“Don’t seek perfection. Seek balance. Seek consistence. Seek justice. Seek passion. Seek a cause for humanity, and your life shall have meaning.” These are the words of Derreck Kayongo, global humanitarian and a general session speaker at APICS 2017. His poignant and sometimes funny talk highlighted how, as the founder of the Global Soap Project, he sought to recycle soap from hotel rooms and redistribute it to vulnerable populations around the world. Kayongo linked the humanitarian aspects of this effort directly to the importance of supply chains — a theme that ran throughout the conference.
More than 2,000 attendees from 50 different countries attended the three-day conference, held in San Antonio. Educational sessions started early Sunday morning, framed by the APICS Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model-inspired learning paths: plan, source, make, deliver, return and enable. Educational opportunities ranged from the “ABC’s of S&OP” and “Block Chain in the Supply Chain” to “STEM Outreach in your Community” and “The Twinkie Story: Hostess Brands’ Planning Processes for Agility, Reactivity and Speed.”
In his session, Don Sheldon, CFPIM, CIRM, CSCP, from DHSheldon & Associates, defined what robust sales and operations planning (S&OP) is and its ABC’s, which are:
- A: All in and Accountability
- B: Both sides of the organization are required
- C: Common glossary, measurements and shared process objectives.
Instead of talking about STEM outreach in her session, Cheryl Dalsin, APICS director of academic outreach, showed her audience how they can expose high school and college students to supply chain using the supply chain Cell Phone Game. The hands-on activity demonstrated actual play, enabling participants to take the activity into their own communities. (More information on teaching supply chain concepts to K-12 and college students is available at apics.org/stem.)
One popular double session was the inaugural Women in Supply Chain Forum, which featured an overview of recent women in manufacturing and supply chain research, a panel discussion, a look at AT&T’s diversity efforts, and roundtable discussions. Many valuable pieces of advice were shared, including the motto “make change your best friend,” which came from Valerie Young, vice president of global supply chain services and operations at 3M. Young joined Karen Alber, CFPIM, former MillerCoors chief information officer; Laura Scott, McCormick & Company director, global process owner of integrated business planning; and Moderator Jennifer Daniels, APICS vice president of marketing; to explore the importance of attracting, retaining and promoting women in supply chain.
In his general session, John Mackey, cofounder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, explained conscious capitalism, which includes “creating strategies where all the stakeholders simultaneously win.” He added that cheating your suppliers today will only hurt you and your business in the future.
Accessing your resources
For supply chain professionals who were unable to attend APICS 2017, and for those who did and want to maximize their experiences, the APICS 2017 app provides presentations, speaker information and additional resources. Download it for free from iTunes or Google Play.
It’s not too early to start planning to attend APICS 2018, September 30-October 2, in Chicago, which recently was named Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards top city. Advance registration is available now at apicsconference.org.
