrial Engineering in Logistics ) UDG: Management Engineering (Bch and Msc) and Mathematical Modelling & Simulation (doctorate);

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RTU: Information Technology, with a specialization in Industrial Logistics Management (Msc); LIU: Industrial Engineering and Management; Manufacturing Management (Msc) and Production Economics (Doctorate); MUL: masters in Logistics and Supply Chain (e.g. Logistics Service and Transport Management, Logistics in Process Industries, Logistics Strategy and Supply Chain Management, Logistics System Design and Factory Planning).

The cooperation and communication between partner institutions are based on different mechanisms: Consortium public Website for on-line documentation and information dissemination. E-mail and web-based collaborative tools for communication, coordination and information sharing. Consortium Steering Committee meetings: celebration sites rotating between the partners with the discussion of joint designs, which later will be developed by the local working groups, as the main objective.

The working language is English and the working groups at each institution, coordinated by the local coordinator, implement the joint design decisions. The cooperation with professional bodies has been identified as a must in the definition of a curriculum able to give answer to the market needs. Actions and activities in cooperation with the professional sector aim at defining a Full-duplex communication channel between LSCM industry and the master programme: the active participation of the professional sector at the programme development and delivery will enhance the curriculum adequacy and, hence, the student employability in the sector. Most of the efforts during this first year have been focused on the information collection to define a joint master programme between six European institutions, from six different countries. This, essentially, means six different legislative frameworks with implications on both academic and administrative issues. Main constraints have been found in relation to the availability, or unavailability, to award joint master diplomas. The consortium is working on the accreditation of a joint programme where it is allowed and double degree diplomas have been defined as a solution in those cases where national legislation does not allow joint degrees. Hence, a master student will obtain a joint or a double diploma, depending on the institution where he or she starts and ends his or her instruction. Regarding the future implementation of the master, three major results have been achieved to date: Elaboration of the curriculum proposal: programme structure, module contents and mobility actions (student and teaching staff), specializations, etc. Identification of the accreditation procedures. The new master needs to have the national accreditation at each participating country. Different procedures and time schedules have been identified.

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Elaboration of the consortium agreement proposal in order to setup all the mechanisms for the master implementation (e.g. Academic cooperation, financial aspects and administrative procedures).

All the information produced during project progress is made available at: http://saturn.uab.es/pub/bscw.cgi/79625. The project website (www.master-lscm.eu) is aimed at the dissemination and awareness rising of the new master programme.

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Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. PROJECT OBJECTIVES.................................................................................... 7 PROJECT APPROACH ...................................................................................... 9 PROJECT OUTCOMES & RESULTS............................................................... 11 PARTNERSHIPS .............................................................................................. 12 PLANS FOR THE FUTURE .............................................................................. 14 CONTRIBUTION TO EU POLICIES ................................................................. 15

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1.

Project Objectives

This project is intended to define a suitable academic answer to an identified need of well-educated professionals in a crucial sector for European economy. The project aims at the development of a Master joint programme in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM), with the responsibility to enhance the employability of the graduated students by defining specific and transversal learning outcomes for their better acceptance in the LSCM labour market (this has been one of the main driving forces for the Bologna Process). The concrete objectives regarding the programme definition and curriculum development are: Give response to a need in present economy of well-educated professionals in the logistics and supply chain field by identifying the common ground topics and fundamental subjects required to fit the expected competencies. The joint programme goals and learning outcomes are being defined by the partners in cooperation with the professional sector. Definition of an innovative programme, paying special attention to information technologies, able to give the proper answer to the new challenges in a sector which is crucial for company efficiency and competitiveness and, therefore, for European competitiveness. The new professionals educated at this programme will be able to take decisions in a transnational environment considering operational, tactical and strategic issues from an integrated perspective instead of a compartmentalized perspective. Foster the use of ICT, as a learning subject itself, but also as an approach to support the learning process. Logistics has never been a classical field of elearning education because of the nature, complexity and interdisciplinary of the subject area. To overcome this, the project will promote the definition of a learning environment that supports learners and teachers in their new roles through easyaccessing technology, attractive design and adaptability according to individual needs. Definition of the internal and external monitoring and advising procedures for quality assurance of the curriculum and programme design. Although English will be the teaching language, much attention will be given to the learning of local languages by including courses in the curriculum. Easy access to local language courses can be provided by the hosting Universities. The concrete objectives regarding the envisaged European dimension of the programme are: Intensification of the student and teachers mobility to support some of the key challenges for the development of the EHEA: Enhancing mobility work forces across Europe; attracting good students from the whole world; improving the situation of the EU as far as methodological and technological innovation capabilities; favouring European LSCM industrys performances in todays globalized economy. Enhance the attractiveness of the joint master programme outside Europe by searching synergies with Erasmus Mundus. Define and operate successfully with one set of entry criteria, application forms and admission procedures.
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Work for a joint diploma award, according to local regulations and procedures. Identify and implement the quality assessment mechanisms according to the European standards and guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA.

