Bringing long industry experience to the classroom: interview with Joseph Estrella
For more than three decades, Joseph Estrella held supply chain management positions for major companies. He now brings that experience to bear in the classroom at the University of Rhode Island.
Peter Bradley is an award-winning career journalist with more than three decades of experience in both newspapers and national business magazines. His credentials include seven years as the transportation and supply chain editor at Purchasing Magazine and six years as the chief editor of Logistics Management.
For the past four years, Joseph Estrella has worked full time as a lecturer at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where he teaches operations, global supply chain management, international transportation, and other courses to both undergraduate and graduate students.
He brings to those classes more than 35 years of experience as a logistics and transportation professional. He held management positions for Roadway Express, Staples, and CVS. Before joining URI full time, he taught there part time while serving as director of the transportation and logistics network for CVS.
Estrella recently spoke with Editorial Director Peter Bradley about his industry experience and the supply chain program at URI.
Q: Tell me a little bit about your experience in private industry. A: I have had a terrific career. I worked for what were arguably the three best companies in their respective industries at the time. I worked for Roadway Express for 15 years in roles ranging from dock supervisor and sales representative to posts in operations management and terminal management. For my last six years there, I was the labor relations manager for New England. Roadway was a great place to learn about transportation and logistics, but more importantly, I think, Roadway had a terrific way of teaching you how to deal with people. During my time at Roadway, I certainly learned about honesty, integrity, and ethics.
The next stop in my career was working at Staples, which was a rather young company at the time. I am very proud to say that I was a big part of setting up the distribution process for the catalog division, which at the time was called Staples Direct. That part of the business grew very quickly. In fact, in two years, we went from $28 million in sales to $310 million. I certainly learned a lot about the retail industry working at Staples. I then moved to CVS and worked there for a long time. When I joined CVS, the company had no stores west of the Mississippi, and now, through tremendous acquisition and growth, it is a national and international company.
I was fortunate. I got to work in three really good areas with three really good companies, which serves me well now that I am at the University of Rhode Island.
Q: What made you take the leap from supply chain professional to educator? A: While I was at CVS, we were contacted by URI to work on a distribution project. That was my first interaction with URI. URI then asked me to serve on its Supply Chain Advisory Committee, which is made up of URI faculty and business people in the community. Later, URI asked me to be an adjunct, so I started teaching one course a semester, which I really enjoyed. About four years ago, URI asked if I wanted to teach full time. I think the timing was right for me to retire from private industry and become a part of URI's faculty.
URI is a great institution. The supply chain management (SCM) program started around 2007, and we have already been recognized as having one of the top 25 supply chain programs in the country. The SCM major is actually the fastest-growing major within URI's college of business.
Q: How does your experience in private industry influence what you teach and how you teach? A: At URI, we teach all the different theories and formulas that SCM students need to know and understand, but the fact of the matter is, in the real world of business, it still boils down to people executing their jobs properly. I try to relate real-life experiences to the students with real-world examples. A perfect example is economic order quantity (EOQ). For EOQ to work properly, you want to minimize your holding and ordering costs. You teach students the EOQ formula, you give them a few problems, and they now understand how to determine EOQ. But then I ask them a simple question: If you're working for a large corporation, you may have 40,000 or 50,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs). Do you really think you're going to sit down and go through this formula for 40,000 SKUs every single week? No, you just don't have the time to do it, and that's where software comes into play. That kind of example resonates with students. The idea is that students have to understand the concept, but how you actually use that concept is sometimes vastly different from what is taught.
Q: How do you get students interested in logistics and supply chain management? I don't imagine most kids come out of high school saying "I want to be a logistician." A: Supply chain is not something that's at the top of anyone's list just yet, certainly not when students come out of high school. What we try to do, and we have been pretty successful at it, is explain to students that supply chain is the only discipline that interacts with every other discipline in a corporation. I tell students that when you get into supply chain, you're going to be dealing with procurement, inventory, marketing, advertising, legal, real estate, finance, accounting, logistics, transportation, and distribution as well as with other companies. Then, if students take a course or two, it is not unusual for some of them to change their majors to supply chain.
Q: Do you send your students out into the field at any point in their undergraduate career? A: Yes. We emphasize internships to all our students. In fact, many of our students will do two or three internships at the undergraduate level, and that serves a couple of purposes. One, it obviously exposes students to private industry, and two—and this happens more often than not—students do such a great job at their internships that they receive job offers from those same companies. In fact, many of our students who are graduating in May have already accepted positions with various corporations.
Q: What are the business professionals you talk to looking for in graduates? A: They are looking for, first of all, students with some type of SCM certification. This is an area where URI does an outstanding job, as many of our students will graduate with a CTL [Certified in Transportation and Logistics] certificate from the AST&L [American Society of Transportation and Logistics]. In addition, we have a Lean Six Sigma program, through which many of our students will earn a yellow or even a green belt.
Obviously, technology plays a big role in supply chain management. Business professionals want students who are proficient in programs such as Excel, Access, and simulation software. Our students have done extremely well in the workplace in part because of their knowledge as it relates to technology.
Q: As your students go out the door, what is your advice to them about what they're going to face and what they need to do? A: We teach the same things I'm sure most universities do as it relates to what students will face when they enter the work force—things like the importance of collaboration, knocking down silos, trade-offs, etc. But I also tell students that unfortunately, all of those things don't happen. Many companies will tell you that they collaborate with suppliers, that they are knocking down silos, etc., when in reality, they just don't do it.
I also tell students they need to trust the people they work with. Trust is something that I think is extremely important in business. For instance, if you have suppliers that are cost competitive, that perform well, and that you trust (and that trust you), you now have a terrific business relationship that will benefit all parties. Unfortunately, I think many companies are so cost driven in the short term that they actually spend more dollars in the long run by constantly changing suppliers who don't perform as expected. In addition, by constantly changing suppliers, customer service is impacted in a negative way.
I tell students that if they want to be successful, they really need to understand the business they are in. Listen, really listen; look, really look; and ask some questions.
I also tell them that if they want to be successful, they are going to work more than eight hours a day. Hard work has always served people well. If you do those things and you treat people right, you will be successful.
The one final thing I always preach is to be honest and have integrity. I tell students there is nothing more important than being honest and having integrity.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”