Today was day 3 in Cyprus! We spent the day touring 3 different companies that we had explored and researched before. The first company we visited was Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement Training Center (BSM). We first attended a lecture that the Chief Engineer and one of the instructors at the training center presented. He explained the history of the company, how the training center works. The training center was originally a British royal air force base for fast rescue boats. The center was set up in 1983 and had its first trainees in 1984. The training center provides lessons to tach rules based on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Standards of Training Certification and Watch Keeping of Seafarers (STCM). The training covers fire, evacuation, and first aid and they have bed accommodations for their trainees. I found this visit really interesting especially when we were doing a walking tour of the training facility. The simulators were very advanced and looked super realistic to what I would imagine the inside of a real ship looks like. I also found it very interesting that the presenter stated that it would only take 1 week of training time in the captain simulator before the trainee would be finished.

The second company we visited was called Columbia Ship Management (CSM) established in 1978. I was in the group back at Pitt during the in classroom portion of the trip who researched and presented on the company. I found it really cool to see the headquarters after only seeing pictures while researching. During this visit we attended a presentation on how CSM is set up and the different aspects that set the company apart from its competitors. They were originally involved in ship management which involves crewing and training, new building supervision, and vessel inspections. They then added maritime services and logistics which includes procurement, crew health and wellbeing, and maritime security. They are now getting into cruise and yacht management as well as aviation. I found it very interesting that the CEO currently has 3 company private jets, and he wants the company to take their knowledge and skills of ship management and use it to get involved with managing planes. We then went into their offices and learned about how they do performance monitoring. One of the woman in the office was a chemical engineer which I found interesting and she briefly explained how she uses her degree to determine when and what type of fuel the ships should be using in different parts of the oceans throughout the world. I found Columbia Ship Management to be a very likeable company since it seemed like everyone working really likes their jobs and feels like they are making a difference which is what I want to do when I get a job in the real world.

The final company we visited was Medochemie which is a pharmaceutical company. They distribute and make their own prescription medications as well as generic brands. One of the presenters explained that all pharmaceutical medication have a chemically active ingredient in them and then recipient which are the chemically inactive ingredients. He further explained that the difference from name brand or original medications and generic medications is the recipients or inactive ingredients. The active ingredients between the two medications is always the same. The presentation also included an explanation on how their supply chain works. It has three parts including strategic, tactical and operational. They pointed out a unique challenge they face with their distribution for their supply chain since they are on an island they can only ship or fly their products to their customers. We then went to tour their storage warehouse which was very impressive how they coordinate the moving and distribution of their products given the size of the facility. It is 2400 square meters and they can hold 7700 pallets in the one half of the warehouse. They are able to move 500 pallets everyday. I found this visit interesting since I am planning to go into the pharmaceutical industry after graduation.