The programme is aimed to offer high quality on Logistics and Supply Chain Management issues to the primary target groups: bachelor awarded students of economics and engineering, forwarding in their training at the tertiary level at universities; professionals requiring new skills and continued training and lifelong training. Furthermore, three main groups are expected to be medium/long term beneficiaries: LSCM industry performance will be favoured with new professionals educated in an international environment, with a transnational view of the discipline, and according to current needs of the market; the EHEA, since this project aims to support the main objectives and priorities for higher education in Europe; the participating institution since the project will contribute to enhance the pooling of expertise of the collaborating groups.

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2.

Project Approach

The quality of the programme like the one defined in this project needs to be assured from different points of view: on teaching aspects, it is necessary to adequate the curriculum topics with respect to the discipline in Europe, as well as ensure the effectiveness and appropriateness of the teaching methodologies; regarding to mobility, there is a need to maintain reciprocity within the consortium for students mobility, teaching staff exchange and in the number of co-supervised MA-theses. Basic principles of European standards and guidelines for quality assurance of higher education have been adopted to ensure programmes quality. On the other hand, an effective management is needed during the programme execution, specially focused on financial management and results and information dissemination and exploitation. With this purpose, an active role of each partner is needed to cover these aspects efficiently. It is accepted that these criteria are better accomplished by taking several measures involving partners and independent agents: the introduction of independent consultants, referring to teachers, researchers and professionals within the discipline from institutions outside the Consortium, whose participation has been contemplated both in work plans and in the budget; the use of the National Quality Assessment Agencies and of the procedures of the participating institutions for the assurance of the quality and standards; the constitution of the Master Monitoring Board, integrated by one representative of each institution. In addition to internal and external committees, students of the various partner institutions will be also included at different stages in the analysis and evaluation of the outputs to be achieved. The LSCM Steering Committee, composed by the coordinator of each partner institution, is the responsible for the project work quality assessment conforming to the procedures, reports and minutes elaborated for monitoring the work progress, covering the following aspects: Financial Management Progress monitoring, meetings organization and reports elaboration. Joint design decisions regarding the following major issues: o Detailed task description and assignment o Design of course programme o Admission/selection criteria o Programme Quality Assurance procedures o Masters Business plan o Exploitation and Dissemination The coordination of these activities is based on the periodic meetings of the steering committee; the web based collaborative tool and continuous e-mail communication. In order to ensure the proper mechanisms to raise awareness of the new programme, a Marketing Plan is being elaborated. The means to disseminate the results produced during the project progress and to raise awareness of the new master programme are mainly based on the website (www.master-lscm.eu) and the promotional materials.
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Actions contemplated in the marketing plan involve two main activities: publicising of the Master degree and dissemination of the achieved results. The former is aimed to address the new master awareness rising in two directions: students, who should identify the new master as an opportunity for a quality assured European learning programme in a field with a recognized need of new professionals; professionals, identifying in the new programme a continuing education opportunity to update their knowledge and experience according to the new business practices in Supply Chain Management. The latter is aimed to disseminate the achieved results (programme relevance, quality assurance plan, etc) to the main professional bodies and stakeholders within the field of Logistics.

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3.

