First, on behalf of the Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines, I would like to express my gratitude to the delegates and speakers at our most recent major events: the Supply Chain Immersion, held on board MV St. John Paul II from May 18, and the first SCMAP Mindanao Supply Chain Conference, held in Cagayan de Oro City on May 20. Particular thanks as well go to our sponsors: to Manila North Harbour Port Inc., Messe and Handel and American Technologies, as well as to 2GO Group for their support and hospitality at sea.
While we have done the Supply Chain Immersion for many years now, under different names, the Mindanao Supply Chain Conference was an undertaking marked by excitement and some anxiety among all of us. As I mentioned in my last column, we have held an event in Mindanao two years ago, but this conference was to be a major undertaking, with speakers across many disciplines hoping to attract audiences from not just Cagayan de Oro, but also in other major cities in Mindanao.
I am glad to report that the inaugural MSCC saw 122 delegates from not just CDO, but also cities such as Davao and General Santos. The number also includes the 56 delegates who took part in the Supply Chain Immersion.
Definitely, this is a good start towards our goal of establishing a chapter in Mindanao. With the help of our colleague in CDO, Manny Santiago, as well as our membership committee’s Max Yap and our executive director Norman Adriano, we will work to ensure that we meet the conditions set by our by-laws so we can establish this chapter. There will be a follow-up event in the city, details of which will follow.
Our work to ensure SCMAP represents the supply chain industry across the Philippines continues. This July, SCMAP’s Visayas chapter, led by LF Philippines’ Gilbert Cabataña, will mount the SCMAP Vismin Supply Chain Management Congress. It will be held on July 15 at the Bayfront Hotel in Cebu City.
The one-day conference builds on last year’s SCMAP Vismin Supply Chain Conference, and sees an esteemed panel of speakers gather to share their expertise and insight to our colleagues in Visayas. Announced speakers are REID Foundation’s Ronilo Balbieran, LF Logistics’ Noel Bautista, Unilever Philippines’ Arlene Buenviaje-Juliano, Unilab’s Nestor Felicio, Megawide’s Andrew Harrison, Mariner Shipmanagement’s Dr. Rodien Paca, and RFM’s Eric Perdigon (also a former DMAP president).
Topics to be tackled include the increasing role of technology in improving supply chain, as well as Cebu’s transformation into a world-class supply chain hub. I invite my colleagues in the Visayas – and also elsewhere! – to sign up, you can call Juvy Serban at (0923) 432.7238.
Meanwhile, here in Manila, we are hard at work for the biggest event in our calendar: this year’s SCMAP Supply Chain Conference, which will be held on September 15-16, again at the EDSA Shangri-la in Mandaluyong City. We intend to build on the themes and topics we tackled in last year’s conference, with a mix of speakers from industry, business and government discussing how the country’s supply chain capabilities can be elevated to become world class.
As I write this, we have confirmed ten speakers for this year’s event, a mix of familiar and new faces. One of our keynote speakers is Doris Magsaysay-Ho of the Magsaysay Group of Companies. Three of them are among the speakers in our Cebu conference this July: Noel Bautista, Arlene Buenviaje-Juliano and Nestor Felicio.
We have also enlisted Ronilo Balbieran, of REID Foundation; Richard Barclay, of MNHPI; Ike Castillo, formerly of Fast Logistics; William Lorenzana Jr., formerly of Jollibee Foods; Ninoy Rollan, of Transfluent Management; and Robert Vallender, of Nestlé Philippines. We will announce more speakers in the coming weeks. You can email us at secretariat@scmap.org to become a delegate or sponsor.
These events – among the many remaining on our calendar this year – ensure that SCMAP will have a wider reach, not just to players in Manila but across the country as well. We here aim to make Philippine supply chain truly world class, and it is an endeavor requiring the involvement of many able minds and hands across these 7,107 islands. We look forward to your usual support.
Henrik Batallones is the marketing and communications executive of SCMAP. A former board director, he is also editor-in-chief of the organization’s official publication, Supply Chain Philippines.
