Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology Logistics Application Contest Progress Assessment Report

I'm Kobayashi who is in charge of overseas affairs in Planning and Sales Department of Logizard Co., Ltd.

A progress assessment of the logistics application contest co-hosted by Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology and Logizard was held last February 16, 2022. Following the previous first screening, the event was held online again to prevent the infection of the new coronavirus.?

Approximately one and half months after the actual development period started. Seven of the nine teams that passed the first screening reported on the development status of each application. Unfortunately, one team abstained after the screening, so six teams will advance to the final screening.

(It seems that the reason for abstaining is due to the fact that some of the participating members started working earlier at the place of employment and could not engage in the development work.) As a contest it’s unfortunate, but I hope that the students will be able to play an active role at work as soon as possible).

This time as well, we interviewed Professor Patsama of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, who is instructing students locally about the status of the second screening.?

What kind of evaluation criteria did you have for this progress assessment?

The purpose of this progress assessment is not to screen out and select the participating teams. The goal is to follow up so that all teams can complete the application and reach the final screening date with a smile. Therefore, we did not set any evaluation criteria this time, and gave individual advice so that the project could proceed more smoothly while assessing the progress and issues of each team.?

What was good about listening to the progress assessment of each team?

I was very impressed by the approach of incorporating the advice that each team received during the first screening into the project and making it more realistic. This was more than we imagined. After all, I feel that working on a project with deadline (target date) as a team is a great opportunity to hone everyone’s project management skills.?

What kind of advice did you give to each team for the final screening?

"Observe the deadline", No matter how good you try to make something, it will be meaningless if you can't do it on time. If they have a problem in the middle of the project, I tell them to "go back to the problem they want to solve first". Prioritizing is very important for project management, and it takes courage to give up on less important things.

Please give us a word for the final screening.?

First of all, I want them to complete this contest without dropping out. The experience that can only be gained from accomplishing it is very big for students. I think some teams' applications will be very useful for giving users new insights. We are also looking forward to what kind of completion will be in the final screening. There is about one month left until the final screening. This is the hardest part, but I hope each member will work together to get through it.?

It seems that each team is facing new challenges since the actual design and development work has started. However, this experience is absolutely useful in society. As a senior member of society, I would like to send a message from far away Japan, saying, "This is the time to do your best!" come on you can do it!