During Supply Chain Outlook last 26 January 2018, SCMAP president Nestor Felicio introduced the establishment of collaboration groups, allowing the SCMAP membership to discuss, brainstorm and propose solutions to issues and pain points affecting supply chain in the country.
These groups will address issues such as surge planning, downstream collaboration, manpower management and transport regulation. The groups allow SCMAP members to have a greater say on the issues that particularly affect their operations.
These groups will help the organization identify which issues should be tackled in its events and other initiatives, whether it be hot-button topics or more long-term issues. The outputs of these groups may be revealed at events such as our General Membership Meetings, or be published in SCMAP releases such as our biannual magazine, Supply Chain Philippines.
SCMAP members are encouraged to join whichever groups they are interested in. For more information, you can contact the SCMAP Secretariat through our contact page or our social media channels.
What follows is the transcript of Nestor Felicio’s address to the SCMAP membership during Supply Chain Outlook last 26 January 2018.
To our honorable resource speakers, Ms. Mitch Abdon of the Department of Finance Strategy, Economy and Results Group, and Mr. Ronilo Balbieran, vice president of the REID Foundation; fellow members of the Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines; guests and fellow supply chain practitioners; good afternoon.
Today we kick off the year as we usually do at SCMAP – with the Supply Chain Outlook. We chose to highlight the hot-button topic of the day: the recently signed Tax Reform Bill, also known as TRAIN. Our speakers – and you – shared thoughts on the impact of this bill on our supply chains, and I hope this gives you a good head start as you start your year.
As I embark on the second year of my term as President, allow me to also share with you the plans your Board and I have for SCMAP in 2018.
But before I do that, let me briefly review the year just passed.
We adopted the battle cry “Connect. Engage. Move.” in 2017. And we did.
The Supply Chain Conference, our flagship event, breached attendance records and garnered the highest positive feedback in recent years. The breadth and depth of its coverage has really reached new dimensions.
In terms of membership, we added more than 20 companies, making us cross the 200-member mark. Our North Luzon Chapter was launched in April, headed by Mr. Frankie Villanueva, opening SCMAP’s doors in the rapidly developing Clark-Subic economic corridor. Our Visayas chapter continues to grow in strength.
I can discuss each event and accomplishment in detail, such as the innovations we made to our General Membership Meetings and Supply Chain Immersion, as well as our various engagements with stakeholders in both the private and public sectors to make our collective voice heard, but I think you know that already. I only mention this because I would like to thank you personally for your wholehearted support to SCMAP. Your partnership and participation keeps the organization and our supply chain community alive. That you have reelected the Board of Directors practically intact means two things to me. On one hand it expresses your confidence that we are on the right track; on the other hand it is pushing us, daring us to build on this momentum and make a bigger impact.
We thank you for your confidence, at the same time we are cognizant of the challenge thrown our way.
Earlier we took our oath, and with that oath is our commitment to meet this challenge.
We will continue to shout the battle cry “Connect. Engage. Move.” in 2018. But we will level up. We will leverage on the SCMAP network, and increase the scale of our impact.
After all, the mission of SCMAP, our reason for being as the premiere supply chain community is to move the needle of competitiveness of the Philippine supply chain industry.
This is our ambition: to have world class supply chains in the Philippines. This ambition can’t be more relevant than it is today.
We live in exciting times. Earlier we heard from Mr. Balbieran that the Philippines has exceeded 6.5% GDP growth for another consecutive year. Surely the Philippines is moving up in the global economic rankings. But our country will not be able to realize its potential soon enough without the supply chains and logistics that can deliver goods and materials to support its manufacturing and agricultural base, and provide the needed goods and services to its growing population. We in the supply chain and logistics industry play a vital role in economic development and nation-building. It is our time to shine. Not only for the companies that we work for, but for our country and our people.
Our DoTr secretary declared last year that the Philippines is entering the “golden age of logistics infrastructure.” In the Supply Chain Conference last September, Dr. Ma. Catalina Cabral, undersecretary for strategy and planning of the DPWH, described the massive “build, build, build” program that is already starting.
These present opportunities to industry, but alas, the industry is fraught with many challenges too. And before we can think about leapfrogging into the future, there are many pain points that we have to address in the here and now.
For instance, we are missing deliveries and making customers (and sales people) angry simply because we cannot find trucks or can’t get our goods on a ship during peak days, when we need them the most. This situation leads everyone to increase inventory throughout the entire supply chain, increasing working capital cost that gets passed on to the consumer.
While poor reliability and timeliness continue to bug our performance, the cost to serve is continuously increasing. Is there a way out of this vicious cycle?
We are also facing shortages of truck drivers and qualified warehousing personnel. And while the growth of e-commerce has become a new opportunity, our last mile logistics is not only fragmented and lacking scale, it also lags in the application of technology such as basic track and trace capabilities.