Project Outcomes & Results

The main innovative result of the project is a new joint programme with European dimension for a globalized discipline, focused on both theoretical and practical aspects, as mentioned in the objectives. With this purpose, all courses combine theoretical education with a significant training in the practical aspects of the developed matters. Moreover, courses have been designed integrating the ITC, engineering and business points of view. E-learning tools will be introduced to facilitate the autonomous learning by providing easy-access theory and practise materials, collaborative e-work, case studies. The use of these technologies and tools is included in the projects objectives. The Master programme, with a clear professional orientation, it is been designed following a two-year structure: First year is focused on setting up a common background for student coming from different degrees and countries and will cover the core domain courses of the discipline, intensifying the fundamentals in problem solving, decision making, organizing, designing, etc. Student mobility will be compulsory during this first year. Second year includes specialized courses, elaboration of the master thesis and practicum. So far, the following specialization courses have been identified at this stage: Transport Logistics & SCM; Manufacturing Logistics & SCM; ICT applied to logistics management; Modelling and Simulation applied to Supply Chain Management. During this year, students mobility will be promoted. In both years, students and teachers mobility will be encouraged, as stated in the project objectives, being compulsory for students during the first year. During the reported period, the requirements and admission procedures of students have been defined. The basic access requirement for a Master programme in all countries is a first degree at Bachelor level, normally in combination with more specific requirements defined by the department offering the Master programme. The specific requirements are currently being elaborated in detail by taking into account the particularities of the participating countries. In order to facilitate the information flow, a web-based collaborative tool has been designed and implemented to share documents and agenda within the consortium. Generated documents are available according to the planned agenda in tools public area (http://saturn.uab.es/pub/bscw.cgi/79625). Aiming for sharing and spreading public information relevant to both the project progress and to the programme, a Masters website has been defined and is currently being designed and implemented (www.master-lscm.eu).

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4.

Partnerships

The European dimension of this collaborative effort becomes of major relevance since LSCM is essentially the organization and realization of an inter-organizational and, frequently, trans-national flow (of goods, services, and related information). The economic and social context (business processes, industry, channels, transport infrastructures, etc) varies for each country. The consortium -research groups but also their relationships with the economics agents- permits to identify and analyze this diversity from their Regional/National point of view in order to setup a European perspective. The partners of the consortium have the experience of previous collaborations both on education and research project: all the partners have a long lasting tradition in cooperating in research, education (teacher and student mobility) and in dissemination of knowledge (e.g. co-organizing conferences). The partner institutions have been selected in respect to already existing cooperation and because the existing complementarity in teaching and research. All partners have been involved in Socrates/Erasmus projects at their institutions and all have experience in the organisation, coordination and management of conferences and workshops. In addition, members of all institutions are involved, or in narrow relation, with regional trade chambers, logistics national/European associations and port/airport authorities. The opportunity for the definition of the proposed European Master is framed at these collaborations. The initiative emerges in this context to elaborate a programme able to fulfil market needs for professional competence in the intersection of business, operation management and new technologies, which is the consortium pool of expertise. Projects programme is being designed from the teaching experience, knowledge and expertise of researchers and qualified professionals belonging to six different European countries. It may be expected that the combination of different academic, social and economical cultures will produce a new joint programme, which is greater than the sum of their parts, in order to educate new professionals whose labour market is transnational. The programme provides new learning opportunities to both European and non European students by accessing into an international programme with the attractiveness and major benefits of studying in other learning environments. Mobility is an essential component of the proposed joint programme, so special attention and efforts will be given to boost the mobility of students, teachers and researchers. Student mobility will be compulsory for the students enrolled at the first year and it will be promoted during Masters second year. Visiting teachers one to each partner institution per year will teach a specialized course at a partner institution. The European dimension of the programme is an appealing factor to attract students from outside Europe, so the project intends synergies with Erasmus Mundus to increase institutional cooperation with the wider world. The participating groups have cooperated in the following education and research projects: The groups at Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg and Riga Technical University have collaborated in the EC
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Leonardo da Vinci programme procedure B project LOGIS MOBILE LV/04/B/F/PP-172.001 (2004-2006) Competence Framework for Mobile On-site Accelerated Vocational Training in Logistics Information Systems. This project was aimed at development of new training and consulting methods, which would reduce the time of learning and amount of study material required. A second objective was to use currently prevalent mobile communication technologies, in order to diminish costs of the learning process and move it from the classes to any other place acceptable for an employee. The groups at University of Genoa, Riga Technical University and the Division Economic Information Systems (Department of Computer and Information Science) at the University of Linkping have collaborated in the EC Vocational Training Action Programme LEONARDO DA VINCI procedure B project LOGIS LV-PP-138.003 (2000-2002) "Long-Distance Tutorial in Logistics Information Systems based on Web Technologies". This project was aimed at development of general background for specialists of transport and logistics enterprises. Give additional knowledge about designing of information processing systems to specialists in logistics as well as present information about solving of logistics problems to ITCE specialists. The groups at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Riga Technical University and University of Genoa are leading simulation centres integrated at the McLeod Institute of Simulation Sciences (MISS) network. The mission of MISS is to foster the professionalism in modelling and simulation, the advancement of the art and science of M&S, the usage of M&S in all domains of applicability, the education and the dissemination of M&S-related knowledge (www.simulationscience.org). In teaching exchange, the University of Magdeburg is one of the main partners of Montanuniversitt Leoben (MUL). Prof. Gaby Neumann is holding the lecture "Material Flow Management" each summer within the master programme "Logistics Management" at MUL Chair of Industrial Logistics. There are also a number of contributions to the Magdeburger Logistics Days from the lecturers from MUL. There is a regular student exchange between both universities. Dr. Zsifkovits from MUL has cooperated in the development of the European Educational Standard for Logistician (Competence Model of the European Logistics Association). The groups at Universitat Autonma de Barcelona, Riga Technical University, University of Genoa and the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg have collaborated during last years in the organization of various international conferences and workshops in Modelling & Simulation and Harbour & Maritime Logistics.

