The new normal for supply chains involves uncertainty, complexity and risk, according to international supply chain risk management specialist, Gregory Schlegel.

A professor at Lehigh University in the USA, a renowned author and founder of the global Supply Chain Risk Management Consortium, Schlegel will be presenting a one-of-a-kind workshop at the upcoming SAPICS Conference in Cape Town.

“This will be the first time that supply chain management, supply chain risk, insurance and risk professionals, along with software providers, will be together under one roof. Bringing multiple risk and supply chain disciplines together will translate into exceptional learnings for everyone - whether in the risk industry or running global supply chains.

This is a unique opportunity for all delegates to gain a new appreciation of the complexity of global supply chains and the tools and methodologies available to enable global enterprises to identify, assess, mitigate and manage risk,” stresses SAPICS president Mungo Park.

Now in its 41st successful year, the annual SAPICS Conference is Africa’s leading knowledge sharing and networking event for supply chain professionals. Hosted by SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management, it takes place from 9 to 12 June 2019.

Park notes that the SAPICS Conference has the proud distinction of being one of very few events to offer powerful workshops as a value-add, at no additional cost to delegates. “This year, we have 10 not-to-be-missed workshops, including Professor Schlegel’s seminar, and I urge SAPICS delegates to make the most of the opportunity.”

Other impactful workshops on the SAPICS 2019 line-up include a session on effective problem solving facilitated by renowned international speaker and coach, Ginty Chalk, “You can strive and thrive by challenging how you solve problems,” Chalk says, adding that there is a direct link between the way people feel and the way they perform at work. “This is one of the most robust and consistent findings in organisational research. In high performing organisations people feel significantly more engaged, cared for, valued, proud, and motivated than those in low performing organisations.

Conversely, in low performing organisations people feel significantly more fearful, stressed, dis-empowered and uncertain. Leadership is fundamentally about facilitating performance. Research has proven that a leader’s emotional intelligence is key to their capacity to facilitate emotions in others that drive high performance and employee engagement. This is more than just a moral compass; it is also a recipe for success,” Chalk asserts.

A workshop with Martin Mvulane, chief adaptability officer at GAD Consulting, will highlight the inconvenient truths that are preventing, and even destroying, business value. “Nobody needs to be told that the world has changed and will continue to change at an increasing rate. The intensity of competition has increased, driven by technology and global trade policies.

Business to customer (B2C) markets were previously dominated by large retailers and manufacturers. Retailing practices such as listing prices created barriers for small manufacturers to access the mass markets, limiting their distribution scope and hence growth potential. Similarly, small retailers did not have the buying power to be price competitive, limiting their attractiveness and growth potential.

Online retailers, such as Alibaba and Amazon, changed the game. Small manufacturers now have a cost-effective route to the mass markets,” Martin says. “In this workshop, delegates will learn to optimise resource capacity and gain an understanding of how the nature of the employment relationship is changing, and how technology has changed the way we work.”

The 2019 SAPICS Conference also offers workshops focused on the latest models and methodologies impacting supply chains, including SCOR (the Supply Chain Operations Reference model) and DDMRP (Demand Driven Materials Requirements Planning).

“The latter workshop is a truly unique one featuring ‘DDBrix’. Delegates will get hands-on experience in a LEGO bricks assembly workshop, where they will practice demand driven planning and experience effective collaboration, getting updated on the latest DDMRP methods while playing and having fun,” Park explains.

Warehouse operations, lean management and supply network planning are other topics that will be covered in this year’s SAPICS Conference workshops.

For further information or to register for SAPICS 2019, call 011 023 6701 or email info@SAPICS.org.za. Up-to the-minute information is also posted on the SAPICS Conference website: https://conference.SAPICS.org