Two student teams participating in the Business Analytics Practicum recently visited project sponsor Sparck Technologies at their Technology center for a live demonstration of their automated packaging technology.
Sparck Technologies, a global technology company specializing in automated fit-to-size packaging, offers two different auto-boxing machines, the CVP Impack and the CVP Everest. Both are sold and serviced by Sparck.
“We invited the students to Demo Day so that they can see our machines in action, and see that they are working on real-world, real-life issues that will help us respond to our clients even faster and with more detailed data,” said Jona Amssoms, sales engineer at Sparck Technologies who organized the event.
As part of Sparck’s data challenge, the two student teams (the Boxsters and the Scheller Sparck Squadron) have been charged with creating visualization dashboards based on overall events and errors for each machine worldwide (the Boxsters) and focused on the overall health of the installed machines (the Scheller Sparck Squadron).
“It’s one thing to brainstorm how to organize and transform their data into actionable insights,” said Boxsters Team Member Brian Chen, “but seeing these complex and efficient machines and how fast they can pack a company’s order definitely gave us clarity. Time is money. The less time these machines are down and the fewer errors produced will make a big difference to both Sparck and their clients.”
Aidan Peairs, team leader for the Scheller Sparck Squadron agreed. “One of the executives talked about how they can fix problems remotely 85 percent of the time, but there are times when they need to fly a technician out to fix the machine. The idea that our data research could help them potentially avoid that downtime is just incredible.”
Several Sparck executives including Jona Amssoms, Henri Camento, John Freeman, Jeff Hardin, and Jeremy Smalls, as well as Kylie Amssoms from Thought Logic Consulting, were on hand to discuss the data challenge and what they hoped to gain from the partnership.
“Currently, we have the data, but we’d like it in a more effective and useable form,” said Product Engineer John Freeman. “We are focused on constant improvement. The more data-driven decisions we make, the better we can serve our customers.”
The students appreciated the opportunity to interact with the executives.
“Seeing the CVP Impack and CVP Everest answered a lot of our questions,” said Rueben Lechuga, a member of Scheller Sparck Squadron. “Talking to the Sparck employees who fix and diagnose common errors and train customers on machine use was even more valuable.”
The students will take the knowledge gained in their real-world visit back to the classroom.
“It was inspiring to hear the care and pride Sparck takes in its technology, along with the commitment to their customers and the environment,” said Ean Girault (Team Boxster). “We’ve been given a big responsibility here, and I can’t wait to dive back into the data and come up with insights they can use.”
Throughout the day, Sparck engaged in discussions with the students, allowing ample time for inquiries and enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of Sparck's strategic goals.
“It was an extremely valuable experience,” said Professor Jonathan Fan. “By directly linking the projects and data analysis to real-world applications, Sparck execs illuminated the crucial role of data in driving business innovation and decision-making. More importantly, their involvement catalyzed a sense of curiosity and proactive engagement among our students. Our students are now more motivated than ever to delve into data, understand its implications, and explore how it can be leveraged to foster business growth.”
The Boxsters (Sparck):
- Joshua Oluwademilade Hambolu, Business Administration - ITM
- Ean Girault, Business Administration - ITM
- Brian Chen, Industrial Engineering
- Lake Boyer, Business Administration – ITM, Team Leader
- Narin Smith, MBA Mentor
Scheller Sparck Squadron (Sparck):
- Ruben Lechuga Gonzalez, Business Administration - ITM
- Aidan Peairs, Aerospace Engineering, Team Leader
- Cindy Wei Zhou, Business Administration - ITM
- Devarshi Patra, Business Administration – ITM
- Jeffrey Campey, MBA Mentor
Learn more: The Business Analytics Center