Wesley Niemann	Gerard de Villiers

If this statement is taken into account, then the 2012 Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards, hosted by the Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa (SAPICS) on 19 April 2012, confirms this association's position as one of the most prominent leaders regarding knowledge and expertise in the field of supply chain and operations. Over the past six years this prestigious event has become known to recognise supply chain education excellence across the board.

"Only through education can South Africa increase its level of competitiveness – and the competition in supply chain operations is indeed ever-increasing. China, for example, has increased its number of innovation centres by more than 300 and has more students studying English, Math and Science than we have individuals in our entire population. Our ability to compete lies in companies that are passionate about the development of talent and investing in their people. It also lies in us rewarding people who invest their time and talents in empowering themselves. By doing so, these individuals add value to both the communities they live in and the companies they serve", says Deon Greyling, Senior Vice President of BTS and principal sponsor of the event.

The awards were founded to applaud and bring attention to the extremely diverse successful education interventions which are taking place all over South Africa. The 2012 panel of judges could boast with the expertise of Liezl Smith, President of SAPICS; Gerard de Villiers, Professional Transportation Engineer and Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Business Management as well as the University of Lugano, Switzerland; and Wesley Niemann, Lecturer in the Department of Business Management at UP.

The award for the top scorer on the African continent in the APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) examinations of 2011 went to Leigh Pearse of Unilever. The CPIM programme has been around since 1974 and is recognised globally as the standard of professional competence in production and inventory control. This prestigious designation, which SAPICS offers through its US affiliate the Association for Operation Management in America (APICS), is earned upon the successful completion of five different exams.

A relatively new industry educational certification programme (which was created to address the rapidly changing needs of the supply chain management field) is the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) programme from APICS. It takes a broad view of the supply chain management field, extending beyond internal operations to encompass all the steps throughout the supply chain – from the supplier, through the company, to the end consumer. The CSCP provides candidates with the knowledge to effectively manage the integration of these activities to maximise the value chain of a company. The award for the top scorer in the CSCP examinations in Africa went to Christo Cronje, Cash Planning Manager at Absa. For the past three years Absa employees have achieved the highest mark for this qualification. "This remarkable achievement of our students is testament to the fact that Absa is a dynamic organisation and that we always strive to attract the best talent in the industry. We also strive to empower our current employees to continue bettering themselves, both personally and professionally”, says Millicent Clarke, Head of Human Resources at Absa.

Gerald Verreyne of Bytes People Solutions was named SAPICS Instructor of the Year, with CapeSynergy's David Goldschmidt taking the runner-up spot. Oliver Wight sponsored this award once again, proving that this company, as leading business improvement specialist, recognises the intrinsic value of developing educators of the highest caliber.

The runner-up in the category for SAPICS Authorised Education Provider of the Year was Kent Outsourcing Services with IRM Supply Chain Services taking top honours.

A category that has grown immensely since the inception of the Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards is the one for Corporate Supply Chain Education Initiative of the Year. The award is presented to a company that strives to develop its employees on a continuous level through the promotion of in-house training programmes and ongoing support and development of training initiatives. The 2012 winner in this category was IMPERIAL Logistics, with UTi in second place.

"It is reassuring and exciting to see the work being carried out in supply chain education in South Africa – and we have really only scratched the surface. There is much more being done in the profession and we look forward to receiving more nominations next year and to recognising the efforts and achievements of people in the supply chain profession", concludes Liezl Smith, SAPICS President.