“Fresh” stimulation for operations management and supply chain profession

SAPICS is making another Fresh Connection in the supply chain industry! The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa launched the national Fresh Connection Game for 2012 at its regional conference held on 20th September in Cape Town. This competition provides a thrilling and educational learning experience and is open to all participants in the operations management and supply chain industry.

In announcing the 2012 competition, Ken Titmuss, Director of SAPICS, said that The Fresh Connection Game is the ultimate supply chain experience. "It provides delegates with team and leadership challenges in communication, decision making, co-operation and alignment of strategic 'out of the box' thinking. The programme addresses supply chain topics like supply chain strategy, Sales & Operations Planning, demand -, inventory -, operations – and supplier management. It gives a real life supply chain experience within a simulated environment."

Competitors will benefit by experiencing real life business simulations based on micro cycles. Sessions on feedback, evaluation, discussions and presentations allow that proper reflection of learning takes place in an environment where both learning and ideas are shared amongst representatives from various backgrounds in the supply chain profession. The game teaches delegates to conceptualise solutions for simulated supply chains by teaching the application of various models and tools to form strategies and tactics.

"In order to ensure future growth of supply chain organisations, we need to grow human and intellectual capital in the supply chain profession," said Titmuss. "This is one of the core objectives of SAPICS and we invite anyone interested to participate in this globally recognised competition

The Volition Consulting Services team – a member of the IMPERIAL Logistics Group – was the South African national champion of the 2010 competition. Volition Consulting Services is a proud sponsor of SAPICS and renowned consultants in the supply chain profession. "We were quite reluctant to venture on this seemingly daunting task to make sense of a 'real' supply chain end-to-end - but it turned out to be a learning experience of note!" said the Volition team.

After their national victory, the Volition team went on to compete in the International championships in Pisa, Italy. They concluded on their return: "Overall the experience and interaction with the other teams and being able to share knowledge and strategies on a global scale proved to be extremely valuable. One of the most important things we learnt was that the theoretical models are of excellent use for planning strategies to get the various sections and functions optimised. However, it is of paramount importance to keep it simple and communicate regularly during the decision making process and to manage the integration of overall optimisation."

Interested parties can contact SAPICS on 011- 023 6707 to enter or visit their website at http://www.sapics.org

SAPICS - The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa - comprises professional members from across the spectrum of South African industry. Since its foundation in 1966, SAPICS has become a leading provider of knowledge in supply chain management, production and operations in South Africa. The association is closely affiliated to APICS -The Association for Operations Management in the United States.

SAPICS is the South African custodian of two internationally accredited certification programmes from APICS - Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP). The association's education offerings are aimed at advancing industry's ability to succeed in a changing and increasingly competitive market place.

The Annual SAPICS Conference and Exhibition is the premier educational and networking event in Africa for Supply Chain management professionals.

The 34th Annual SAPICS Conference and Exhibition will be held at Sun City from 2nd to 5th June 2012.

For further information, please contact:

Denise Lourens

0832685605

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OR

Jenny Froome at SAPICS

011 023 6707

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