Learning behind bars: women inmates beat expectations in logistics training

© Amsis1

Logistics can turn your life around – according to inmates at a women’s prison in the US. Funded by Wal-Mart and Jobs for the Future, inmates are being trained in Transportation Distribution Logistics in a seven-week course. The women were given the task of managing a simulated digital warehouse business, from payroll, to sales and logistics. The training included on-site instruction from the local community college, computer simulations and hands-on forklift operation, which they took off-site at the college campus. The women each gained a forklift and Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification, and a Manufacturing Skills Council certification as logistics technicians. A win-win for industry, society and prisoners.