ESSU Meeting Minutes & Active Memberships
ESSU ERP Speaker Series - Johnson Controls - 03/28/2016
March 28, 2016
This meeting began at 6:00 p.m. in the Seidman Forum. This was our fourth and final ERP Speaker Series of the 2015-2016 school year. James Koerner, the Director of Procurement at Johnson Controls, gave a presentation about Johnson Controls as a company and the importance of ERP systems. Johnson Controls is a forty-three billion dollar company and has over 130,000 employees. Johnson Controls three main businesses are in automotive seating and interior, batteries, and building efficiencies.
James Koerner had four main points during his presentation. His first point explained how ERP systems are the key building blocks for professionals. His second point explained how ERP systems touch almost everything within an organization and are considered the glue that holds everything together. His third point was to be nimble, be flexible, and do not be naïve in the workplace. His fourth and final point was to never stop educating yourself and to never stop learning. After he finished his presentation, students were able to ask him any questions that they had.
We were also lucky enough to have a former Grand Valley alumni named Sandell Wall come speak to us about how our ERP program here at Grand Valley helped him in his career so far. Sandell graduated in 2011. When attending Grand Valley, he was a member of the Enterprise Systems Student Union as well as an ERP intern. This presentation ended at 7:10 p.m.