Supply Chain Innovation – The Need of the Hour
WDA - Next U^® DRIVE Series

SOLD OUT

WDA, Next U^® and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are pleased to invite you to attend the 2nd DRiving InnoVation Excellence (DRIVE) seminar on Supply Chain Innovation.

Learn about the latest innovations in the field of supply chain management to help companies build sustainability during the downturn, local industry trends and the role of innovation in Singapore’s supply chain community.

Date: 23 March 2012, Friday
Time: 9.00am – 12.30pm (Registration starts at 8.30am)
Venue: Amara Hotel Singapore

Target Audience

Executives and managers who are involved in supply chain strategy, planning or execution from manufacturing, distribution or logistics companies.

Seminar Topics

Supply Chain Innovation – The Need of the Hour
Professor Yossi Sheffi
Director, MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics

Innovating SCM in Asia & Singapore – the YCH experience
Dr. Robert Yap
Chairman & CEO, YCH Group

Seminar Synopsis

Supply Chain Innovation – The Need of the Hour
Professor Yossi Sheffi
Director, MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics

The economic downturn in 2008 had resulted in reduced international trade, and companies felt the financial squeeze worldwide. Manufacturers struggled to utilise their existing capacity and tried to optimise their supply chains. Others, inevitably, resorted to reducing their workforce to save costs. They were subjected to enormous pressures due to growing uncertainties in trade and market disruption. Yet interestingly, some supply chain companies were still profitable and sustainable under such harsh conditions. Just how did they do it?

Professor Sheffi had analysed some of the blue chip companies and will be sharing on how these companies are able to continuously drive innovation over the years.

As the global economy faces uncertain prospects once again, this seminar presents an excellent opportunity to learn from Professor Sheffi about innovation over the years in in the area of logistics and supply chain management.

Innovating SCM in Asia & Singapore – the YCH experience
Dr. Robert Yap
Chairman & CEO, YCH Group

Global supply chains are becoming more complex in today’s global economic environment – with changing business models and increasing demand for sustainable logistics solutions, not forgetting the vulnerability of supply chains now with the onset of natural calamities at unprecedented levels. In addition, MNCs are negotiating the complex Asian landscape as they expand into the region.

Leveraging its strategic location between the East and West, as well as its world-class logistics and supply chain capabilities, Singapore is primed to design and deliver sustainable solutions for companies’ global operations. Having helmed YCH Group for over three decades to its regional leadership status in Asia’s logistics and supply chain industry, Dr. Robert Yap will provide a local perspective of the supply chain industry trends and highlight how continuous innovation will be a key differentiator for the furtherance of this industry in Singapore. With people being the pulse of the industry’s growth and development, Dr. Yap will also share insights on the kind of supply chain education needed to nurture continuous pools of industry talents that will fuel the growth of this industry. 

Mastering the New Normal: Trends shaping Supply Chains of the Future
Mr. Mads D. Lauritzen
Partner, McKinsey & Company and Leader, Asia-Pacific Supply Chain Practice

Research and field work conducted by McKinsey over the past 5 years with more than 600 companies and 6,000 executives suggest that a set of trends that influencing supply chains of the future is emerging. McKinsey refers to these trends as "the new normal" and the presentation explores what capabilities leading corporations have successfully deployed to master 'the new normal'.

Speakers Profile

Professor Yossi Sheffi
Director, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics

Dr. Yossi Sheffi is the Elisha Gray II professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he serves as Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL). He is an expert in systems optimisation, risk analysis and supply chain management, which are the subjects he researches and teaches at MIT, both at the MIT School of Engineering and at the Sloan School of Management.

Outside the university Professor Sheffi has consulted with numerous government agencies as well as leading manufacturing, retail and transportation enterprises all over the world. He is also an active entrepreneur, having founded five successful companies, and a sought-after speaker in corporate and professional events.

Professor Sheffi was recognised in numerous ways in academic and industry forums and was on the cover of Purchasing Magazine and Transportation and Distribution Magazine.

Dr. Robert Yap
Chairman & CEO, YCH Group

Dr. Robert Yap is Chairman and CEO of YCH Group, Singapore’s leading end-to-end Supply Chain Company with operations spanning across the entire Asia-Pacific region. He was conferred the Asia Logistics Hall of Fame award for his significant contributions and thought-leadership to the SCM industry in 2003 and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) award in 2007.
Dr. Yap sits on the ASEAN-Business Advisory Council, which he chaired from 2007 to 2009. He is also Vice Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Board Member at various statutory boards and strategic committees such as International Enterprise (IE), Singapore Customs, Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and SMU School of Information Systems. Dr. Yap is Founding Chairman of Supply Chain Asia – a community of more than 17,000 supply chain professionals based in the region.

Mr. Mads D. Lauritzen
Partner & leader in the Asia-Pacific Supply Chain Practice, McKinsey & Company

Mr. Mads D. Lauritzen is a leader in the Asia-Pacific Supply Chain practice with at least 15 years of experience in the fields of Operations and Supply Chain sectors and a partner of McKinsey & Company. Prior to McKinsey & Company, Mr. Lauritzen was an Officer of the UN Peace Keeping Forces, including Supply Chain Leadership of armed forces in Bosnia. He graduated with a PhD in Mathematics and a Masters in Statistics.