Proaction x Iowa State University – Turning Classroom Theory into Real Fleet Operations

This semester, Iowa State University’s SCM/IS 540 students got to experience modern fleet operations the way real teams do: by running them inside Proaction.

Working with Associate Professor Henrik Sternberg at the Ivy College of Business, we set up a dedicated Proaction environment modeled after a real multi-location fleet. Instead of just reading about enterprise systems, students logged into Proaction and:

• Created and managed work units in their assigned “lot”
• Added inventory with receipts and saw how it flowed through operations
• Exported data to understand how day-to-day activity shows up in reports and decision-making
• Applied Proaction AI functionality to understand how emerging tools can streamline daily operational workflows and surface actionable insights

As Professor Sternberg put it, “It is vital for students to learn how state-of-the-art ERP systems interact with novel, AI-powered solutions from startups. Our collaboration with Proaction gives students hands-on experience in how maintenance processes can be streamlined in practice, and how innovative tools can be integrated with legacy enterprise systems.”

The exercise was designed to connect strategy, operations, and systems in a single experience. Students saw how choices about locations, assets, and processes show up in the software, and how that software in turn shapes what operators can see and do. Just as importantly, they experienced the reality that modern operations rarely live in a single, perfectly clean system.

“What students quickly realize is that real firms do not operate with a single, clean system landscape,” Sternberg noted. “This assignment exposes them to the messy reality of best-of-breed architectures, where integration, data ownership, and process alignment matter as much as the technology itself.”

That contrast was clear from the student perspective as well. Jayce Abens, a student in the course, described how Proaction fit into the broader ERP curriculum:

“Our ERP coursework focused on Microsoft Dynamics and Oracle NetSuite, both powerful platforms that are notoriously complex. Using Proaction for an assignment was a breath of fresh air by comparison. The platform felt sleek, intuitive, and user-friendly, especially for our fleet management use case. That made it easy to focus on problem-solving rather than learning the software itself.”

From classroom to day-one impact

Professor Sternberg has built a reputation for creating some of the strongest ERP and supply chain classes in the country. With a PhD in Supply Chain Management from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, prior experience as an Associate Professor at Lund University, and years spent running his own consulting companies, he designs courses that mirror the way real consulting and operations teams work.

His students are used to working in full-featured enterprise systems, configuring processes from scratch, and presenting their work to industry practitioners. The Proaction collaboration extends that model into the world of fleet and asset operations.

For students, the benefits are clear:

• They work inside a real system used by actual fleets, not a toy interface
• They see how concepts like planning, inventory control, and visibility play out in live workflows
• They leave the course with concrete experience that maps directly to roles in operations, consulting, and analytics

For Proaction, the partnership is already showing results. We’ve hired team members who came through Henrik’s classes and program, and they bring the same blend of systems fluency and supply chain thinking that his courses are known for.

This collaboration is a model for how universities and industry can work together. Students learn on the same tools companies rely on, professors get richer ways to connect theory and practice, and companies meet graduates who are ready to make an impact

About Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business

The Ivy College of Business is ranked among the top 10% of accredited full‑time MBA programs in the United States. Its Supply Chain Management program is ranked #6 worldwide and is known for internationally recognized faculty and a strong emphasis on logistics, operations, and strategic supply chain management.

About Proaction

Proaction is a modular fleet operations platform that connects people, assets, and data into a single system of action. Fleets use Proaction to manage service, inspections, claims, tolls, and more, while automating the workflows that keep operations moving.

Built in Des Moines, Iowa, Proaction adapts to each customer’s unique processes and helps teams reduce time spent managing spreadsheets while running efficient, data-driven operations.