CSCMP celebrates its Golden Anniversary

This year, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) will reach an important milestone: the organization's 50th anniversary. I believe this achievement is a testament to our success as an organization in meeting our members' needs as they change over time.

A look at how CSCMP's name has changed over the last half-century demonstrates our commitment to being on the leading edge of business trends and professional development. CSCMP was founded in 1963 as the National Council of Physical Distribution Management (NCPDM) by a group of educators, consultants, and managers who envisioned the integration of transportation, warehousing, and inventory as the future of the discipline. In 1985, NCPDM's name was changed to the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) to reflect the evolution of physical distribution into logistics management. And in 2005, we renamed the organization as CSCMP to acknowledge the changing needs of our members, whose responsibilities had expanded within their companies, and to keep pace with changes in the discipline itself.

Since then, CSCMP has provided its members with content that incorporates information about logistics, of course, but also about procurement, manufacturing, and sales and marketing, among others. As a result, CSCMP members are now exposed to more voices and different perspectives to help them understand the end-to-end supply chain.

Over the years we've also gone global. When the organization was founded, it was a small, U.S.-focused group. Today we have more than 9,000 members representing business, government, and academia in more than 60 countries, and CSCMP has become the recognized worldwide leader in supply chain management.

Throughout 2013 we will be celebrating our Golden Anniversary with special events and promotions. For example, at CSCMP's Annual Global Conference, October 20-23 in Denver, Colorado, USA, we will showcase video interviews with many of the individuals who played important roles in the early days of this organization. These videos will allow future generations to see and hear the pioneers who were instrumental in creating the profession we know today as supply chain management.

As we look toward the next 50 years, CSCMP Board of Directors Chair Rick Jackson and I can assure you that our mission will not change. We will continue our focus on the core priorities of education and networking. We will create and offer training programs that will be challenging, innovative, and sought after. We will develop even more robust networking opportunities that span a multitude of trades. Finally, CSCMP will continue to be there to help our members advance their careers as well as to advance the supply chain management profession.