Strategic Supply Chain Management Programme 2020 wrap up

Felicity Lawrence, Executive Education Manager, University of Auckland Business School
Felicity Lawrence, Executive Education Manager, University of Auckland Business School

The purpose of the Strategic Supply Chain Management Programme (SSCMP) for 2020 has been to:

  • Provide a space for participants to stop, review and reflect to gain a higher perspective on the challenges facing them across supply chains
  • Enable participants to resolve issues that are of importance to them and their organisations
  • Build a strong, lasting network of colleagues and senior supply chain leaders in New Zealand to help participants stop reinventing wheels

This year, our second to last day of the SSCMP was held at the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF)’s Devonport Naval Base. This is the first time we have conducted the participant presentations off-site, and it reminds us how valuable it is to have partnerships with key organisations. NZDF is one such partnership and the day was dedicated to exploring how the Navy collaborates with suppliers (in particular Babcock International) and numerous other suppliers to ensure constancy of supply.

Project presentations were held at the Torpedo Bay Naval Museum, a historic gem and a great place to delve into the naval history of Auckland in beautiful surroundings.

We are very proud of the work participants have done in the past five months and always amazed at the generosity of our Advisory Group, who have made time to mentor and support participants through the programme, even through lockdown. Extremely valuable feedback was given and received. 

The group then toured through the HMNZS Canterbury and Navy Supply Centre. For those people with only limited understanding of the diversity of supply needed by the Navy, its distribution centre is an education. The conversations and help offered and received across the participants and Advisory Group and those involved in the organisations we work with on this programme never fail to amaze us. One tip from someone at F&P Healthcare or Fonterra or Douglas Pharmaceuticals can make a world of difference to a company less mature in its supply chain processes. Thank you Jonti Rhodes, Aaron Greene, Suzanne O'Leary, Timofey Shalpegin and especially Debbie Howarth who made this day happen.

The final day of the SSCMP was held back at the Business School. Project presentations focused on standardisation and optimisation as well as taking new opportunities to streamline distribution and freight. It was clear that multiple millions of dollars could be taken out of businesses through carefully targeted initiatives that have been started in the programme.

I would also like to give a huge thank you to:

  • Jonti Rhodes, General Manager Supply Chain, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare - for sharing insights about your career decisions and what you have learnt about leadership of supply chains and your honesty, humour and dedicated focus on leading work on sustainability, which will be a theme for next year.
  • Jochen Schmieg, General Manager Supply Chain, The Warehouse Group - our newest Advisory Board member, for discussing your career learnings, the way Amazon supply chains work and your observations of opportunities we could leverage in New Zealand supply chains.
  • Suzanne O'Leary, Director, January Group - our ‘cornerstone’ Advisory Group member for talking about what experiences are important for future supply chain leaders. 
  • Reinhold Goeschl, General Manager Supply Chain, Ports of Auckland -  for your dedicated support for us and the Centre for Supply Chain Management
  • Tava Olsen, our brilliant Programme Director, Professor and Deputy Dean

It’s a wrap for 2020!!

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