These are just some examples of pain points we face. And it affects every one of us, because supply chains are interconnected. Parang ‘yung kasabihang “ang sakit ng daliri ay ramdam ng buong katawan”.
And so the Board has decided that it has to squarely face these issues if we want to make a difference, to create a bigger impact.
We will lead the charge.
In 2018, our battle cry “Connect. Engage. Move” will take on new meanings. We will direct our efforts towards these pain points. Getting connected and educated about the issues, so that we can engage ourselves and all stakeholders, towards moving and solving them.
We will start by engaging the companies we represent to take up these initiatives. There are seven of them, and let me present each one.
- Surge planning – led by Procter & Gamble, represented by Ms. Tina Alvarez. Other members: XVC Logistics, National Bookstore. Transport and logistics services are hard to find during peak periods leading to missed deliveries and angry customers (and sales people); how can these be made available and how can we best plan for this surge in demand?
- Cost to serve – led by Johnson & Johnson, represented by Ms. Clarisse Castillo. Other members: Zuellig Pharma, Procter & Gamble, SCMAP. The cost to serve customers is consistently increasing; how can we contain cost while achieving effectiveness and be globally competitive?
- Reliability and performance – led by XVC Logistics, represented by Mr. Carlo Curay. Other members: P&G. Reliability and timeliness of deliveries (eg OTD, reliability of trucks and shippers) is low, resulting to higher cost and poor service level; how can industry address this basic requirement of supply chains?
- Manpower management – led by XVC Logistics represented by Mr. Carlo Curay. Other members: Fast Logistics, Zuellig Pharma, SCMAP. The industry is facing a shortage of qualified truck drivers, as well as warehouse personnel, specially during peak periods; what can be done about this?
- Last mile logistics – led by LF Logistics, represented by Ms, Dina Pilapil. Other members: Unilab, SCMAP. With e-commerce exploding, the challenge (and opportunity) shifts to last mile logistics, which is very underdeveloped (including payment) and constraining growth; how can industry quickly put its act together and respond to this challenge?
- Transport regulations – led by SCMAP. Other members: LF Logistics, SCMAP. A slew of regulations is being implemented, including truck modernization, restrictions on ownership etc.; what impact is this having on industry and how can we prepare for it?
- Downstream collaboration – led by Rustan’s Supercenters Inc., represented by Ms. Christine Pardinas. Other members: P&G, LF Logistics, Zuellig Pharma. Downstream supply chain is uncoordinated, e.g. narrow delivery windows to retailers preventing multiple drops, stiff penalties, countering delays etc; how can collaboration be improved to make the whole supply chain more efficient?
These are the seven initiatives that we have chosen to lead. Maybe you can think of more, but these are the pain points that we in the Board feel the most, hence, are driving our passion. As they say, he who has the most pain has the most to gain.
SCMAP will fully support these initiatives, and we will bring them to our General Membership Meetings so you can take part as well. Let’s connect with these issues, get engaged and together move ourselves closer to our ambition of being world class.
Maybe making our supply chain world class to enable our country to realize its potential to be a rising economic power will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile has been achieved that came easily.
Maybe all it takes is to imagine, instead of saying “If only” we can ask “What if?” What if our we can deliver reliably and on time come low or high season, won’t it allow everyone to lower the cost of inventory, thereby leading to a virtuous cycle of efficient supply chains, a growing businesses, growing economy, leading to more scale and efficiency?
What if everyone in the chain coordinates and agrees to making the total supply chain efficient and not just their individual localized operation?
Maybe it is crazy to dream, but every step that we make brings us closer to making this dream a reality.
Let me mention one SCMAP project that was just a dream, something we have been working on for a couple of years now. But I am excited because soon we will be launching the first module of graduate-level courses on supply chain management. These are certificate courses to be granted by SCMAP together with the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. A world class education specializing on supply chain management is a key component of our goal to have a globally competitive supply chain industry.
There is more to be done, but there is also more to be gained.
Let us all be part of this journey. SCMAP is your community. Together let us make it happen, for your company or business, for the industry, and for our country.
Be engaged, through the activities and events that are being planned. Join us in our General Membership Meetings. Keep your eyes on our website and Facebook page.
Once again to our distinguished speakers, thank you for sharing your valuable time and insights. To the SCMAP Secretariat headed by our Executive Director Norman Adriano, Niko Batallones for Marketing and Communication, Annette Camangon for Admin, and Elsie Oafallas assisting us in Finance. Special mention to Ms. Cora Curay who heads our Events Committee. Thank you everyone for your hard work in setting up this Supply Chain Outlook.
And to all of you, thank you for being here today and making this event truly meaningful. Dahil sa inyo kaya may SCMAP. May you succeed in your endeavors in 2018.
Mabuhay kayo, at mabuhay ang SCMAP!