SAPICS (The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management) has announced that the theme of the 2022 SAPICS Conference, Africa’s leading event for supply chain professionals, is “Purpose Driven Supply Chains”. This important event takes place from 12 to 15 June 2022 at Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town.

“There will be some online elements; but we are hoping that the supply chain community will be able to gather in person again to learn, network and share knowledge at the 44th annual SAPICS Conference,” comments SAPICS president MJ Schoemaker.

Expanding on the theme, she says: “The VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world in which we are living right now has thrown supply chain management into the spotlight across the world. Supply chain agility and transparency have become more critical than ever before to ensure that our customers are served. It has been an incredibly challenging time for supply chain practitioners all over the world. Supply chains have been stretched and fractured. Many supply chain professionals are burned out. I want to commend them for everything that they have done to keep supply chains moving and ensure the distribution of essential goods and lifesaving medicines.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – which brought unprecedented supply chain disruptions and exposed the vulnerabilities in many organisations’ supply chains – will be felt for a long time. Now, more than ever, organisations are looking to become purpose driven. This means delivering value and profit to stakeholders while maintaining a focus on responsible practices that affect the planet and people. Supply chains are the real opportunity to enable change. The annual SAPICS Conference is the place to learn how, and to connect with experts and peers who can help organisations and supply chain professionals to create and sustain purpose driven supply chains,” Schoemaker states.

SAPICS has also opened the call for speakers for the 2022 SAPICS Conference. “Industry professionals and supply chain experts are invited to submit presentations for consideration for this year’s line-up at Africa’s leading event for supply chain professionals. We are looking for inspiring or educational experiences, lessons learned, solutions and best practices; enlightening expertise and insights; new technology and concepts; case studies; and white papers. The annual SAPICS Conference is the ideal platform for supply chain professionals to make a valuable contribution to the annual update of our profession’s body of knowledge,” Schoemaker says. “By sharing your supply chain experiences and expertise, fellow professionals from around the globe will be able to benefit from your knowledge. Being a speaker at the annual SAPICS Conference is also a way to give back to the supply chain community and to grow professionally.”

The topics suggested by SAPICS for speakers’ consideration include new insights, post-pandemic trends and innovations, Industry 4.0 and artificial intelligence, operational excellence, sustainability and the environment, synchronised planning, sales and operations planning, the state of manufacturer and 3PL relationships and the evolution of e-commerce. 

For more information and speaker submissions for the 2022 SAPICS Conference, call 011 023 6701, email info@SAPICS.org.za or visit the SAPICS Conference website https://conference.SAPICS.org