Netherlands Study Tour 2019
09/05/2019

During our study tour to the Netherlands we spent a day at RDM Rotterdam, which is designated the hub of innovation of the future; I happened to run into an all-electric retrofit food truck which caught my eye. Giving people once in a lifetime experience, not only is the food truck A-star Instagram picture ready, it is Zero-Emission!

After a guided tour of RDM Rotterdam, admiring the views of the harbor where new Dutch merchant ships used to be rolled out to set sail. Let’s call this a Dutch harbor! Long before the term Supply Chain Management entered our lexicon, the Dutch here, built massive steamers which set sail for America shipping and bringing goods.

From a shipyard to the innovation hub of the future, which have successfully produced some good companies, a variety of ideas are being tested on the sight. The one that strikes me the most, is the exchange of ideas among different companies that have set up shop in RDM Rotterdam. The tour made me think hard on how the Dutch have continued to reinvent themselves throughout the years, a very relatively small country. This is what towns and cities across Great America need, to train and retrain our workforces for now and the future, I got an idea.

Port of Rotterdam ECT – where we witnessed live port action of massive container ships being un/loaded, some of the port is automated including unmanned container carrying AGVs. We sat through a presentation that pointed out different areas of the port and its functions. Great experience, true innovation, I guess this is what it takes to be number the one port in Europe!

Picture with the squared!

We were privileged to be hosted by TATA Steel Rotterdam, after which we spent lunch networking with some of their senior staff members. In the end, one of the senior staff members confessed to me that our questions have really made him start thinking about the future of TATA Steel Europe.

A day at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Transito), hanging out/networking with students from their MSc in Urban, Port and Transport Economics after a great lecture on Brexit and the implications on supply chain.
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Frameworks to help you critically evaluate your sources
With so much information available, it can be challenging to identify reliable sources. Not all information is trustworthy, so it is important to critically evaluate what you find. Library Search and our subscription databases can ...
Mastering the art of revising your writing
You’ve done the research and written your first draft. Now it’s time for one of the most crucial jobs as a writer - revising your writing to ensure your reader does not have to work ...
Using AI tools for your literature review
There are a proliferation of AI tools that can help you organise your life, work and study. This post focuses on academic or scholarly tools that have been developed to enhance the literature searching process, whether for independent research, an assignment or thesis. Bear in mind that these predominantly relate to finding journal/research papers, and not technical, business or trade sources such as standards, market research, industry reports or financial data. So ...
Finding successful past Cranfield theses
It’s always a good idea to look at examples of theses before you start work on your own. You may find them valuable for reading previous research, and for looking at structure, style and methodology. ...
On‑campus or off‑campus? How Cranfield students found their home away from home
Finding the right place to live is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make as you begin your student journey. Whether you’re looking for the convenience and community of living on-campus or the independence ...
Avoiding common referencing errors
As librarians, we get to see the full spectrum of reference lists in student work —from exemplary to … well, let’s just say, works still very much in progress! We are experts in spotting mistakes ...
