Warehouse management

With the skills deficit widely
recognised as one of the
greatest challenges facing the
supply chain profession, Sapics (The
Association for Operations Management
of Southern Africa) is committed
to making its comprehensive range
of education offerings accessible to
individuals from shop floor to executive
level, in companies across the spectrum
of African industry, says Sapics president
Ken Titmus.
In the field of warehousing, Sapics
offers an accredited warehouse
management programme and is also
currently developing a new learnership
programme that will include an elective
focused on warehousing, as well as
others devoted to planning, inventory
control and manufacturing control.
The new “Introduction to Supply
Chain Operations” learnership that is
currently being created by Sapics will be
a basic-level addition to the association’s
education offerings and will be targeted
at NQD level 3, says Titmuss.
“Lower-level operations training is one
area that requires particular attention, and
it is at this level that the new education
offering will be aimed.”
Sapics’ accredited “Warehouse
Management in Practice” programme
provides graduates with an understanding
of the objectives, principles and
techniques of warehouse management,
he added. “It provides an understanding
of warehousing in sufficient detail for
these principles and techniques to be
applied in the workplace to improve a
company’s profit and customer service,”
he told FTW. “Among other elements,
the programme examines the various
transactions driving a warehouse on a
daily basis, and gives graduates the skills
required to plan an effective, economical
warehouse layout, plan the effective
routing of vehicles and understand
the principles behind effective cycle
counting.”
Sapics currently offers a range of
training programmes in the fields of
manufacturing, logistics and distribution,
as well as materials management. The
association is also the South African
custodian of two internationally
recognised certifications – the APICS
CPIM (Certified in Production and
Inventory Management) and CSCP
(Certified Supply Chain Professional).
“The “Fundamentals of Materials and
Operations Management” provides
a strong educational base from which
to approach these certifications. These
programmes are offered by Sapics in
association with its American associate,
Apics,” he said.
Sapics’ affiliation to Apics – The
Association for Operations Management
in the United States – enables Sapics
members to participate in international
conferences and exhibitions.
The organisation’s education
programmes are offered throughout
South Africa and as far afield as
Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania,
through a growing network of Authorised
Education Providers (AEPs).