APICS and Supply Chain Council to merge

Two renowned supply chain-centric organizations––APICS, a professional organization for supply chain operations management and provider of research, education, and certification programs focused on elevating supply chain excellence, innovation, and resilience, and the Supply Chain Council, a global, non-profit management organization focused on helping its membership make significant supply chain process improvements, are set to merge.

APICS and SCC officials said that their respective boards of directors have formally approved an agreement under which SCC would merge with APICS upon ratification by SCC member vote.

APICS told LM that the SCC member vote will take place between May 19 and May 30, and upon affirmation by SCC voting members, APICS will file the required legal documents, with the expectation that the merger will be complete by July. The joint organization will be known as APICS and the APICS Foundation will be called APICS Supply Chain Council, with the SCC brand being maintained and leveraged post-merger, according to APICS.

The organizations said that this merger brings together two industry leaders with complimentary offerings to “create the premier global provider of supply chain research, education, and certification programs and offer a single source solution for individuals and corporations that want to evaluate and augment their supply chains.

APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi said in an interview that there were multiple drivers behind this merger.

“APICS and SCC have collaborated on a number of occasions in the past, during which time our organizations got to know each other and understand the possibilities that could be created by unification,” he explained. “This merger not only brings our organizations closer, but also unites us with an important purpose¬¬––advancing supply chain performance and developing supply chain talent.”

Corporations, said Eshkenazi, want to know that professional standards are aligned with corporate supply chain competencies and innovation, and the combination facilitates this alignment.  And he said that with this merger comes significant market opportunity, noting that as this market has matured, companies, and APICS’ customers, are looking for a single source for their supply chain education, training and certification programs.

“Both SCC and APICS realized that the ability to distinctly serve our members, customers, companies and partners through a single-source solution that combined our highly complementary products was the best option, he said, noting that “this was the driving force behind our merger.”

One of the primary reasons cited by Eshkenazi for combining the two organizations was the increased benefits a joint organization would bring to both APICS and SCC members, explaining that while APICS has individual members and SCC has corporate members, there are benefits for both types—with greater access to resources, and more opportunities to learn and network serving as some of the key benefits.

When asked to offer up some examples of how this merger will provide an improved portfolio of products to elevate supply chain performance and develop supply chain talent, Eshkenazi said that SCC SCOR (the Supply Chain Operations Reference-model, the supply chain management community’s most widely accepted framework for evaluating and comparing supply chain activities and performance) is already an important element in the APICS certification programs, with closer integration and further enhancements anticipated as a result of this combination.

“APICS powerful network and global presence will enable greater access to SCC’s SCOR-P and other training programs, and trained professionals who can use SCOR frameworks to implement improved supply chain processes,” he said. “Ultimately, this will elevate global supply chain performance. SCC’s strong corporate relationships with supply chain leaders will increase access to key decision makers who champion supply chain training programs, leading to more opportunities to educate and certify supply chain professionals.

This merger takes two industry leaders and joins them together to offer best-in-class research, education, training and certification for the supply chain industry – it’s a huge opportunity for existing and new members and customers, added Eshkenazi.

When the merger is made official, Eshkenazi will continue to serve as CEO of APICS and SCC Executive Director Joseph Francis will serve as executive director of the APICS Foundation. And through the end of 2014, APICS and SCC said that there will
be an expanded, transitional Board of Directors with board members from each organization’s Board.

“This agreement reflects our ongoing efforts to ensure that SCC’s and APICS’ content and capabilities remain at the forefront of our industry, providing our members, customers and the supply chain community at large the most up-to-date, relevant and complete body of knowledge in supply chain and operations management,” said Jason Wheeler, chair of the APICS board of directors, in a statement.