Honor your supply chain mentor

Is there someone who has helped broaden your understanding of logistics or the supply chain? One way to recognize your mentor's influence on your professional life is to nominate him or her for CSCMP's Distinguished Service Award (DSA).

Winning the DSA can have a major impact on recipients' own careers. "I believe that the award has ... provided additional credibility for me among practicing managers and academics," says 1991 winner John Coyle, professor at Pennsylvania State University. "It has certainly expanded my circle of contacts and provided me increased opportunities in research and executive education. I feel that it has also been very beneficial for our program at Penn State in attracting students and research opportunities."

In addition to the professional benefits, award winners speak of the honor of receiving such a prestigious award. "To me, the most important value was to realize that the award was a vote of confidence from my peers. In the long run, nothing in life can be more satisfying," says 1977 winner Ken Ackerman, president of the consulting firm The Ackerman Company.

CSCMP is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Distinguished Service Award. The selection committee will evaluate candidates on the following criteria:

• record of contribution and innovation
• leadership skills
• oral and/or written communications that have enhanced the understanding of the supply chain management profession

Nominators must submit a summary of the candidate's achievements and contributions to the profession and include specific examples. The nomination packet must also include two or three letters of recommendation by members of the supply chain management profession.

CSCMP will accept nominations until April 30, 2010. The winner will be recognized at the Annual Global Conference in San Diego, California, USA. For more information about the award and the nominating process, visit cscmp.org/education/awards/dsa.asp.

Build your own management system

The management philosophies of giants like Wal-Mart, Toyota, and Intel have served those companies well, and many other companies have emulated them. But each business is unique, and no management system is 100-percent transferable. That's why CSCMP's new Senior Executive Institute (SEI) does not focus on any one quality or process improvement program. Rather, SEI provides participants with the tools they need to design and build management systems that are consistent with their own companies' missions and are flexible enough to take them into the future.

Participants will learn how to strengthen what's important to their companies and minimize what's not; create a clear roadmap for decision making and change; and get the most out of their employees and colleagues. In short, they will learn how to be successful agents of change.

The Senior Executive Institute consists of five workshops, each lasting three or four days, that focus on the key elements of discipline, strategic thinking, planning, leverage, and integration for sustainability. The programs are spread out over a 16-month period and take place in a new location every time. During each workshop, participants will develop pilot projects that are based on the workshop's themes. Participants will implement the programs they develop when they return to their companies, and then report the results to their fellow students at the next event.

The first session, which focuses on discipline, takes place April 23?27, 2010, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The last workshop, on integration for sustainability, will be held June 17-21, 2011, in Seattle, Washington, USA. For more information on the program, please visit cscmp.org/executive or contact CSCMP Director of Education and Research Kathleen Hedland at khedland@cscmp.org or +1 630.645.3463.

Inspiring innovators

The real world has been pretty harsh lately, which might make you cast a weary, skeptical eye at the latest business management trends and theories. If you're looking instead for real-world supply chain innovations, you'll find plenty of inspiration in case studies from past Supply Chain Innovation Awards (SCIA) winners. These awards, given annually by CSCMP and SupplyChainBrain, recognize innovative programs, projects, and collaboration. Finalists present their case studies at the CSCMP Annual Global Conference, and the winner and runner-up are announced at the closing session.

A sampling of past success stories:

• 2004 Winner Hewlett-Packard Procurement used freight-cost management integration to reduce the company's operational spending from US $14 million to US $7.8 million.
• 2008 Winner Cisco Systems retooled its reverse-logistics operations, transforming it from a cost center to a source of profit. After a detailed analysis, the company found that 85 percent of the returned items had no problems, and many of them deserved a second or third life before being recycled.
• 2009 Winner Intel Corporation initiated an intense, customer-focused effort that required the company to commit to an order in just one day and deliver to promise, all while reducing inventory.

The company used a combination of dynamic vendor-managed inventory, lean philosophy, and an improved demand planning process.

More details about these companies and other winners and finalists over the years can be found at cscmp.org/education/awards/sc-innovation.asp.

Think your company has a project that can live up to these examples? Consider applying for the 2011 Supply Chain Innovation Award (judging is already underway for 2010).

Desperately seeking consultants? CSCMP can help

You really need some help modeling your distribution network in South America, or you need technical advice on new automation for your warehouse, but you don't know who to call. If that situation sounds familiar, don't worry—CSCMP's new online Resource Directory can help you narrow the search for the right consultant.

Developed by CSCMP's Research Strategies Committee, the database allows users to do complex searches by dozens of keywords and phrases as well as by geography, industry, and professional skills.

There is no charge for users of the database. Consultants can list their firms for US $250 a year. To check out the directory, visit cscmp.org/resources/resource-directory.asp.

Webinars explain financial best practices, RFID

Have tight budgets and big workloads put your professional education on hold? Then consider attending some of CSCMP's webinars, where you can get expert instruction without ever having to get up from your office chair.

Upcoming online seminars include:

• "Aligning Supply Chain Operations to Achieve Financial Goals" (April 7, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Central Standard Time [CST]): Hosted by Stephen G. Timme, president of FinListics Solutions, this webinar will use case studies to explore how best practices and better utilization of supply chain technologies can lead to financial gains.
• "RFID: A Retailer's Story" (May 19, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. CST): Co-sponsored by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards Association (VICS) and the University of Arkansas, this seminar will highlight the real-life benefits that retailers are gaining from radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies. Executives from Macy's, Dillard's, and Bloomingdales will discuss how they are using RFID and how it has improved their supply chain performance.

The webinars are being offered at the low price of US $35 for CSCMP members and US $45 for nonmembers. For registration information, visit cscmp.org/events/webinars/registration-date.asp.