5 Reasons why Research and Supply Chain Management Professionals are in huge demand
Did you know that the Supply Chain Industry is expected to grow manifold and overtake the IT industry across the world? The Global Supply Chain Industry is worth close to $1 Trillion as of 2011 and is estimated to grow at a rate of 4-7% per year according to Industry Analysts.
Dependability
Be it Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, FMCG, Advertising, Media, IT, Services and any other industry, one cannot run their operations without the effective use of Supply Chain.
Criticality
The Supply Chain department in any company plays a significant role in not only procuring the products and services required by the company but also optimizing all the other functions in the company such as HR, Finance, Operations, Logistics, Warehousing and Distribution. Gone are the days when Procurement used to be a blue collar job. Today, Procurement is not only a highly strategic work profile but also one of the most coveted jobs in the market. This is attributed to the significant cost savings that the Procurement department achieves not only in the buying of raw materials, products and services for the company but also in other departments by integrating the best practices through means of Research and creating appropriate strategies. This segment is called Strategic Sourcing.
Research Oriented
The Supply Chain Department adds tremendous amount of value to the company since it is based out of Research. This is exactly the linkage between Supply Chain Management and Market Research. That is the reason why the Supply Chain Managers require excellent research skills. Unlike IT which automates and reduces the cycle time of a particular task, the Supply Chain folks help to reduce the cost of procuring the hardware and software required by the company and also helps reduce the cost in Raw materials, Janitorial Services, HR & Payroll Services, Cafeteria Services, Engineering Design Services, Legal, Outsourcing etc. Hence the Supply Chain Industry helps transform and reduce cost in almost all the functions and departments of a company.
Global Economy
As the international trade increases between different countries across the world, the role of the Supply Chain Industry rises exponentially. More and more trade pacts are being signed on by Countries to promote their trade. Import and Export has never been so healthy even amidst the sluggish economy and recessionary sentiments. The Governments in many countries are coming forward to encourage international trade by instituting bilateral agreements, creating special economic zones and by offering subsidies plus incentives
Best Practices
In Today’s scenario, every company tries its best to reduce cost and achieve significant savings in all their departments. So is the norm for all other corporations as well. Companies do not want to over-pay for what they procure and the best practice is to conduct key negotiations with suppliers which are aided by Market Intelligence. Companies go that extra mile in actually finding out the profit margin of the products their supplier sells in order to make sure that the margins are justified.
In certain cases, companies realized that their suppliers were selling the products and services at an exorbitant profit margin. To eliminate such scenarios, the best practice today is to conduct reverse auctions to make sure they procure at the lowest price without compromising on the quality and risk factors in International Trade.
A majority of the Fortune 500 MNCs have realized the scope for Savings through decision making process in their supply chain departments by means of market research. Experts call this as Procurement Intelligence. A host of companies that provides this service have now sprung up. Some of the leading companies in this segment are:
- The Smart Cube (www.thesmartcube.com)
- Beroe Inc (www.beroe-inc.com)
- Global eProcure (www.globaleprocure.com)
- International Institute for Procurement and Market Research (www.iipmr.com)
- Grail Research (www.grailresearch.com)
While some of these companies call it explicitly as ‘Procurement Intelligence’ others call it as ‘Supply Chain Research’ or ‘Procurement Research’.
The International Institute for Procurement and Market Research (IIPMR) has the rare distinction in offering certification courses that are not only globally recognized and appreciated, but is also of high demand by companies such as Wipro, Accenture, Infosys, Flextronics, HP, Dell and other Top MNCs. Within a span of 4 years, IIPMR has been able to transform in to a full grown mature organization offering market intelligence, supply chain risk management, financial risk analysis and also price indexes. IIPMR is the only Research and Supply Chain Consulting Company to have launched Certification Courses that enable candidates to become a credible resource to hire for employers.
International Institute for Procurement and Market Research (IIPMR) has become a global leader in training and certification for Research and Supply Chain Management education. It is the developer of internationally recognized certification programs such as
- Certified Research Analyst (CRA)
- Certified Research Expert (CRE)
- Certified Research Professional (CRP)
- Certified Supply Chain Associate (CSCA)
- Certified Supply Chain Specialist (CSCS)
- Certified Procurement Professional (CPP)
IIPMR certified members (CRA, CSCA, CRE, CSCS, and CPP) are recognised worldwide as the sign of a qualified Research and Supply chain management professional and are achieved through online examination.
The Certifications offered by IIPMR have become the benchmark to ascertain the quality of candidates to be hired by Employers in the Supply Chain Industry as well as the Research Industry. The certifications have not only become the most sought after certifications but also the most valued and highest rated certifications currently.
Most of the professionals today prefer to be certified by IIPMR rather than pursue education from APICS or ISCEA which were popular earlier. Unlike APICS or ISCEA which conducts only 2-3 days workshop, the certification courses conducted by IIPMR are offered by means of E-learning; since it is online classes and online exam, candidates learn these courses from the comfort of their home or at IIPMR Authorized Training Centres (ATCs). These courses are both in-depth and also cater to exactly what is required by the job market.
Candidates who have completed these certification courses from IIPMR have been able to elevate their career to the next level.
For more information visit: http://www.iipmr.com/education