Motivation
Ethiopia - with a focus on the textile and food industry sectors - is pursuing the goal of developing into a central production centre in Africa. Cross-functional logistics is essential in both the textile and food industries for the implementation of efficient workflows in the value creation networks and promotes the sustainable development of the country.
For this reason, logistics education must be understood as a fundamental basis for economic growth. However, university teaching in the field of logistics is based more on theoretical logistics concepts than on linking them to practice-relevant content. This results in a gap between the theoretical understanding of logistics concepts and their successful application in a concrete business environment. Consequently, students experience inadequate training for their upcoming tasks in practice, resulting in fewer employment opportunities after graduation.
Objectives
Against the background of the circumstances described, the IPLogE project intends to improve the practical orientation of logistics teaching at Addis Ababa University (AAU) and to adapt it to the logistical specifics of the textile and food industry in Ethiopia. For this reason, the focus of this joint project between the Technischen Universität Berlin (TUB) and the AAU is to better prepare students for the future requirements of the labour market and to provide opportunities to get in touch with potential employers earlier. To achieve this, this project aims to contribute to the following main fields of action (among others):
- Bachelor's and Master's modules at the AAU are revised by integrating practice-oriented logistics case studies from the textile and food industries to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
- Offers relevant to the labour market that promote students' contact with practice are made available on a regular basis (e.g. annual logistics contact fair, regular company excursions).
- An annual cooperation seminar between the AAU and the TUB is established. Students from both universities will work together on real case studies from German and Ethiopian companies. In doing so, students will acquire intercultural skills relevant for future employment opportunities in addition to practical application.
- AAU and TUB will jointly conduct practice-oriented research projects on process improvement and resource efficiency in the textile and food industry. The aim will be to create synergies between conducting case studies for teaching purposes and analysing these case studies for research.
AAU and TUB are supported by a select group of business partners from Ethiopia, Germany and Switzerland by providing practical content and assisting in the achievement of planned project objectives.
Research approach