The truth about future growth – SAPICS Conference feedback

The next ten years will see mankind use more resources than it has in its entire history.

Despite the recent recession the growth of the world’s population shows no sign of abating and urban populations in African cities are set to triple over the next 40 years.

While this will add to the demand for raw materials, food and consumer goods, it will also dramatically escalate the demand for already strained, scarce and finite resources such as basic services, land, water, energy and affordable food, Dr Alan Barnard, CEO of Goldratt Research Labs SA, told delegates at the SAPICS Conference 2011.

Small growth factors like 1.8% per annum catch governments off guard in terms of rapidly rising demand for service delivery and as a result are not developing sufficient forward capacity to cope.

Anticipating ‘Future Growth Today’ was the theme for this year’s SAPICS Conference, which itself has experienced impressive growth: this year’s delegate count rose to 1238 delegates.

Furthermore, its count of APICS Accredited Education Providers (AEPs) increased by one, with Commerce Edge Academy, headed by Dr Ernst van Biljon, welcomed into the ranks of certified trainers. Commerce Edge Academy has pioneered a highly successful online learning forum, blended with hands-on tutorials which it will now apply to the APICS qualifications in addition to its existing CIPS courses.

Prof. Nick Binedell, director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science, inspired the audience with his talk on the ‘New Competitive Frontiers for South African Business’, in which he dealt with the developing effective strategies to confront the fast changing economic environment and the massive shift in growth from the North West to the South East of the globe, of which South Africa is a vital part.

The Commercial side of supply chain services and vendors in South Africa was represented by the 45 exhibitors and 9 lead sponsors.

Principal sponsor MTN Business and two platinum sponsors IMPERIAL LOGISTICS and BTS dominated the exhibition floor. Leading supply chain consultancy Volition, a silver sponsor, also achieved valuable branding, sponsoring highly visible delegate bags.

SmartProcurement was among the media houses in attendance: 3S Media, BDFM, Charmont Media, ITWeb, Logistics News and Supply Chain Today.

Abrie de Swardt, Marketing Director at IMPERIAL Logistics, discussed ‘Making your supply chain carbon reduction pay by implementing the latest GREEN Transportation and Logistics initiatives’.

Through measuring ‘extra distance’ logistics, planners can make more informed decisions regarding the negative impact of transportation on the environment by eliminating waste within the supply chain. For example, in avoiding unnecessary extensions to routes one will cut back on fuel consumption with immediate savings in that process. Imperial Logistics has proven that by working in tandem with their customers it is possible to achieve economic goals and environmental benefits, simultaneously.

Supply Chain professionals and Procurement departments can now look forward to Smart Procurement World. Kicking off at Gallagher Convention Centre on 11 OCTOBER 2011, the two-day public and private sector conferences will be followed by specialised workshops on day three.

Both corporate and government buyers, chief procurement officers and purchasing practitioners are catered for in the 5th Annual SmartSourcing Conference and 3rd Annual Public Sector Supply Chain Summit – all under one roof.

This year’s line-up of speakers and subject matter experts will contribute to the further professional development of delegates:

• Henry Malinga: Chief Director of Supply at the South African National Treasury.
• Dr David Klatzow: Forensic Scientist and acclaimed Author
• Wayne Duvenage: Chief Executive Officer at Avis
• Garth Ibbetson: Managing Director of Resolution Life

Smart Procurement World provides an annual forum where the top SCM enablers, service providers and suppliers can meet and network with focussed delegates representing procurement departments from across the national supply chains in both the private and public sectors of the SA economy.

The Sponsorship and EXPO line-up this year includes Bitts Technology, Commerce Edge Procurement Training, Marshan Technologies, PI Benchmarking, Searchlight Spend Analysis, Transvelope, TravelLinck Sourcing, Volition Consulting and WiL Integrated Logistics.

This is where commerce and the Procurement & Supply Management profession meet to get up to date with the latest development and trends, meet the leading thinkers and tap into a vast body of professional knowledge.

Click here for more information on Smart Procurement World