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Summer Internships: Bryce Comer

Ferris State University students gain valuable work experience through internships. Internships also can confirm or redirect career decision-making, provide marketability, develop people skills and enhance classroom learning. Many academic programs require one, but the experience is encouraged regardless to provide students with a better understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace.

Many students are participating in myriad internships this summer. Meet:

Ferris State UniversityBryce Comer

He is: a junior in Operations and Supply Chain Management from Greenville. Bryce is also pursuing a minor in Fleet Management, from the Management department in the College of Business.

His Internship: Bryce was involved with various projects at Pittsburgh Glass Works/Vitro Industries’ operation, in Evart. “I have learned how to perform cycle counts and inventory audits, to create a database with minimal input, allowing for almost real-time updates, and how to properly calculate safety stock, at both minimum and maximum levels. My non-technical skills included effectively communicating with people from different backgrounds and in different positions, addressing how to fix problems without being confrontational and being a mentor, while being a mentee. Even though I was the intern, I was still able to teach other new things and was able to do so without making them feel inferior, as they were able to do with me.”

Advice for Other Students Seeking Internships: To take initiative, and think outside the box. ”If I hadn’t taken the initiative to be a part of two registered student organizations, I wouldn’t have known about APICS, (American Production and Inventory Control Society) and I wouldn’t have met another student who knew someone looking for a Supply Chain intern. Thinking outside the box, for me, involved putting the Operations and Supply Chain Management major with a Fleet Management minor, to address logistics. I was talking with a program coordinator and they mentioned that a business was looking for that combination specifically. When I got to thinking in those terms. I realized that I could go anywhere and be useful, throughout a Supply Chain.”

Other Interests: Bryce is the president of the Student Parent Association, as well as another new registered student organization, the Supply Chain Management Association. “SPA partners with Students with Children and provides a networking opportunity. Throughout the year, we host several events for families, including a study night where we partner with students in the Education Department. They can watch our kids for one evening, while parents are on the other side of the glass, where they use the quiet time to study for finals. OSCMA is Ferris’ student chapter of the Grand Rapids APICS Chapter. We are a professional chapter that helps students network and expand their knowledge in the Supply Chain field, which includes the opportunity to gain certifications that are highly sought after in the workforce.”

Making a Difference at His Internship:  Bryce created an inventory dashboard, which allowed upper management to visualize trends, he assisted with reorganizing the supply crib, created a calculator for safety stock, providing minimum and maximum indicators, based on a usage report and lead time. He also assisted with cleaning up the inventory computer system.

MEET THE INTERNS HOMEPAGE


PHOTO CAPTION: Bryce Comer, a junior from Greenville in Operations and Supply Chain Management in Ferris State University’s College of Business, recently completed an internship with Pittsburgh Glass Works/Vitro Industries’ operation in Evart.