R&S Logistics and R&S Warehousing Solutions are used interchangeably in this blog post. They are one and the same company!
In case you missed it, R&S Logistics hosted a first-ever of its kind 3PL class in partnership with the University of Tennessee and their Global Supply Chain Program. Here, we recap the purpose, mission, and results from this class and initiative.
Birthed at the Global Supply Chain Forum
It all started at the Global Supply Chain Forum hosted by the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Part of their Global Supply Chain Program, they host a Global Supply Chain Forum 2x a year. Industry professionals from various industries like Tractor Supply, Walmart, Denso, Bush Brothers, and more show up to recruit students, stay on top of trends, and prepare for the future of supply chain.
As R&S CEO, Joe Michalik attends regularly, and as an alumni of the university, he has looked for ways to give back.
He and Professor Don Maier were at a table, and this is where the idea for the class began. Don came from an industry background and teaches at the University of Tennessee as someone who has decades of real world experience. Together as they were chatting, they discovered there could be real partnership opportunity together.
What if there was a class that actually taught students logistics and supply chain principles in real world applications?
A Few Obstacles Overcome
Well, they hit a few bumps in the road in trying to bring this idea to life and execute on it. So the idea remained a point of discussion and interest for about 2 years.
However, everyone still seemed interested in making this happen. A host of experts also wanted to contribute and be a part of it.
2025, The Class Is Being Planned
Then, things started rolling. The team at R&S, local experts, and contributors and partners at the University of Tennessee Knoxville were ready to bring this class to life.
Various meetings were held regarding the mission, purpose, schedule, and execution of this class. Practical details such as student transportation, student deliverables, and textbook materials were discussed as well as the high-level outcomes everyone wanted students and partners to walk away with.
Planning an academic program and university course isn’t anything we’d done before nor had necessarily realized how much went into it. However, it was fun, collaborative, and intriguing.
The Pieces Came Together & The Class Was In Session Before We Knew It
Everything really came together pretty quickly, and we were in session getting started by January 2026. It was a whirlwind to make it happen, but it was exciting!
A Brief Overview of the Class
We’ve recapped the class here, but as a high level overview here too, it was a 6 week class split between the warehouse floor and the lecture hall. Students had class every single day, so they learned at a more advanced rate as compared to a class that only met 1-2 times a week.
In this class, they learned about picking and packing, transportation, site selection, strategy of warehouse layout, and distribution among many other things. They also had experts teaching them about Lean, Six Sigma, JIT, and inventory and safety protocols.
At the end, they broke up into 2 teams and worked on 2 real customer’s projects to drive efficiency and improve productivity. They presented their findings to the whole R&S team as well as their faculty members and experts from the industry and the University of Tennessee.
They walked away from the class with a forklift license, a Yellow Belt in Six Sigma training, and real world experience they could put on their resume right away.
Students and R&S leadership shared some incredible testimonials and results from this class, which you can view in the video below.
What’s Ahead
Looking to the future, we’re hopeful this class will only continue to be offered to UT students as a small, intimate class for real world application and experience.
We’re currently talking with the University of Tennessee about potential plans for the future of this class for students. If you’re a student reading this and interested in this class, please talk to your Academic Advisor or mention it to the Supply Chain department at the University.
If you’re a industry expert or employer who would be interested in participating in this class in the future, please reach out. We’d love to explore working together, whether that’s for a plant tour or facility visit or for help with recruiting students.
School’s Out
As we close reflecting on this class, we encourage you to watch our final takeaways from the class with the video below. Too, all in all, we’re grateful for this opportunity with students, experts, partners, and the university. It’s been a blast, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Want to Work With Us?
If you’re looking for an 3PL ecommerce fulfillment company that provides East Coast fulfillment services, we’d be happy to explore a partnership.
We’re a boutique sized 3PL, and we prefer it that way. We can provide custom solutions and personalized service for our customers while remaining agile to changing needs and demands of our customers.
We’re primarily in Knoxville, TN, but we also have several locations across East Tennessee totaling about 2 million square feet. Our ideal Southeast warehouse and distribution locations ends up being a major strategic advantage for our customers, whether that’s for wholesale distribution, retail operations, or D2C ecommerce fulfillment.
If you’d be interested in exploring if this is a good fit, we’d be happy to talk. Just hit the button below and we’ll reach out within 24 hours!
🚚 Using a 3PL provider could save you TIME and $$$!
If you’re looking to make more and spend less time on distribution and transportation, consider using a 3PL provider. They can outsource your logistics, so you can focus on what matters — growing your operations!
“The reliability, flexibility, and professionalism of R&S make me know that I have a business partner I can rely on. It’s one less thing that I have to worry about.”
— Jeremy Smith, Primient