May, 2020
Adjusting and Persevering with Milwaukee Tool
Virtual Meeting with Women in Supply Chain at Milwaukee Tool
Little did we know back in March that our Women in Supply Chain Scholars would be unable to go on any additional company visits after our Uline Warehouse tour. With all of the changes in the last month, we didn't want the semester to end for our Scholars without another supply chain experience. Just as everything else has changed, we adjusted our plans and on Friday, May 1, were able to have a virtual panel discussion with five women working in supply chain at Milwaukee Tool.
Milwaukee Tool began in 1924 and has become a leader in the development and innovation of tools for professional construction users. They are the inventors of the Sawzall and lead the industry in lithium ion battery operated tools. Headquartered in Brookfield, WI, Milwaukee Tool has over 1,400 employees worldwide.
On our call the student Scholars were able to talk with Maggie Reiter, Lauren Kendall and Deanna Meinholz in Demand Planning and Amanda Nelson and Lindsay Wesolowski in Supply Planning. Through our Teams call, we learned more about their roles in supply chain and how they have adjusted to working from home. They discussed some of the new challenges that COVID-19 has presented Milwaukee Tool, how they collaborate to problem solve and how they are managing supply chains from factories which needed to shut down temporarily. The supply chain professionals also discussed the importance of balancing their work day, stepping away from their laptops and finding a work life balance when you could be working all hours.
Our scholars asked some great questions of the women. When asked about the changes in business due to COVID-19, they said they have seen an increase in sales of hand tools for the DIYers since more people are at home. Individuals are now doing their own landscaping and home projects rather than hiring someone else. Another interesting question was what advice they would have for the Women Scholars. Each of the women at Milwaukee Tool provided a unique and helpful answer:
1) Say Yes to all opportunities presented to you, even if you feel you aren't ready.
2) Listen to others and learn from them.
3) Trust your gut.
4) Maintain your connections.
5) Always ask questions - especially "why"?.
Overall the Scholars had another great experience. Special thanks to Milwaukee Tool for sponsoring this program and to the employees for sharing their time and experience to educate our next generation of women in supply chain.
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What is MU-WISC?
MU-WISC is Marquette University's Women in Supply Chain Scholars Program. Six sophomore women in the College of Business are selected to be part of the program each year which includes being paired with a female upperclassman student mentor majoring in supply chain and a female professional mentor working in the supply chain industry. The six scholars spend spring semester visiting companies to learn about supply chain, touring facilities and discussing supply chain topics with women and men working in industry. At the end of the semester the students receive a $1,500 scholarship.
We are very grateful to our sponsors: Direct Supply, Fresh Products, GE Healthcare, Kohler, Milwaukee Tool, Target and Uline.
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