Bremerhaven logistics students go on a professional excursion to Japan

In a globalised world, it is important to be able to deal with cultural peculiarities and different approaches to business matters. Stays abroad during the degree programme allow students to gain relevant experience before starting their careers. A special excursion has now been undertaken by 26 students on the Transport/Logistics degree programme. They travelled to Japan to gain an insight into local logistics. This was made possible thanks to the support of the Verein der Wirtschaftsingenieure für Transportwesen e.V. and numerous sponsors.

International excursions have been an important part of the global transport/logistics degree programme for many years. Students learnt about the cultural and economic characteristics of other countries at an early stage. However, it is now difficult to finance such trips. As the students are unable to afford them themselves, they are dependent on financial support. However, there are currently no official funding programmes for this. For this reason, no more excursions of this kind have been organised in recent years.

The 26 students were able to travel to Japan thanks to the commitment of the Verein der Wirtschaftsingenieure für Transportwesen e.V. (Association of Industrial Engineers for Transport). The association not only provided the funds itself, but also set out to find additional sponsors. With the support of the Ostasiatischer Verein Bremen, BIS Bremerhaven, Kuehne + Nagel, L.I.T. AG, Viastore, Battermann & Tillery, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and former students Kay Struckmeier and Björn Bünemann, the funding target for the trip, which cost more than 50,000 euros, was finally achieved.
 

Why did Japan of all places have to be the destination? Bernd Kratz, 1st Chairman and organiser of the excursion, has a clear opinion on this: ‘On the one hand, production and distribution logistics there are highly automated and perfected, and on the other hand, punctuality and reliability are extremely important in Japanese logistics.’  However, this is not the only motive. ‘The completely different mentality of the Japanese, restraint in business discussions and the completely different way of doing business are also an example of international business relations in the context of globalisation for the students from Bremerhaven,’ says Kratz.

Prof. Dr Carsten Dorn, Head of the degree programme at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, is also certain that the excursion was an important experience for the budding logistics experts. ‘Our logistics students recognised that discipline and precision are essential building blocks for success in Japanese value creation processes. During the 12 days, the students gained numerous completely new cultural and professional experiences, which they will certainly refer back to again and again in their future careers in a globalised world. Hopefully there will be more funding pots so that such educational trips can also take place in the future.’ 

After a flight lasting more than 20 hours with a stopover in Hong Kong, the students first travelled to Nagoya, a city of millions. To overcome jet lag and familiarise themselves with the seven-hour time zone difference, they first undertook cultural activities, such as a visit to the UNESCO heritage villages of Shirakawa-go and Takayama. This was followed by the first technical excursion with a visit to a Toyota production plant on the outskirts of the city of the same name. They spent the following days in Tokyo, where numerous
numerous logistics companies opened their doors to the students and revealed their processes and business conceptsOn site, Axel Karpenstein from Bremerhaven, Director of the DAAD in Tokyo, provided helpful support with coordination and language barriers.

The application phase for the summer semester 2025 is currently underway. Four Bachelor's and eight Master's degree programmes, including the university's logistics degree programmes, are accepting new students. The application deadline is 15 February 2025. Further information can be found at www.hs-bremerhaven.de/study.