If you are working on cargo movement in the aviation industry . I would say CILT will still be much relevant professional body to join and gain excellent global industry insight.

[size=8pt][size=8pt]Dear All,a UK based CIPS/ CILT training providers soon to set up learning centers in Lagos and Port Harcourt, details will be available on this thread once plans are concluded. [/size][/size]

@JAKa,have you gotten ur study materials already, pls contact me to know hw much because I called d line given to you and I didn't undastand wat d guy wz saying online at all,I think he give out training also am nt sure,
@ALL,I went to multimix academy is charging 160K for training of level 4 only for 12saturdays, is it dat expensive, even harley reeds inst.too is expensive as well wat of us dat we don't have job for now, I can't afford it so I need to study on my own, kindly assisst oo on time ,thanks

^^^ now you r talking

I just got an admission to study MSc in procurement,Logistics and Supply Chain Management in a Uk University and was going thru some journals on the web when i stumbbled into this page.I am very impressed with all the posts i have read because this is going to be a very new area for me(cos my 1st degree was in English Language)and nobody seems to know anything about it.I have being able to learn a lot just goint through these post.

Please those of you who are already in d Supply Chain Industry should not relent to help us know d next steps to take to make it in the industry as beginners.

God bless you all.

Please, a̶̲̥̅♏ a graduate of material science engineering. I want to go for professional certifications instead of a masters. A̶̲̥̅♏ considering SCM though a̶̲̥̅♏ yet to b working, just a fresh graduate with OND electrical electronics and BSC material science. What are the necessary steps? Can this path lead M̶̲̥̅ε̲̣̣̣̥ into  telecoms and oil sector? Thank you. Also, how do I start?

This path can take you anywhere: telecoms, fmcg, oil & gas, construction and co, considering your background, but don't rule out the option of masters. I have masters in Int'l supply chain & logistics management, MCIPS and associate membership of CILT. And trust me its just a prerequisite, that's not all you need, there's mad competition out there, but i must commend you ve made the right decision.

If you ve the means to study abroad, UK uni's r quite good and most r accredited by cips and cilt. so when u finish masters you get certified after three years experience, but otherwise you can contact institutes in Nigeria(not really familiar with that though (cos ve been away for a while). but you can visit www.cips.org for list of accredited institutes in Nigeria.

Goodluck.

Thank you for your post fescope.I learnt a lot from it.I just got an admission into a UK University to study a Masters in Procurement,Loogistics and Supply Chain Management.My school is affiliated to CIPS and I actually thought that my school being affiliated automatically makes me a member but your post has just educated me.Please what else can you suggest I do while studying or do I just wait till am out of school and get my 3yrs experience before I can take my certification exams?

Thanks Fescope.Hope to hear from you soon

Ur welcome.

The best bet is to get your 3 years experience, then apply for membership, the course is pretty intensive so u don't sit for any certification exams as u would ve been exempted form all papers on completion of your masters programme, that's if ur uni is accredited.

so all you need do is just focus on studies and course work.

Thank you Fescope. A̶̲̥̅♏ very grateful, and U̶̲̥̅̊ have brought light to m̶̲̥̅̊γ̲̣̣̥ path. I would heed your advise and would head for masters in Internat'l Supply Chain and Logistics management. I think University of Ibadan or Unilag should be offering d course, I would find out. Pls can I get a contact of urs so U̶̲̥̅̊ could be m̶̲̥̅̊γ̲̣̣̥ mentor? Thank u

Thanks again fescope.Yes my uni is cips accredited.i guess i will just have to concentrate on my studies then.have a good weekend

A Nairalander posed a question on QA/QC and I found the profession interesting and my personal thought is that Quality management is a sister profession to supply chain management,it features more prominently in the subjects of operations management and manufacturing,these are ally functions to supply chain management and hence of great significance,here is my response below:

[b]Quality Assurance or Quality Control are complementary sets of discipline under the quality management profession,the quality management profession itself is still a young profession in the league of management professions but has been demonstrated to contribute immensely to the operational excellence,sustainability and competitiveness of fortune 500 corporations,some of the organization that led in the area of quality management include General Electric(GE),Toyota,Motorola etc and these organization have in one way or the other contributed to the quality management innovations,buzzwords in quality management include TSP(Toyota Production System),Six Sigma, TQM(Total Quality Management),though manufacturing seems to be the cradle for the birth of advanced achievement in quality management,it has penetrated into every practice in innovation and development,Information Technology(I.T),Supply Chain Management(SCM),Project management,Health, Safety and Environment(HSE),Marketing & Customer Service.

