GET THE TOOLS TO BUILD A BIONIC SUPPLY CHAIN AT THE 2023 SAPICS CONFERENCE

The supply chain is the backbone of almost every business. If it breaks, an organisation may never recover from the lost time, money and customers. A bionic supply chain – which harnesses the best that humans and machines have to offer – may sound like something out of science fiction, but according to SAPICS (The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management in Southern Africa), it is what African businesses should be building, to future proof their supply chains in an increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex environment. The latest technology that…

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ENTRIES INVITED FOR 2023 AFRICA SUPPLY CHAIN EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Supply chains make the world go round. They have the power to save lives, to save the planet and grow economies. Excellence in supply chain management is more important than ever in today’s volatile, uncertain and disruptive business environment. This is why the second annual Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards should be on the radar of all supply chain role players, say the organisers.   The 2023 season of the awards is open for entries, which are invited in a range of categories, from innovation, sustainability and digitalisation to transport and…

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SAPICS AND SAAFF JOIN FORCES FOR 45TH ANNUAL SAPICS CONFERENCE

Supply chain practitioners from around the world will meet in Cape Town from 11 to 14 June 2023 for the annual SAPICS Conference, Africa’s foremost knowledge sharing and networking event for the supply chain profession. This year’s 45th SAPICS Conference features an exciting collaboration between SAPICS (The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management) and the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), which will co-host the 2023 event. This powerful partnership will benefit SAPICS and SAAFF members, as well as the supply chain community as a whole, comments SAPICS president MJ Schoemaker. “We…

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FORWARD THINKING SUPPLY CHAINS ARE NEEDED TO WITHSTAND DISRUPTIONS AND VOLATILITY

More than two and a half years of disruption and volatility stretched supply chains to breaking point. Traditional and historic processes proved to be insufficient, and cracks in the critical armour of supply chain resilience are showing. For many organisations, business continuity hangs in the balance. According to MJ Schoemaker, president of SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain management, companies must do things differently to mitigate the risks and succeed in today’s challenging and constantly changing environment.  “We need forward thinking supply chains. It is crucial that organisations future…

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SUPPLY CHAIN PROFESSIONALS LOVE THEIR JOBS AND THEIR EARNING POTENTIAL IS ON THE RISE, SURVEY FINDS

People working in supply chain management love their jobs and their earning potential is up. However, employers are placing more emphasis on professional development in the supply chain profession, which has been in the public eye more than ever since the pandemic and other recent disruptions.  These are some of the findings of the 2022 Supply Chain Salary and Career Survey Report conducted by the US-based Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), of which SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management in Southern Africa, is a Premier Elite channel partner.…

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THINK GLOBAL AND ACT LOCAL TO REMEDY PROCUREMENT MYOPIA AND ENSURE BUSINESS SUCCESS AND RESILIENCE, EXPERTS ADVISE

Procurement myopia can be a death sentence for an organisation. This has never been more true than in today’s fragile, post-pandemic and disruption fraught business environment, where economies are still reeling, and business resilience and innovation are more important than ever. “Glocalisation” is a remedy for procurement myopia, according to Dr. Jones Mathew, who is a Professor at the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Gurgaon, India. He was one of the 100 renowned African and international experts who shared their experience and insights with the more than 500 delegates…

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MORE SUPPORT AND CAREER PATHING NEEDED FOR WOMEN IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

A lack of career opportunities is the main reason that women leave the supply chain profession, according to respondents in the recently published seventh annual Gartner / AWESOME Women in Supply Chain research survey. MJ Schoemaker, president of SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management in Southern Africa, notes that while supply chain management has come a long way from the once male dominated field in which women only filled service roles, it still has a long way to go in terms of gender parity. “We have seen an increase in the…

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SAPICS PANELISTS EXPLORE SUPPLY CHAIN’S CLIMATE IMPACT AND JOURNEY TO NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS

While sustainability, circularity and the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 are topping the agendas of organisations around the world, South Africa is caught in a chicken and egg situation that is delaying the roll out of clean energy and alternate fuels. This was a key message from the experts who took part in a thought-provoking panel discussion on the management of supply chain’s climate impact and the journey to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 at the 2022 SAPICS Conference for supply chain professionals. Transportation is one of supply chain’s…

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AFRICAN SUPPLY CHAIN COMMUNITY LEARNS HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS

African companies can do business with the United Nations (UN), and the process has been streamlined by the recent merging of the UN’s previously separate procurement and logistics departments into an integrated Office of Supply Chain Management in the Department of Operational Support. This was the message delivered to around 600 African supply chain professionals at the 2022 SAPICS Conference in Cape Town by Herbert Pechek, who is the Chief of Supply Chain Service at the United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) in Brindisi, Italy. “I am here as an ambassador, to…

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