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5.

Plans for the Future

Mobility is an essential component of the proposed joint degree programme, so special attention and efforts are to be given to boost the mobility of students, teachers and researchers. As mentioned, students mobility will be compulsory after the first year and promoted during Masters second year, while visiting teachers will teach a specialized course at a partner institution. In order to achieve this scenario, special attention is to be given to the definition of mobility programmes according to Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programmes framework. By participating in the project and signing the letter of intent for the programme, all partner institutions have declared their willingness to support the continuation of the Master degree programme after the successful end of the project. Joint degrees constitute a major interest in the future development of higher education within Europe and the Bologna process. Thus, special care is being addressed to fulfil the different requirements and procedures for the programme accreditation according to legal aspects and procedures at each country. According to the defined Marketing Plan, promotional material (e.g. leaflets, brochures) complementary to internet advertising is to be designed and elaborated for attracting new students. In addition to the Marketing Plan actions addressed to new students, proper communication channels with the professional sector are to be emphasized: companies should see in the graduates of new programme an answer to their need of logisticians who have solid business skills as well as strong decisionmaking capabilities and a deep understanding of the latest information technology developments. Moreover, the project is to be presented as a contribution to an international Conference on Education (e.g. SEFI or EAIE). The final result of the project is the definition of a new Master degree with a European dimension. Hence, a business plan is to be defined to assure the implementation and delivery of the Master degree after the project ends. Thus, programmes viability is ensured by focusing on a proper financial structure regarding several aspects: adequacy assurance between the programme needs and the Faculty resources of the participating institutions; funds to support teaching staff and students mobility; private sponsoring to support Practicum activities and to provide with scholarships to improve accessibility for economically disadvantaged students.

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6.

Contribution to EU policies

The envisaged joint programme contributes to further strengthen the important European dimensions of higher education. The project aims at the definition and development of a Joint Master programme able to respond to a social and economical need of well-educated professionals in a sector which is crucial for company efficiency and competitiveness and, therefore, for European competitiveness. The cooperation of six institutions in six member countries will contribute to the realization of a European Higher Education Area. The insistence on cooperation and mobility both for students and for teaching staff in this joint programme meets actual and future challenges to education and training. Moreover, it will attract good students from the whole world, being one of the key challenges for the development of the European Higher Education Area to make possible the integration of the students in a unified labour, favouring European Industrys performances in todays globalized economy. The development of the joint programme is to be done according to the Bologna process, so ECTS is to be used as the tool for recognition. A transparent and unified marks system will be implemented to allow an easy recognition of the students record in other universities of the European space. In addition, an accompaniment to the diploma (Diploma Supplement) will clarify the received formation (to clearly visualize different specializations and intensifications achieved in the programme) and will facilitate the recognition in other universities. These measures guarantee transparency by providing detailed information on the curricula and their relevance towards a joint degree. As a summary, the joint programme is aimed to emphasize and contribute to EU policies focusing on the following aspects: Encourage the rapid implementation of EHEA and Bologna reform. Encourage more effective degree recognition throughout Europe. Use of ECTS and Diploma Supplement. Being able to respond to European professional development needs (training in an international environment on transnational issues). Develop European citizenship and cultural understanding.

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