President's Message
January 1, 2010
Dear Members,
The holidays are behind us and ahead is a new year – and a new decade! We hope 2010 brings great abundance and increasing wealth for all of our members and the companies engaged in manufacturing, distribution, and related operations in Northern Nevada. We also hope the same for those new entities just arriving or expanding. A recent report from EDAWN advises their office receives an average of two requests per day from companies considering a move to Northern Nevada. NNDA in Carson City has a similar level of interest, which is very encouraging.
The board members of Northern Sierra Chapter have been planning new and exciting events for 2010. The series of CPIM courses that began in Reno continues with Execution and Control of Operations, which starts January 11 at the IGT Training Center. Also beginning on January 11, in Gardnerville at GE’s facility, is the first CPIM course, Basics of Supply Chain Management course.
The board would like your feedback with respect to offering a CSCP review course. If we offer it, will you come? The CSCP designation is designed for professionals interested in increasing their knowledge of supply chain management, those currently working in the field of supply chain management, professionals consulting or teaching supply chain functions, and for those individuals working with enterprise resources planning systems. The difference between CPIM and CSCP can be summarized as follows:
APICS CPIM focuses primarily on manufacturing and provides an in-depth view of materials management, master scheduling, production planning, forecasting, and quality improvement within the confines of the operation. The APICS CSCP certification takes a broader view, extending the APICS CPIM knowledge outside of a company’s internal operations to encompass all of the steps throughout the supply chain—from suppliers through the company to the end consumer—and how to effectively manage the integration of these activities to maximize a company’s value chain.
Our monthly educational dinner meetings will continue through May, which provide those of you who are certified with points toward maintaining your certifications. Our January meeting features Dr. Ron Tibben-Lemke from UNR, who will deliver a presentation on sustainability – definitely a current topic for the next decade. Our PDMs are held at the Atlantis Hotel on the second Tuesday of each month. Watch for eblasts about the upcoming speakers we have planned.
We are also in the midst of planning our summer plant tours, which were very well attended last year, and should be just as interesting in 2010. Your suggestions are always welcome for new locations you would like to visit.
Thanks to each of you for your commitment and support in 2009, and we hope you share our enthusiasm for next year. Here’s to looking forward to seeing you at an upcoming APICS Northern Sierra Chapter event!
Linda McNeil, CPIM President