Association For Supply Chain Management ASCM - Much More Than a Re-Branding

Association For Supply Chain Management (ASCM)

ASCM – the association formerly known as APICS – has been on a bit of a roll the last couple of years.

In 2014, the organization merged with the Supply Chain Council – the folks who brought you SCOR – and began reaching out to senior level supply chain managers.

A year later, APICS merged with the American Society of Transportation and Logistics and added a new certification in logistics, transportation, and distribution (CLTD) to its portfolio.

In 2017, it partnered with Deloitte for its student case competition, standardizing an event that now has a global reach.

At the annual conference that just ended in Chicago this past Tuesday, October 2, APICS officially changed its name to the Association For Supply Chain Management(ASCM).

You can read more about the name change at the Association For Supply Chain Management ASCM website. 

In making the announcement (watch the video above), Abe Eshkenazi, ASCM’s CEO, said that this was more than a re-branding, but reflected an organization focused on “end-to-end supply chain management” and “a global operating environment.”

Building on the additional reach the organization got through mergers with Supply Chain Council and AST&L, Eshkenazi announced a number of new partnerships, including:

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bring a focus on sustainable supply chains, especially those operating in emerging markets like Africa;
• The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), including a new certification in procurement for North America;
• A new SCOR-E benchmarking service to benchmark organizations on ethics, economics, and ecological factors;
• And Accenture Academy, Deloitte, and PwC to provide more avenues for certification training and benchmarking services.

In a subsequent interview, Eshkenazi described the changes as “a great work in progress.” He told me the seeds for “a transformational business model change” were planted by the board in 2017, and added that it may take three to five years for it all to come to fruition.

The business model change he referred to is a recognition that for the past 60 years, APICS had served the individual, primarily through its conference, educational materials, and certifications. Since the earlier mergers, particularly with Supply Chain Council and SCOR, APICS was increasingly interacting at the organizational level “but we didn’t have the mind-share of the C-Suite,” Eshkenazi said.

The Question Was: How to Do That?

The answer was to expand the organization’s reach from one end of the supply chain to the other (hence, bringing in CIPS and a procurement certification) and add services that serve the corporate customer, such as sustainable and emerging market supply chains and the new SCOR-E model.

The last question was whether to do it in-house through more mergers or reach out to partners. “We decided we have to provide content and services that are relevant to a new market, but we don’t have to do it all in house,” Eshkenazi said. Hence, the relationships with Accenture Academy, Deloitte, and PwC – organizations that own relationships with the C-Suite.

The name change happens now – next year’s conference will be ASCM 2019, and not APICS. And, down the road, there could be a joint conference with another organization that would bring in the senior level executive who traditionally has not attended an APICS event.

It’s an ambitious move, one that, anecdotally, garnered positive feedback from the long-time industry hands I had a chance to talk to at the event. The question will be – and it will be exciting to watch – is whether one of the four major industry associations can grow beyond its roots and become that true end-to-end supply chain management association.

News: BenchPrep Partners with the Association for Supply Chain Management to Advance Learning Portfolio

The Association for Supply Chain Management Formally Launches Commits to Making an End-To-End Impact on Corporations and Their Workforces

The largest nonprofit association for supply chain officially launches a full suite of products and services to transform supply chains

January 22, 2019, marks the official launch of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), the global leader in supply chain organizational transformation, innovation and leadership.

As the largest nonprofit association for supply chain, ASCM is an unbiased partner, connecting companies around the world to the newest insights on all aspects of the supply chain within one source.

Built on the foundation of APICS, ASCM’s primary focus is to drive industry innovation with new products, services and partnerships that enable companies to further optimize their supply chains, secure their competitive advantage and positively impact their bottom lines.

ASCM CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CPA, CAE, said;

“Businesses are starting to see the incredible advantage that can be gained through strategic supply chain management and leadership. This is evidenced by supply chain professionals moving out of their silos and into the C-suite. Just as businesses are tearing down the walls between supply chain functions, so too should supply chain associations. By creating ASCM, we are acknowledging this pivotal shift in our industry, not only through individual learning and development but with larger corporate transformation in mind as well.”

Leveraging APICS’s 60 years of foundation experience and a global alliance network of industry-leading organizations including Accenture, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Deloitte and PwC, ASCM offers cross-function training, benchmarking, performance reporting, research, education, certifications and more.

• Corporate Transformation: The accelerating rate of technological advances, widening talent gap, consumer demands, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability all make staying ahead of the curve a challenge. ASCM provides global standards and expertise to help organizations stay competitive. These include talent development programs, corporate programs that accelerate transformation and the new SCOR-Enterprise designation, which is the industry’s first and only corporate supply chain designation consisting of three dimensions that represent ethical, economic and ecological aspects of an organization’s supply chain.
• Making an Impact: At a time of great change and potential, ASCM is launching and expanding a set of bold, mission-driven initiatives that draw on the power of supply chains to address pressing global challenges and achieve the brightest future for individuals, companies, and communities. These initiatives center on building stronger frontier and humanitarian supply chains in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and unlocking the next supply chain innovations.
• Learning and Development: ASCM will continue to provide industry-leading APICS certifications and training while expanding to deliver end-to-end professional development and education offerings. The new Supply Chain Learning Center will offer online and on-demand learning opportunities for members and customers. Expanding even further, ASCM is working on hundreds of additional learning and development options on topics ranging from procurement to artificial intelligence and beyond.

“At ASCM, we have built and will continue to grow a global network of alliances and collaborations with one goal in mind: making it as easy as possible for organizations to find the resources they need to invest in their supply chains,” Eshkenazi added.

To learn more about ASCM corporate transformational tools visit ASCM Corporate Transformation.  

Supply Chain Management: Beyond the Horizon White Papers

Managing the Complexity Paradigm
This paper offers insight into managing supply chain and product complexity by providing background into the complexity’s sources, a framework for understanding its drivers, and methods to manage it  Download Now!

Supply Chain Issues: What’s Keeping Supply Chain Managers Awake at Night?
Although some of the themes presented in this paper may not be surprising, it is valuable to note that the executives interviewed, who represented more than 50 different firms, shared a common perspective about issues disrupting their businesses. Download Now!

Creating Value Through Procurement and Sourcing Efforts in Integrated Supply Chains
As part of the ongoing collaboration between Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business and APICS Supply Chain Council, the Beyond the Horizon research project is investigating how the supply chain management discipline is evolving into the future. Download Now!

Realizing Supply Chain Success
This white paper presents initial research insights from the Beyond the Horizons project and introduces a conceptual model, named the bridge model, which can guide supply chain strategy development and decision making. Download Now!

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