Isenberg OIM Students Excel in C&S Case Competition

On February 13, Isenberg student teams placed first and second in the C&S Wholesale Grocers Supply Chain Case Competition. The first place winners were Operations and Information Management (OIM) students Ryan Amaral, Shane Doherty, and Brian Lynch. Second place honors went to the team of Zahra Hamadi and Tyler Watt—also OIM students. According to Isenberg lecturer and OIM club advisor Michele Burch, 10 C&S employees judged the competition. Buoyed by the judges’ enthusiasm, the winning team shared its recommendations with 200 C&S employees later in February.

For the case, the students addressed several challenges faced by C&S: How might the company improve its shipping performance on high-volume weekday mornings into New York and its congested metropolitan area? How might it improve distribution in Washington, DC, and its metro area? How can the company add more customers, given its peak demand issues? How can it reduce inefficiencies in daily operations? And what business partnerships might prove advantageous in shipping and distribution? 

Isenberg’s OIM Club and OIM Department cosponsored the competition. Hatfield-based C&S Wholesale Grocers offers the largest variety of wholesale groceries in the Northeast (boasting 20 banana-ripening rooms, each with the capacity for 1,440 cases of fruit). It also provides procurement, pricing, marketing, and other services.

Photo shows C&S employee judges with OIM Club members, courtesy of Michele Burch.