Holland woman, Ferris student takes reins on major Haworth supply chain overhaul
Carla Garcia-Caballero, a Holland native and senior management major at Ferris State University, is helping furniture giant Haworth to rebid its medium-density fiberboard suppliers this summer.
BIG RAPIDS — When office furniture giant Haworth set out to rebid its medium-density fiberboard suppliers this summer, Carla Garcia-Caballero wasn't just watching from the sidelines — she was calling the shots.
Garcia-Caballero, a Holland native and senior management major at Ferris State University set to graduate in December, spearheaded the high-stakes corporate procurement project during her summer internship. Tasked with managing complex purchasing data, she meticulously mapped Haworth’s MDF acquisition strategy, evaluating product volumes, current vendor contracts, and market availability.
From there, Garcia-Caballero managed the entire request for proposal process. She vetted existing suppliers, sourced new potential partners, and ran a comprehensive analysis comparing unit pricing, product specifications, and logistics costs to secure maximum value for the company.
"Suppliers rarely give you their best price upfront," Garcia-Caballero noted. "You have to dig into why a quote was given a certain way, ask follow-up questions, and look for opportunities to bundle or adjust the volumes to get better pricing."
Beyond vendor negotiations, the internship offered Garcia-Caballero a front-row seat to real-world supply chain volatility. When Haworth faced demand forecasting discrepancies that triggered over-purchasing and bloated inventory costs, her team stepped in to analyze historical trends and refine the company's predictive models.
She credits her success directly to her Lean and Six Sigma coursework within Ferris State's College of Business — methodologies actively used across Haworth's operations.
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"Seeing the tools from class used in real processes felt rewarding," Garcia-Caballero said. "It gave me an advantage since I was the only intern in the department with that background."
Her experience highlights the practical pipeline of Ferris State’s Management program, which blends classroom theory with real-world operations, supply chain, and procurement training. It is a field with a strong financial outlook: according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, buyers and purchasing agents earned a median annual salary of $75,650 in 2024.
— Submitted by Ferris State University. To submit a news tip, email newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.
