Thesis Internship Driving Process Excellence through AI

mars; Veghel; Hybrid; EUR 8,900 - 10,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Internship allowance €800-€900 per 4 w

Job summary

Mars invites a Bachelor’s or Master’s student for a Thesis internship in Veghel, hybrid from office and home. You will explore how AI can support an end-to-end Process Excellence framework for supply chain, designing a 'Process Lake' to centralize knowledge and compare actuals with theory.

You'll map demand planning and process management processes, identify gaps, and develop actionable improvement proposals with cross-functional stakeholders. Start Jan 2027 and earn €800–€900 per 4 weeks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's student required.
• Interest in AI, process mining and digital transformation.
• Strong project management and stakeholder management abilities.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication.

Responsibilities

• Research and define a framework to enable supply chain process excellence at scale.
• Investigate the architectural and functional requirements to build a 'process lake' centralizing knowledge.
• Explore AI methods to audit meeting-centric workflows alongside system data.
• Map and evaluate standard processes against operational actuals across Demand Planning and Supply Chain.
• Identify gaps, non-compliance patterns, and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to validate audit methods and findings.
• Formulate actionable improvement proposals and an implementation roadmap.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder mgmt

Analytical thinking

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor's/Master's student

Tools

AI tools

Process mining

Data analytics

Job description

Location: Veghel (hybrid - partly at the office, partly from home)

Education level: Bachelor's or master's student

Internship type: Thesis internship

Internship allowance: €800 - €900 per 4 weeks

Start date: Jan 2027

Language requirement: Fluent in English (spoken and written); Dutch is a plus

About Mars

At Mars, we've been building brands that people and pets love for over a century. As a family-owned business, we operate in more than 180 countries worldwide with iconic brands such as M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, SHEBA®, and ROYAL CANIN®.

What makes Mars different? Our culture. We believe that growth starts with our people. That's why you'll get the freedom to develop yourself, share your ideas, and take real responsibility from day one.

About the Internship

The Thesis Intern Driving Process Excellence through AI will explore how process standards can be maintained, audited, and scaled across complex supply chain operations. Having process standards is the foundation for high supply chain performance, enabling the setup of planning hubs, sharing best practices at scale, and driving process digitalization and automation. However, keeping to this standard is challenging and time‑consuming. While process mining helps, it is typically system‑focused and cannot cover the entire process‑particularly meeting‑focused interactions such as Demand Planning reviews.

You will investigate how AI capabilities can facilitate more effective and efficient process and meeting audits. The core challenge is to investigate the framework needed to achieve process excellence at scale by conceptualizing and designing a 'process lake' (analogous to a data lake) where process knowledge is stored, shared, and compared to evaluate actuals versus theory and generate concrete improvement proposals.

What You'll Do

• Research and define a framework to enable supply chain process excellence at scale.
• Investigate the architectural and functional requirements to build a 'process lake' where end-to-end process knowledge is centralized, shared, and compared.
• Explore how AI capabilities can be leveraged to audit meeting-centric and collaborative workflows that traditional process mining cannot capture.
• Map and evaluate standard processes against operational actuals (theory vs. actuals) across Demand Planning and Supply Chain operations.
• Identify operational gaps, non-compliance patterns, and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Engage and collaborate with cross‑functional stakeholders in Demand Planning and Process Management to validate audit methods and findings.
• Formulate actionable improvement proposals and an implementation roadmap based on AI audit insights.
• Deliver an academically rigorous thesis fulfilling both university graduation requirements and Mars business goals.

By the end of the internship, the intern will have investigated and established a Process Excellence AI Framework that enables Supply Chain teams to:

• Centralize and structure process knowledge within a prototype/conceptual 'Process Lake'.
• Utilize AI methods to evaluate meeting‑centric and human‑driven workflows alongside system data.
• Systematically compare actual operational execution against theoretical process standards.
• Automatically identify discrepancies and generate actionable improvement proposals across teams.

Who we're looking for

• Bachelor's or Master's student in Supply Chain Management, Business Process Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Analytics, Information Management, or a related field.
• Knowledge of or strong interest in Supply Chain Management, Demand Planning, and Business Process Mapping.
• Practical understanding or keen interest in AI tools, process mining concepts, and digital transformation.
• Strong project management and stakeholder management capabilities, with the ability to engage diverse teams.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to translate complex process interactions into structured insights.
• Structured, proactive, and comfortable working both independently on a thesis and collaboratively with business stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

What You Can Expect from Mars

A challenging and versatile internship in an international environment

The opportunity to grow both professionally and personally, supported by an experienced and approachable team

A competitive internship allowance (€800-€900 per 4 weeks) and travel and home-working compensation

Guidance and mentorship from experienced supply chain professionals

And of course, unlimited access to our chocolate at the office