Hilf is excited to announce that we are expanding our offerings to include ISCEA courses in the UK. As an affiliate, we are now able to offer a wider range of training options to help professionals in the supply chain industry stay current with the latest practices and trends. Our commitment to providing top-quality training courses remains steadfast, and we are excited to bring our expertise to a new level with this expansion.

Our initial offering will be the CSCA (Certified Supply Chain Analyst) course, which is designed to help professionals gain a comprehensive understanding of supply chain management concepts and principles. The course is delivered in a format that is flexible and can be tailored to meet the needs of participants at various levels of experience and expertise. Whether you are just starting out in your career or are looking to enhance your existing knowledge, the CSCA course is a great way to gain the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the field.

The CSCA course covers the following topics:

• Introduction to Supply Chain Management
• Demand Planning and Forecasting
• Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)
• Master Planning
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
• Capacity Planning and Management
• Production Activity Control (PAC)
• Inventory Fundamentals
• Inventory Replenishment Planning
• Purchasing Management and Procurement
• Supplier Relationship Management
• Warehouse and Distribution Center Management
• Transportation Management
• International Logistics Management
• Order Management and Customer Service
• Performance Measurements, Continuous Improvement, and Benchmarking

Participants will learn how to identify and implement best practices in supply chain management, as well as how to use technology to optimize operations and improve efficiency. The course also includes case studies and practical exercises to help participants apply their learning in real-world situations.

At Hilf, we are dedicated to providing our clients with the most up-to-date and comprehensive training courses available. We understand that the supply chain industry is constantly evolving, and we are committed to helping professionals stay ahead of the curve. With our new affiliation with ISCEA, we are confident that we can offer even more value to our clients and help them achieve their professional goals. We invite you to visit our website to learn more about the CSCA course and our other training offerings.

Hilf Supply Chain Solutions is the first organisation in the UK to become an AEP. The contract was signed recently at a ceremony in Chancery Court, London attended by senior executives from APICS (who had travelled from their Chicago headquarters) and senior executives from the CILT’s IOM (the Institute of Operations Management) who were signing an agreement to become the International Associate for the UK market at the ceremony. The IOM is a membership body within the CILT (The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK).

In terms of APICS International partners, the structure can be summarised as follows: an IA (International Associate) promotes the global activities of APICS within the region and administers examination registrations etc, whilst an AEP is an APICS approved training delivery company.

Hilf Supply Chain Solutions provides facilitated tuition, usually at client site, in the Basics of Supply Chain Management (BSCM) foundation course, the full Certified in Production & Inventory Management (CPIM) course material and is shortly to offer assistance with the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) course.

Mr. Lindsay Harding, Director of Hilf Supply Chain Solutions, stated “This seal of approval from APICS was important for our company and we are delighted to announce Hilf as an AEP. It will signify to our clients present and future that quality and professionalism can be assured.” He went on to say, “We have worked closely with IPICS for many years in arranging APICS examinations for our candidates, they have been looking after the UK well, in addition to their own market in Ireland. We are now looking forward to working with the IOM in developing the UK market for these excellent supply chain qualifications going forward.”

The ‘pencil & paper’ type examinations will continue to be administered by IPICS for the remainder of 2009 – with the IOM taking over the responsibility from 1st Jan 2010. In the meantime, the IOM will concentrate on offering a CBT version of the CSCP examination during the later part of 2009. Hilf will work closely with the IOM during this period to assist the success of the transition process. Leonie Edwards, Manager of the IOM, stated she was looking forward to a successful relationship between the two organisations. Lindsay agreed, and added how he wanted to thank Tracy Cheetham (APICS Director of International Services) and her US based team for all their help during the approval process.

The award ceremony commenced in the Banqueting Hall of Cardiff Castle following a gala dinner. Mr. Lindsay Harding, Director of Hilf Supply Chain Solutions, took to the stage and read the following citation before announcing the winning entry.

“Use of the private car, especially on the school run, has increased dramatically over the last few years and this has an impact on safety, congestion and air quality. One of the solutions is Travel Plans, and School Travel Plans in particular. Children need to be educated to think about other forms of transport and to carry these habits into later life.

This consortium has developed a training scheme for teachers who have learned how to deliver School Travel Plans and this training has given them the confidence to go back to their schools and develop their own School Travel Plans.”

The award went to SWWITCH ( http://www.swwitch.org.uk ) for their entry “School Travel Plan Champion Training”, it was presented by Tamsin Dunwoody AM, Deputy Minister of Transport.

The event, which was chaired by Professor Stuart Cole, was organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport ( http://www.ciltuk.org.uk ) in conjunction with the ‘Wales Transport Research Centre’ from the University of Glamorgan ( http://www.glam.ac.uk/sot/1452 ).

