MDX Students Visit Landmark Group Distribution Center Facility at Jebel Ali

On 10 April, a group of students from the Undergraduate and Postgraduate International Business programme visited the Landmark Group Distribution Center facility at Jebel Ali as part of their module in Global Supply Chain Management. The students, led by Dr Sreejith Balasubramanian, Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Research Committee, and accompanied by Rory McConnon, Senior Lecturer and Campus Programme Coordinator, and Sony Sreejith, Lecturer at the Business School had the chance to witness first-hand, the complexities involved in the warehousing and distribution operations at Landmark group.

During the guided half-day field trip, the students had full access to their facilities, and took a walk in the Homecentre and Splash warehouse, and were given valuable opportunity to observe their inbound and outbound logistics area. The Landmark staff amazed the students with their briefing on how the distribution centre works such as the high rise storage and retrieval procedures, health and safety aspects, quality control, order picking, automated handling systems and warehousing technologies. Furthermore, the importance of computerised warehouse management system, forecasting practices, inventory management, and human resource management practices were highlighted to the students.

Over the course of the site visit, students gained a real-life understanding on the various processes they learned in the classroom such as how products are received, handled, stored, packaged and transported. Students also learned how to efficiently utilise space and limit damage to products, and how to manage the various health and safety issues. Following the site visit, students enjoyed an interactive Q&A session with the Landmark group staff, where students enhanced their understanding on the various intricacies involved in running a successful distribution center.

Commenting on the trip, Dr Sreejith said “it was a very informative trip, especially for students with limited industry background to learn about warehousing and distribution and the significant effort required to get the product from the supplier to the end user”, he thanked Prakash Rao and the team at Landmark group for facilitating the visit.

Reflecting on the trip, Jasna Aneer, third year BA International Business student said “the trip enabled us to witness first-hand coordination required between the multiple departments in ensuring smooth supply chain operations”. Simran Lalwani, third year BA International Business student added “the field trip proved to be extremely informative, and it really increased my interest in this field”. Delfina Ferrao, Middlesex University Dubai Student Council Cultural Representative said “I now appreciate what it takes to get the products I use on a daily basis”.

Founded in 1973, Landmark Group is one of the largest retail and hospitality organisations in the Middle East, Africa and India, who owns brands such as Homecentre, Babyshop, Shoemart, Splash, Max and Centrepoint, has over 55,000 employees, operates over 2,300 outlets with a retail presence of over 30 million sq. ft. across 22 countries.