The Industry Manufacturers Council and Kent R. Valley of Majestic Realty donated $315,000 to the College of Business, particularly to the technology and operations management department, to be appointed to a supply chain laboratory that will enable students to view and test technology in the lucrative field of distribution of goods and services.
Hassan Halati, chair and professor of the technology and operations management department, took a leadership role in securing these funds that he says are only a cash portion of many other software and technology donations that will be given to start and maintain the new facility.
In following Cal Poly's polytechnic motto, Halati as well as other key fundraisers involved in this project, saw a need for all business students, regardless of concentration, to have an opportunity to visualize and practice the use of devices such as Radio Frequency Identification, prior to their graduation and entry into the workplace.
Lynn Turner, professor in the management and human resources department has been asked to serve in the laboratory project as an administrative director who would identify opportunities for grants and putting together proposals to interact with businesses to provide financial assistance.
Besides, being a laboratory, the project has potential for expansion.
"(It is planned) to use the whole campus as a test bed; to put up an RFID antenna up around campus and we could put RFID tags on different things and students can become involved in those projects. We can put RFID tags on parking stickers," said Turner.
"My (area of concentration) is supply chain management and we go over this technology but I don't even know how it works. So I think it's good experience for students," said Erwin Mangal, fourth-year E-business student.
The Inland Empire is an area of rapid growth that houses headquarters to many logistics, distribution and supply chain firms. It is considered a gateway between the Port of Los Angeles and the rest of the country. Cal Poly, being a school embedded in this busy area, is a human resources supplier to the established supply chain firms as well as for firms that are interested in moving here.
"Close to half a million jobs in the next three to four years will be generated in this area," said Halati. "Not all of these (jobs) will be fork lifters or cherry pickers but part of it will be good paying, good salary jobs."
According to Halati, many operations management department graduates acquire jobs with entry-level salaries from $45,000 up to $80,000.
The Industry Manufacturers Council is the City of Industry's Chamber of Commerce and Kent Valley is a member of this council as well as Cal Poly's University Educational Trust council.
Halati explained that these gifts are given to Cal Poly to enrich the university's resources to produce qualified personnel that will attract more business to the area.
The City of Industry is already home to many supply chain firms and is looking to attract more. Majestic Realty owns many of the facilities and wants to appeal to more businesses that want to purchase property in the Inland Empire.
"Some of the business developers and economic development people in the Inland Empire are trying to attract some of the big developers of the software and the systems that we use in supply chain management and logistics," said Turner.
The laboratory is intended to be "a training ground for students" but it is only the beginning of the project according to Turner.
Supply chain management is an increasingly important aspect of business and it is the result of globalization and e-commerce. It involves the manufacturing, transportation and distribution of products.
Barcodes are used for inventory purposes. This system has limitations such as the need for manual scanning and the possibility of the Universal Product Codes smearing away.
RDFI enables more efficient product monitoring than UPC codes. The tags that can store detailed product information can be read by an antenna that sends information about the product directly to the company's database instead of requiring employees to scan items individually. An antenna can be placed at a strategic location at the entry of a warehouse, and the information will be transmitted immediately, making the distribution process easier and faster.
This tracking system is becoming an integral part in supply chain management. The tag can contain information regarding the trek of the product from manufacturer to retail location, a chain that can be extensive due to the increasing number of firms that opt for outsourcing.
While this type of tag has been applied to military airplanes amongst other items that require high supervision, this technology is now applied to everyday items, such as products sold at Wal-Mart, one of the numerous retailers that now require RFID tags on most of the products they sell.
The United States Department of Defense has also adopted this tracking system to be implemented on all products.
Another use for RFID tags is for transportation purposes. For example, the 91 Freeway's express lanes utilize this system for faster service. A tag is placed on the windshield and customers can pre-pay by credit card so a charge is incurred every time the vehicle passes through the tollbooth. This toll collection system, used statewide, is called FasTrack.
Opponents of RFID believe this form of tracking is a form of surveillance that the government utilizes to infringe personal privacy. Others, such as Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre, authors of "Spychips: How Major corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID," are part of a Christian community that believes this type of tagging could be the "mark of the beast" mentioned in the Book of Revelation, according to reference.com.
"This is an awesome thing that (Halati has) done here in terms of the potential for economic growth. There is such a great demand for supply chain management and we are the gateway to the Inland Empire," said David Klock, dean of the College of Business Administration.
Carla Pineda can be reached at arts@thepolypost.com or by phone at (909) 869-3744.
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