( refer also to the attachment :- excerpt from The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation journal “Focus” Volume 8 Number 6 , July / August 2006 )

Being an internationally recognised Operations Management qualification, the CPIM programme is well respected amongst business professionals – particularly Supply Chain and Production Managers. However these have been professions which have been subject to increasing work pressures in recent years as a consequence of leaner operations, compressing lead-times and ever-more demanding customers, meaning the time necessary to achieve the valuable CPIM certification often cannot be afforded. Whilst the normal method of delivery is facilitated sessions to an in-house group, Hilf Supply Chain Solutions is now also offering a distance learning option to cater for these needs.

Primarily aimed at UK residents, although open to any English speakers across Western Europe, the service has been developed to assist a variety of scenarios, including:

• Individuals who wish to pursue certification for their own personal career advancement
• Employees of companies where the individual is ‘out of step’ with a group course of study being undertaken by their colleagues
• Those who had obtained certain modules from a past employer and would like to complete the programme (possibly if their new employer is not offering their team the opportunity for certification)
• Individuals where work commitments or extreme geography mean a correspondence course is the only feasible option open to them

“It’s the most convenient way I have found to participate in this course without imposing greatly on work or family commitments” – Kevin Dawson, Ultronics Ltd (Eaton Corporation), Cheltenham, UK

“Hilf Supply Chain Solutions always gave me clear and prompt answers to any questions on the course material. They enabled me to go into the exam with confidence.” – Elizabeth Wrigglesworth, SC Johnson, Frimley, UK

Further details can be obtained from the Hilf Supply Chain Solutions – website http://www.hilf.co.uk .

MRPII has a long established presence in Western countries, and has been adopted in many areas of the Far East (Singapore & Malaysia in particular). However it is still a relatively new concept for Chinese industry, in fact by 1995 only 1% of Chinese manufacturing industry (only 170 of more than 18,000 manufacturing companies*) were using MRPII.

Chinese business has recognised it is a long way behind, and has embarked upon a steep learning curve “motivated by the growing interest in MRPII implementation by Chinese manufacturing companies”

Recently a delegation of managers from China travelled to the UK for tuition in MRP concepts and fundamentals – selecting Hilf Supply Chain Solutions (based in South Wales, UK) to present the session. With the assistance of intermediary organisation Euro-Asia, who organised hotels, driver, interpreter etc, following visa applications, the group travelled from Beijing to South Wales.

Lindsay Harding (Director of Hilf Supply Chain Solutions), who presented the session commented on what an appetite for learning the group displayed, “With the beauty of hindsight now on our side, training in this topic benefits from solid examples, anecdotes and perceptions of where things went slightly astray over here, losing focus as new initiatives came into vogue, and making some incorrect decisions when, and when not to use MRP”.

The group, senior managers from Easyhome, a major Chinese DIY chain, were presented with case study examples of manufacturers supplying into Distribution Centres prior to replenishment messages from UK NDCs prior to store delivery. Lindsay went on to say, “The IT infrastructure in position with our major UK DIY stores is immense, complicated and expensive, encompassing RFID, EPOS data, Collaborate Planning Forecasting & Replenishment with suppliers, inventory and warehouse management systems etc backed up by corporate ERP systems. The Chinese realise that without the MRPII building block in position they cannot move themselves further along this road, however, being a low cost market, the majority of local companies will likely not have the financial resources to invest in ERP systems familiar to the west (SAP, Oracle, Baan etc). I believe there is a massive potential market over there for companies offering lower priced solutions. To put that market into perspective, the population of Shanghai alone was around 17 million in 2003, but recent estimates which include immigrants place it nearer 18 to 20 million people – and as Steve Gilman of B&Q points out, that’s about 40 % of the population of the UK !”.

Any suppliers will have some major implementation issues to overcome following language translation of the software, beyond the expected cultural issues. In the UK back in the eighties when MRPII implementations were common, to save consultancy fees, companies would ‘poach’ key employees from other businesses where they had been members of successful implementation teams, such individuals tend to be more scarce in China. There are a number of western MRPII suppliers who recognised the market potential early and have made good progress, with the major players including System Software Associates (SSA) and Fourth Shift.

Global companies with corporate ERP systems already in position have a huge advantage in these terms, replicating a proven roll out methodology. For example the recent delegates undergoing the Hilf training were very aware of the increasing competition from B&Q. With an IT backbone supported by SAP, B&Q has undertaken a rapid entry into the Chinese market, with new stores opening regularly (with plans for approx 70 stores by 2008).

MRPII is still unfamiliar and baffling to most Chinese manufacturing companies, with few firms managing to implement effectively. What is encouraging, is that they have recognized, (based on research conducted jointly between Concordia University and Chinese academics*) is that two of the major criteria for success are ‘Support from senior management’ and ‘Training Managers in MRPII concepts’ .

Refer also to website http://www.hilf.co.uk

• Source :- “A MRPII Survey Study of the Chinese Manufacturing Industry” by Zhongzhi He , Mohamed Khalifa , Martin Kusy and Tiesheng Zhao