There is no way you would talk about quality without mentioning excellence,the fundamentals of quality entails conformance to requirements and as defined by ISO, quality is the totality of characteristics of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy its stated and implied need.

In order to bring this definition home to oil & gas sector,every product and service requirements are defined to details as to the fitness for purpose,products in this case may include Tubing,Pumps,Compressors and in some cases transportation or construction services,in the case of products they always have technical specifications that has to be met for safety,regulatory and operational compliance and same applies to services but with some level of abstractness since you may be dealing with intangibles.

To ensure the products and services meets the stated(specification) or implied(regulatory) needs,there has to be some means and process to ensuring these requirements are met either proactively or in a situational approach.This entails rudiments like measurements and statistics,in the case of engineering there are loads of tool kits that has been developed to measure physical and mechanical characteristics,the output from these measuring exercise are fed into  the quality control process to ensure compliance or instigate a corrective process.The eventual outcome of these processes are efforts towards achieving quality and operational excellence in the case of services.

Finally,what draws the line between quality assurance and quality control is the approach of this efforts,if its done or designed to be proactive then its quality assurance but if its done as an intervention to produce a corrective result then it falls into quality control,though the line between this processes has diminished as quality management advanced,this explains the twin word QA/QC most time when it is discussed.[/b]

You can now follow me on twitter @okeabiodune and connect with my linkedin accounts(abiodun oke) to get tweets about resources for SCM career developments,career opportunities,events and networking with other professional colleagues.

^^^^^ NICE POST ! and true talk

HARLEY REED IN LAGOS


Harley Reed is a multidisciplinary international organisation comprising exceptional management & strategy consultants, accountants and training providers. Established 1991 and headquartered in the UK, Harley Reed has incorporated subsidiaries in the UK, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe. There are plans to establish further offices in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.


Registration Now Open For November 2011 Exams

Harley Reed (Nigeria) is an Approved Centre for the [b]Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Suppl[/b]y; we offer classroom, blended learning and distance learning support.

New this month is the addition of our Lagos centre to our centre in Abuja. We are also able to provide a complete distance learning package, affording students unable to attend classroom revision sessions access to the same materials provided to our Supported Learning Environment candidates. We are also providing all students with original 2011 CIPS Profex study guide text books.

Distance Learning, enables you to learn in your own time, at home or wherever you choose: reading, watching or listening to material supplied, doing course activities and assignments with regular support from your tutor. Our distance learning package has allowed us to further reduce prices to students, with fees starting from just N 18,000. We offer all inclusive prices, so CIPS Profex course textbooks and all study materials are already included our fees.
You'll enjoy full support throughout your studies, with a tutor to guide, advise and offer comprehensive feedback on your coursework. Your tutor can be contacted by email at all times

Registrations are open NOW for students wishing to study through all our study methods. Full prices and our student information pack are available for download from the training section of our website below: www.harleyreed.com/cips-professional-courses

Contact us now to speak with one of our advisors, or visit our website for .more information.

Contact & Support

LAGOS OFFICE
2B Oyetola Street, Off Savation Street
Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos
Tel: +234 708 2451976
Email: cipsng@harleyreed.com
www.harleyreed.com


ABUJA OFFICE
Harley Reed (Nigeria) Limited
Block SB1, 14 NNPC Estate
Toro Street, Off Ahmadu Bello Way
Garki Area 11, Abuja
Tel: +234 803 4080488 / +234 9 7800 102

@okeyz

Thanks for connecting on LinkedIn,it was a interesting coincidence that my last post is very relevant to your operations and I do remember some regulation as regards destination inspections,this aspect of the international trade supply chain is very critical to the quality of imported supplies.I thought it would benefit us all if you can shed some light on these operations and its relevance to my last discussion on QA/QC.

