How to make sure kids want to learn s’more about supply chain management

BASF offers a tasty, innovative approach to business on Take Your Child To Work Day

26-Apr-2002

MOUNT OLIVE, N.J., April 25, 2002 – Most kids consuming the chocolate treat known as s’mores probably think of supply chain management only when the marshmallows run out and the graham crackers are still plentiful.

On the tenth annual Take Your Child To Work Day, staff at the North American headquarters of BASF Corporation gave children of employees plenty of food for thought on one of the most vital issues in business – making sure everything gets where it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be there.

"We wanted to provide a demonstration of a manufacturing facility," said Tom Hallowell, manager, site employee relations, who coordinates the program. "This workshop provides the opportunity for children to see the set-up of a manufacturing plant facility in a way that’s interactive, fun and which stresses leadership development, socializing with peers and entrepreneurial thinking."

From the packet into your food: what harmful substances are in food packaging?

Database of previously undocumented chemicals

Read news

BASF provides children such opportunities on Take Your Child To Work Day because "we want them to see the careers that BASF offers and also to see what their parents do and how it relates to our corporate mission," said Denise Glover of BASF’s Career Development and Diversity staff. The s’more project is innovative and illustrative of how BASF approaches its business, she added.

"We wanted them to feel they learned something," Glover said, and demonstrations are a natural. What to demonstrate is a bit easier at other BASF operations, she said, where the company makes the paints, carpet fibers, plastics and other materials that help make products better.

"Since we’re a corporate headquarters, we had to think a bit," Glover said, and decided on s’mores. As part of their s’more construction, she said children broke into three teams – two competitive manufacturing teams and one team of customers – to learn about supply (one team made s’mores to order; another simply stockpiled inventory), demand (one group charged twice as much for its product) and how to handle unforeseen challenges.

About 140 children of employees heard from senior executives, made s’mores or took a tour, had lunch and spent the afternoon with their parents.

While the s’more demonstration is intended to teach supply chain management principles, Glover said the benefits of the learning didn’t benefit "customers" only. "We let all the kids eat the product – even the employees," she said.

About Take Your Child To Work Day

Take Your Child to Work Day is a national event held annually on the fourth Thursday in April. The program was started asTake Our Daughters To Work Day by the Ms. Foundation for Women in 1993, with goal of taking a day to bring girls and young women into the workplace to mentor and inspire the next generation of women. Over the years, formalized programs at companies, schools and government agencies have grown to include boys as well as girls in activities designed to introduce children to careers and the opportunities available to them in the workplace.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/10366/how-to-make-sure-kids-want-to-learn-smore-about-supply-chain-management.html