On our second to last day in Nicosia, we first listened to some of the services offered by the GAP Vassilopoulos Group. Their company is extremely expansive, having offices in 10 countries with a wide range of employees and partners, and they work with even huge companies that are prominent in the United States such as UPS. The lecturer explained that they offer a total package for communities across Cyprus and the globe. They are involved with transaction deals, managing ports, airports, and hotels, and also the packing and shipping of products, including transportation in the ground, sea and air. They have an extremely complex supply chain across all of their services due to them having so many different branches. There are a lot of moving parts and a need for constant communication between the company, it’s partners, and handling all the services they offer, which makes the company extremely interesting as a whole.

Adding onto all the details of the company, the lecture offered extremely insightful advice and explanations for how they handle such a complex business and how we can grow as businesspeople. He stressed that in order to have a successful supply chain, there needs to be clear visibility on all steps and aspects of the group. He explained that it is also highly important to keep good relations and communications with labels and partners to keep business afloat. One of the things he explained that stuck with me was the balance of efficiency and agility, meaning that the goal of the group is to be as quick as possible in offering the highest quality services to other companies. His insight on supply chains is something I will take with me in the future as someone who hopefully wants to work for a company like theirs and work my up into a management role.