Cheers.
You can now follow me on twitter @okeabiodune and connect with my linkedin accounts(abiodun oke)

Just stumbled on this discussion thread, and i have to say i'm extremely impressed with the level of discourse on SCM that has been going on here. I have a background in the container shipping industry which forms a very integral part of SCM today. Appreciate the good work been done by guys like abinibi, wills etc on this thread, now you've got 1 more pair of hands to help.

Really looking forward to sharing some of my experiences on this page soonest.

@larryboy07

Its a pleasure to have you on-board,I cant wait to have your contributions on shipping.I believe we do need leadership in every area possible on a national level and our contributions here on this forum is a step in that direction,the infrastructure provided by shipping is what created the global logistics known as of today,its role in the growth of global economy cannot be overemphasized as seen in China's economic growth.What more can I say, start shooting!!!


Remember to connect @okeabiodune and linkedin

HI ABINIBI

sorry i saw this post late, i was kind of busy.

As per destination inspection, Nigeria has just started this program where cargoes been imported into the country will be inspected 100% on the country of import ,unlike the pre-shipment inspection which is done at the country of export.

Now ,supply chain has a VERY BIG ROLE to play in this program , with all the processes and procedures it takes to ensure free trade and compliance to local as well as international regulations bothering on international trade, for an effective free flow of goods and services from country to country , there should be high level of quality associated with these processes to ensure proper documentation of goods and services as well as quality goods and services are rendered and that such goods meet stipulated standards .
I tell you to import an item into another country could be a nightmare if the parties involved due no know or is not conversant with local regulations in both the exporting and importing countries, it could cause delayed clearing of goods,waste of useful man hours, not to talk of resources and for was cases seizure of goods.

Supply chain makes all this imbroglio non -existent, by giving faster and better process which is automated at the click of the mouse or a phone pad for smart phones
We are moving to cloud supply chain, where every process is automated , you can log in to your process from anywhere in the world and check to see how things is going and make changes if any.
Quality and Supply chain are interwoven, you can separate one for the other, it makes the process seamless, although it is not something that can be achieved overnite, it takes a combination of both years of experience and refining the processes to weed out paths that non productive, i read about a post on this forum how Toyota is using lean six sigma to achieve the feat they are enjoying today.

I will talk more on quality later on , for now it has become the bedrock of which supply chain is built on.

@okeyz

I am obviously guilty of the same crime so I guess there is no need for apologies.

Thanks for your contribution at a time when most are busy with preparations for the CIPS November exams.

On the subject of quality,you rightly mentioned that it is the bedrock on which supply chain is built upon and know one else could attest to that statement other than Toyota as seen in the quality defects problems with sticky brake pedals that led to recalls of millions of vehicles and shutdown of U.S production,this incident happened despite Toyota's  fundamental principle and organizational wide culture in quality management.I read some articles that attributed this huge failure to the lack of focus on the Toyota management part because of a shift in its competitive strategy which ironically is quality i.e zero defect ,which they have mastered and demonstrated over and over again in all their winning models. The management dropped the ball when they focused more on the expansion strategy of operations into United States and other international operations but placed their used-to-be competitive strategy in the back burner and it was a strategic mistake that placed the organization in a very difficult situation.

The Toyota case study quite illustrate the importance of quality management as a bedrock of supply chain and I encourage more of this topical discussion with such apt case in study.

Someone recently asked this question below,for cross-learning sake I am sharing my answer with Nairalanders

Can you enlighten me further on the fields or roles within Procurement? Are there certain procurement skills / competencies that are of more relevance to particular industries than others?


