Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards

23 March 2010

AWARDS HONOUR SUPPLY CHAIN EDUCATION ACHIEVERS

The fourth annual Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards were held at Melrose, Johannesburg. This prestigious event, which is hosted by SAPICS (The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa), took the form of a glittering gala dinner at which individuals, organisations and educators who are going the extra mile to address the skills deficit in the supply chain and operations management profession were honoured. SAPICS reports that the event is already being lauded as a resounding success, getting bigger and better each year.

SAPICS director Cobus Rossouw welcomed the 140 guests, and the evening was opened by Deon Greyling, managing director of BTS, an award sponsor and the principal sponsor of this year's SAPICS Conference and Exhibition. Deon commented that SAPICS's commitment to developing the profession, and the success of events like the annual Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards, which are attended by leading companies and professionals from across the spectrum of South African industry, reinforced BTS's decision to sponsor the SAPICS Conference for a second consecutive year.

Beverley Kujawa of the University of Johannesburg was the evening's charming and eloquent MC.

IMPERIAL Logistics sponsored the prestigious award for the top scorer in Africa in the CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) examinations. Commenting on the value of programmes like the CPIM, which SAPICS offers through its US affiliate APICS (The Association for Operations Management in America), marketing director Abrie De Swardt commented: "The international certification courses from APICS are particularly important in a global village and these ensure that we are aligned to the latest thought leadership in the industry. In addition to the business benefits, participation in these courses is also an investment in our employees, who gain from a learning and development perspective regarding global developments and best practices in the supply chain profession. They then leverage this knowledge to the benefit of the business and our customers."

Douglas Nel was named the top CPIM scorer, for Basics of Supply Chain Management, with Churchward Mucheki, from Softline ACCPAC, taking the runner-up spot, for Material Planning Resources.

In the category for the top scorer in the CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional) examinations in Africa, Henricus Verhoef of Volition Consulting Services took top honours, having achieved one of the highest scores in the world to date. The runner-up in this category was Colin Seftel of PSQ. These awards were sponsored by Tech Pro Personnel. MD Samantha Bannatyne presented the awards, and also took the opportunity to announce the winner of Tech Pro's annual CSCP bursary. This year it was awarded to Pradeep Patel, for his passion and commitment to developing those around him in his working environment. Patel's achievements include encouraging one of his staff members to become the first female forklift driver in the country.

The "Student of the Year" Award at the 2010 Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards was presented to Rolindi Theart of Rainbow Farms, whose commitment saw her assisting her fellow students by writing a summary that would help them in studying for their mid-term exams. She even went into work at weekends, to assist the students who were struggling. Rolindi's final exam mark was 95%. The runner-up for the Student of the Year Award was Leslie Locke from Aspen Nutritionals.

This year's "Higher Education and Training Student of the Year" was Quintin Joubert of Stellenbosch University, whose performance was rated as outstanding. He was the top student in the honours class and graduated cum laude. The runner-up was Mukovhe Ravhandalala of Vaal University of Technology.

The "Lecturer of the Year" Award is presented to a lecturer who diligently supports their students in a manner that extends beyond the call of duty, shows true committment to their students and has true enthusiasm for supply chain education. This award was sponsored by Oliver Wight. This year's Lecturer of the Year was none other than SAPICS president Reuben Badana of TKB, who is described as a dedicated lecturer who shows excellent understanding of the knowledge required and delivers lectures of the highest quality. The runner-up in this category was Burnie Adonis of Agile Operations Management Consultants

In the various corporate categories at the Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards, the following winners were named:

Corporate Educator of the Year
IMPERIAL Logistics won this award, which recognises companies that strive to continually develop their employees through the promotion of in-house training programmes and on-going support for training initiatives. The runner-up in this category was Transnet. This award was sponsored by BTS, principal sponsor of the annual SAPICS Conference and Exhibition.

Operations Management Programme of the Year
Volition Consulting Services won this category for its programme "DeVolition". This award is presented to an outstanding project or programme which has contributed significantly to education in the supply chain and operations sector, either through educating individuals or an education intervention that was conducted within an organisation think this is the 3rd year they have won this award. The runner-up was the Transnet Procurement Academy with ISAPA

AEP of the Year
This award, presented to the SAPICS Authorised Education Provider which has shown commitment, significant contribution and continual development during 2009, went to Kent Outsourcing. The runner-up was Bizzpro.

Initiative Award
Vicenda received this award, for their initiative in promoting education in a new format, which they call "Workshop in a Box". Vicenda has contracted leading lecturers in the field of Operations Management to record workshops to sell as a DVD to those students who do not have the time or resources to attend a live workshop.