16
@Halal | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER. 2019
Business
According to Dr Sarifah, there is a signifi cant gap
in the logistics industry us Malaysians can fi ll in
given the right education, especially in the halal
supply chain concept.
Creating
experts in halal logistics
MITRANS strives to strengthen the global halal supply chain,
and they are training halal supply chain experts to do so
M
ITRANS, or the Malaysia
Institute of Transport, is
an institution dedicated
in creating top-level
logistics planning and
development by ways
of training, consultation, and performing
research.
From providing consultancy and training
to external partners in academia, industry,
and government - to doing research in the
halal supply chain through their very own
laboratory; MITRANS’ vision is to become
a world-renowned centre of excellence for
innovating solutions and intellectual capac-
ity development in transport, logistics, and
halal supply chain.
Out of all their services, however, one in
particular is signifi cantly important to realise
their vision.
Dr S. Sarifah Radiah Shariff , Head of Post-
graduate Studies for MITRANS, explains the
need to have our local experts to spearh ead
the halal supply chain initiative on a global
scale.
MsC-Outline
THE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
PROSPECTS
Dr Sarifah tells about how one of the lecturers
of MITRANS with a background in mechani-
cal engineering is doing research with
automotive company Scania to see whether 18
metre-long buses (the ones with two coaches
and looks more like a tram) can viably replace
double-decker buses in Malaysia.
“Her study is to fi nd out whether it would
be a suitable fi t to have 18 metre-long buses
as a replacement to the double-decker buses
we are using.”
The study stems from the fact that double-
decker buses are found to be less stable caused
by its higher point of gravity.
“That is just one of the examples of how
students from various disciplines may be
able to play a role in logistics. Data analyst
graduates for example, can help to study the
effi ciency of a logistics process through math-
ematical modelling and so on. Or, perhaps to
improve the effi ciency in the warehouse.”
Another one of the important roles gradu-
ate students can take part in logistics research
is through social science.
“Students in social sciences will have a
role to play in strengthening the halal supply
chain concept. Halal supply chain is similar to
how conventional supply chain works.
“However, it includes specifi c processes
that would essentially separate non-halal
shipments of foodstuff with halal shipments
of foodstuff during the whole supply chain
process,” she explains.
THE SHINING PROSPECT
AS A LOGISTICS EXPERT
EDUCATION IN LOGISTICS
MITRANS offers two postgraduate pro-
grammes, Master of Science in Transport and
Logistics, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in
Transport and Logistics. The aim is to develop
Malaysian experts who can be placed in
organisations and corporations involved in
the supply chain, more so if they intend to
strengthen the halal supply chain concept.
“We are off ering our postgraduate studies
to students who have completed their under-
graduate in business, engineering, and even
social science.
“The reason why we can accept students
from different disciplines is because our
research is multi-disciplinary in nature.
There are a lot of components that goes into
logistics, and we believe that students who
studied business, engineering, and social
science can contribute to the cause,” says Dr
Sarifah.
PhD-Outline
As with MITRANS’ vision for its postgraduate
programmes, the institute sees opportunities
aplenty for the postgraduate students who
enrol in its Masters and PhD programmes.
“The logistics industry is an important if
not crucial distributor to the overall economy
of any country. And the fact of the matter is,
we are lacking in experts and interest among
Malaysians today.
“It might be a slow start, but MITRANS
wants to have more Malaysians to be in the
logistics business, especially ones that can
strengthen halal supply chain to global rec-
ognition and utilisation.”
MITRANS is part of Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM) and is actively seeking
applicants among undergraduate students
to be experts in logistics and halal supply
chain.