I have tried to break the roles in procurement into three categories but as I said earlier many factors influences everything about procurement,organization (project or operations focused),industry(Primary,Secondary and Tertiary),the supply value chain (Upstream,Mid-Stream and Downstream),there are other influences like technology and globalization,they actually reflect on the names given to roles in procurement as seen below.There are other emerging factors with great influence on procurement roles and skill-sets, e.g outsourcing,3PL,4PL and sustainable procurement,the skills required for this roles are greatly influenced by these factors hence some skills are more relevant than others in different industries.


I have tried to categorize the roles based on the industry of application.

Primary (Natural Resources,Oil & Gas,Mining)
--------------------------------------------------------
Strategic Sourcing Specialist/Manager
Contracts Officer/Administrator/Specialist/Engineer
Subcontracts Coordinator/Specialist/Manager
Buyer
Procurement Analyst/Specialist
Material Coordinator/ Manager
Project procurement Specialist
Project Buyer
Project Contracts specialist
Logistics officer/Engineer/Specialist/Manager
Warehouse Supervisor/Coordinator/Manager
Inventory Control Specialist/Manager
Stock Control Officer
Supplier quality assurance officer
SAP MM Technician

Secondary(Manufacturing)
---------------------------------
Production Control Analyst/Manager
MRP Planner/Analyst
Inventory Control Analyst
Category Manager
Manufacturing Buyer/Purchasing officer
Traffic coordinator
Procurement Analyst

Tertiary(Service,Retail,Distribution)
-------------
Merchandiser
Supply/Demand Analyst
Supply Chain Analyst
Shipper/Receiver/Material Handler
Retail Buyer/Purchaser
Store Manager
Global Sourcing Specialist

The list is not an exhaustive list,if you have ideas on new procurement roles,lets have them here.

try this link for some useful information - http://www.cipsmembersnigeria.com/index.php

@ albinibi
nice list you have up there, but from the look of things , the list has bias to only procurement , can't we broaden it to look at the whole supply chain?

To me Procurement is just a part of the full supply chain management, we should also take into cognizance other aspects like raw material extraction, blueprints initiation,Design Validation,quality control, lean/just in time production, research and development, project management, quality control, contract administration, document control, and also staffing,Human resource planning and development, performance bench marking, the list is endless,

happy new year all

@all please I need advice, I am presently working in a d logistics dept in my coy and I hv decided to pursue a career in logistics. I am thin kin of goin for Msc in SCM or go for any certification courses. Wat do u guys think. My previous qualification is in Geology. Thanks in advance for ur replies

Hallo there,I read economics but have been involve in puchasing and supply all thruogh my university and will love to know if I can pursue it fully now.please advice accordingly.

altaoheed:

Hallo there,I read economics but have been involve in puchasing and supply all thruogh my university and will love to know if I can pursue it fully now.please advice accordingly.

plezant:

@all please I need advice, I am presently working in a d logistics dept in my coy and I hv decided to pursue a career in logistics. I am thin kin of goin for Msc in SCM or go for any certification courses. Wat do u guys think. My previous qualification is in Geology. Thanks in advance for your replies

altaoheed and plezant, I will be glad to chat and advice privately contact me

^ bros, how far?

Hello All

I work in the field of SCM based currently in the UK- specializing in strategic planning and the area of logistics. SCM is very broad and like someone said on this thread, procurement or purchasing is just an aspect of this.

I wonder how this field is developing in Nigeria and I would very much want to get involved in this as I am looking at opportunities back in Nigeria, I am MCIPS and also CSCP, and at the moment looking to get certified also with the CSCMP with the new ground breaking certification SC Pro.

Looking very much to connect with like minded pple on this forum

Welcome @vomo, you in the right place .

@will- -thanks for the prompt welcome-

Please I NEED A SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT JOB!!!! I have a B.Sc in Computer Science and I have worked as a Warehouse Assistant previously. I am interested in building a career in Supply Chain Management, and wouldn't mind working majorly for the experience.
Please i can be reached on nwamaks2000@yahoo.com.
God Bless you.