A Wonderful Study Tour to Vienna

An invaluable opportunity has been offered at Cranfield University to experience the supply chain management at a range of diverse organisations and in a different economic region. That is the study tour, for all our students who are studying Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc and Procurement and Supply Chain Management MSc.

In 2018/19 our students chose to visit either Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Poland, or  Spain. I was glad to have a wonderful study tour in Vienna with Dr Abhijeet Ghadge, Denghao Wei and 25 classmates.

During our tour we visited Fronius, an Austrian company focus on welding technology, solar energy and battery charging technology.. We visited its modern warehouse and had a nice chat with the staffs in the company.

Then, we drove to BMW Group Plant Steyr and I had the most impressive experience during this tour. BMW Group Plant Steyr is the company’s largest engine plant worldwide and its diesel engine development centre. With the clear explanation and interpretation presented by the guide, Lin, we got a relatively comprehensive insight in mechanical production, diesel engine development and engine assembly within a three hour visit.

In the following two days, we had another two visit to Wienerberger, a bricks producer, and Ottakringer brewery, where we tasted really nice beer together. Staff from both companies had excellent presentations to introduce their main business, core operations and achievements in supply chain management.

This Study Tour is a great chance to bring the course content to life as you will gain first-hand experience and a rich understanding of how supply strategies and practices are influenced in the area.