HELP US HELP YOU
APICS can do a lot for you, and we wish to do just that. Our goal is education both employees and employers can use today. As an APICS Channel Partner, we base our offerings on APICS' body of knowledge in operations and supply chain management, with a little business savvy thrown in for good measure.
Please help us achieve those simple goals: JOIN THE APICS-NORS BOARD: HELP YOURSELF BY HELPING US.
We don't ask for your help lightly so we do give back. Serving is not a full-time job, but we expect professional-level dedication to the commitment you make, whether that's one or several hours a month. IN EXCHANGE, WE OFFER:
- Maintenace points for your CPIM or CSCP status (did you know those certifications expire if you don't earn continuing credits?)
- FREE (really) education for active board members: CPIM, CSCP and other classes.
- FREE entry at Development Meetings and Tours
- Opportunity to attend District Meetings - at APICS-NORS expense - to experience organization management in action.
- Learn valuable skills that can help you get recognized and promoted in your current position or gain skills that are transferable to a multitude of corporate jobs/positions.
In addition to those tangible benefits you'll improve your management skills while helping others reach their goals. You'll also gain valuable insights into operations and supply chain management by working closely with peers and experts in industry.
We have several positions open and some supporting roles that are not seen on our website. Commitment varies by role, your experience with it and
How do you do join, you ask? It's as easy as:
- Picking up the phone and calling Ed at 448-0552.
- Sending an email to President@APICS-NORS.org
- Visiting us the first Tuesday of each month at our Board Meetings.
Contact us now to see how much we can help you by helping yourself.
Presidents Message
December 10, 2011
When One Inventory Turn is Good
Imagine if you will that you can only delivery your wares one day a year. You spend all year building off forecasts, while awaiting the one month you can take customer surveys. Then you scurry around learning what the customer really wants, wondering if you can fill those needs. After an excruciating year, at last all is prepared for delivery, but it must be NOW. Delays may mean instant losses – sometimes complete write-offs. If you’re lucky you can sell to secondary markets at cut prices. Finance would be screaming about the crippled capital. Operations would be screaming about the obsolescence. Logistics would be wondering where to store all the inventory.
At this time of year you may think this is about a jolly old elf living somewhere north of, well, everywhere. Sorry to disappoint, but if you think about it I bet you may recognize some of these attributes of a real and tangible industry. In fact, one of the largest industries ever: agriculture. Though dramatized in the first paragraph, those who farm, ranch, fish, or otherwise work in agriculture may not feel as if the description exaggerates at all. Acceptability of the goods is as much a function of nature as it is operations management. Most crops enjoy a very limited window for harvesting. The work is very hard and demand for labor follows huge seasonal spikes and ebbs, so understandably, employees are hard to find and harder to retain.
Even if labor is available, the next hurdle is movement of inventory. Lead times for getting the produce to processing are very limited – sometimes as little as hours. We call it perishable for very good reason. Infrastructure is everything. Without it, where does the inventory go? The FDA estimates that over 30% of the food produced in the USA alone goes to waste – and almost all of that waste is in the pre-consumer supply chain.
Now consider the difficulties you have getting another 1, or 0.1, or 0.01 turns. How would you fare if much of your operations relied on factors entirely out of your control, such as weather, insects, and disease. Will you now look at your lunch plate a little differently?
It is so easy to take so many things for granted. I hope that as you enjoy your holiday meals, whether large or small, you remember how fortunate you are to have it at all. Maybe you can send a little thought to those who make it happen.
And don’t forget to leave out the milk and cookies.
Ed Miller, CPIM, President, APICS-NORS
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Calendar
Keep up to date on APICS Northern Sierra Chapter events and classes
View and register for upcoming events from the Calendar.
Education
CPIM Review Course in Reno
Basics of Supply Chain Management
Mondays & Thursdays -
6:00-9:00 PM
January 9 - February 13, 2012
Northern Sierra Chapter is proud to offer the first course in the series of CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) review classes, BSCM, Basics of Supply Chain Management, offered at IGT in Reno, NV.
This is an introductory course for production and
inventory management personnel and CPIM
candidates . This course provides basic definitions
and concepts for planning and controlling the flow of
materials into, through, and out of an organization. It
explains fundamental relationships among the
activities that occur in the supply chain from suppliers
to customers. In addition, the course addresses types
of manufacturing systems, forecasting, master
planning, material requirements planning, capacity
management, production activity control, purchasing,
inventory management, distribution, quality
management, and Just-in-Time manufacturing.
Job Bank
Visit our new Job Bank to post and review job openings:
Chapter Events
Development Meetings
Professional Development Meetings are typically held
monthly. Local, regional and national speakers are featured
presenting assorted topics of interest to today's operations
professionals.
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Plant Tours
Our plant tours feature leading companies from across
our region and provide the opportunity to learn by seeing how theory is
put into practice. They also provide benchmarking opportunities
and foster the sharing of best practices and professional networking.
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Registration & Payment
Advance registration and payment is accepted online
via our Calendar. Major
charge cards are accepted with online receipts provided. Advanced
registration & Membership discounts are available.
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Education
CPIM
Since 1973, the CPIM program has educated more than
75,000 manufacturing professionals on essential terminology, concepts,
and strategies related to demand management, procurement and supplier
planning, material requirements planning, capacity requirements
planning, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, performance
measurements, supplier relationships, quality control, and continuous
improvement.
Read More.
CSCP
The Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) program is a new industry educational and certification program created to meet the rapidly changing needs of the supply chain management field.