27 Mar 2017

Date       16 Mar 2017 

Time      2:00 pm – 5:00 pm 

Venue   Tsing Yi Warehouse

On the 16th of March 2024, the bustling Asian Tigers Hong Kong warehouse turned into a classroom for 35 freshmen from the USC Marshall School of Business. This visit became a great opportunity for these brilliant budding scholars to gain firsthand knowledge about the logistics and relocation industry, an integral part of business life globally.

The visit was so well-organized, the sole purpose of which was to give students a closer insight into how operations take place and what challenges one of the major logistics companies faces. As this group arrived at Asian Tigers, they were welcomed by the company’s senior management and operation staff, who showed great willingness to share their knowledge and working experiences. The day began with an introductory session, whereby an overview was provided about the company’s history, mission, and the comprehensive range of services it offers. This was designed for mere orientation and as a backdrop against which the detailed tour could be taken through.

There is one of the most formidable logistics and relocation companies in the market: Asian Tigers. It was then observed that the company runs on principles of excellence, achieving customer satisfaction by offering good quality service and pioneering solutions. The students were taken around the various sections of a warehouse to get an insight into the detailed processes involved in packing, storing, and shipping of goods—just to know how complex and precise an operation it is.

The students were taken around the state-of-the-art warehouse storage facilities where they witnessed the secure storing and management of goods. The students came into contact with a highly developed inventory management system that assisted in handling many items efficiently and correctly. More impressive to the students was the technology-driven approach that Asian Tigers had embraced, with the newest software and automated solutions in place for smoothing out operations and executing more productivity.

The interactive session with the warehouse staff was definitely one of the main highlights of the visit. The students were given a platform to ask questions and discuss day-to-day challenges and innovations that are taking place within the logistics industry. Students picked up many practical things and got real-world insight, which is generally not delivered through lectures in a classroom. Anecdotes and case studies shared by the staff gave insights into how the company overcomes complex logistical challenges and brings about exemplary service to its clients.

Other than operational matters, the students were also exposed to the company’s sustainability efforts. Asian Tigers are always leading from the front when it comes to the introduction of environmentally friendly work practices. The students were exposed to various measures taken by the company in order to reduce its impact on the environment, like the use of recyclable packing materials and relations with stores that stock inventory, which provides energy efficiency—not to mention the carbon-reducing efforts. It was the final stop on the tour, really driving home the sustainability factor at play in today’s business world, and charging students to take the environment into account in their future careers.

This was followed by the reflective session of the students, where they shared their key learnings and experiences from the tour. Many of the students revealed that they now develop a respect for the Logistics industry and its place in how it helps to enable world trade and commerce in a very critical manner. The visit offers insights that increase academic knowledge in addition to putting a practical perspective into the theoretical concepts learned in business courses.

Both the USC Marshall School of Business and Asian Tigers Hong Kong evaluated the visit as highly successful, thus recognizing an important industry-academic interaction. There is no substitute for this type of experience to help bridge the gap between classroom learning and the real-world applications that will enable our students to be the leaders of the future in their chosen fields of study.

In a nutshell, the visit to the Asian Tigers Hong Kong warehouse was quite a distinctive and enriching experience for USC Marshall School of Business freshmen in learning more about the inner working mechanism of the logistics industry, its various ground-breaking solutions to overcome the challenges, and the need for sustainability in business. Undoubtedly, this visit created lasting impressions among students about how best to understand and value the logistics industry.