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SUCCESS STORIES
Mr. Vien Tran, CSCP
Talk About Your Career/ Your Job?
I am a chemical engineer but fate and luck have brought me working in supply chain management area. Two years after my graduation, I entered into logistics industry at DB Schenker. During my 5 years at Schenker, I have worked in different functions from new project implementation, quality and facility setup, to account management. Among which, new project implementation and account management offered me great opportunities to experience with challenges facing our local logistics operation.
As a 3rd party logistics service provider, the company does not own inventory and thus it is not in the position to fully control the activities or decisions that impacts service level to customers, who are us – the consumers. So after 5 years at Schenker, I wanted to pursue something new – on the other side of the chain. I then moved to a local distributor – Advanced Distribution – where I was acting as a supply responsible for the availability of Mondelez products in Vietnam. I found it extremely excited to take charge for decisions such as how much to order that could optimize cash (inventory) and minimize stockout (customer service), or whether to keep stocks at our main Distribution Center or keep it at downtown warehouses near the customers.
Why Did You Decide To Pursue The APICS CSCP Certification?
Since I have never been formally trained on supply chain management before, I decided to pursue the APICS CSCP designation. That was in 2014, few months after I started working at AD.
What Was Your Biggest Takeaway From APICS CSCP Training?
Taking CSCP training, I not only had a chance to receive 8-day classroom section with the trainer but also got opportunity to get to know other supply chain and logistics professionals. I have learnt as much from the trainer as from other participants. Our CSCP training batch gathered people with diversified experiences that represent different spectrums of Supply Chain Management (SCM) – Plan, Source, Make, Deliver and Return. We had people working in different areas such as procurement, production, customer service, supply planning and logistics. So my biggest takeaway from APICS CSCP training is real and diversified cases shared by other learners.
Have You Implemented A Supply Chain Initiative At Your Organization As A Result Of Your APICS CSCP Training?
Through the CSCP training, I realized that SCM require a holistic focus. It gave me courage to think beyond the intermediate needs of my organization. My first initiative after the training was to increase our visibility on inventory at distributors and retailers and reduce the delay time (of information) with the ambition to make inventory status of our whole chain (from central warehouse to retail store) more real-time. This has helped us improve our forecast accuracy.
What Are Other Benefits Of APICS Certification?
I shifted my career to SCM consulting at KPMG more than a year ago. During this time, I get more opportunities to apply supply chain management concepts from CSCP to solve real cases/ issues that our clients experience on their SCM. So the APICS CSPC designation really give me sufficient know-how to be able to recognize the gaps between the SCM practices that local companies are following and the global leading best practice.