Co-chairs Lisa Anderson MBA, CSCP, CLTD, president of LMA Consulting Group and The ACA Group’s Ellen Kane, CPIM, will be hosting the 11th Annual APICS West Coast Student Case Competition on February 17 and 18 at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside in San Diego, Calif. The competition attracts undergraduates and graduate students from the region including Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and northern Mexico and because of its popularity, consistently draws teams from Washington, Oregon, Northern CA, Texas, Utah, Canada and Hong Kong. Approximately 100 students compete in roughly 25 teams running computer simulations to solve supply chain and logistics business problems presenting their work to a mock Board of Directors (APICS professionals). The top two teams in each division compete on Saturday with one more round of computer simulation and walk away with cash prizes to help fund their transportation, hotel and registration fees for the competition.
“Our goal is to provide value to the students and get them engaged in the community of professionals with connections that will be valuable as they search for jobs and advance their career. We believe strongly that students are the future of manufacturing, and we want to encourage them to pursue careers in operations and supply chain management,” explains Anderson, recognized as SAP’s 16th most influential in supply chain management and sustainability. “They truly apply what they are learning in their respective programs to solve these challenging simulations.”
Keynote speaker Linda Duffy of Ethos Human Capital Solutions will prepare participants for work life after college and teach better business exchanges with a presentation on “Building Communication Skills for a Successful Career” at 1:00 P.M. “I appreciate the opportunity to share my business communications, teambuilding and work life insights with college students—especially the ones who are competing at the APICS West Coast Student Case Competition, ” states Linda Duffy, president of Ethos Human Capital Solutions. “I will specifically focus on business communications and how to build rapport with coworkers. Participants will be able to take the Everything DiSC Workplace® assessment so they can understand their communication style and how their approach might need to be flexed to get along with co-workers.”
APICS Southwest students, most with backgrounds in operations management, supply chain management, industrial engineering, or MBA students will compete to solve computer-simulated supply chain problems at a graduate and undergraduate level. Simulations challenge students to create solutions to the problems posed and provide the rationale for their recommendations. Judging is provided by APICS professionals with 50 percent of the final score focused on presentation and the other 50 percent graded the ROI calculations and rationale. The competition is open to all students enrolled in universities in the APICS Southwest Region and coordinated by APICS-IE and LMA Consulting Group president, Lisa Anderson and APICS-SFV VP Finance and The ACA Group’s Ellen Kane. Participants are able to showcase their talent for fellow students, professors and future employers.
About APICS
APICS is the premier professional association for supply chain and operations management and the leading provider of research, education and certification programs that elevate supply chain excellence, innovation and resilience. APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and APICS Supply Chain Operations Reference Professional (SCOR-P) designations set the industry standard. With over 43,000 members and more than 300 international partners, APICS is transforming the way people do business, drive growth and reach global customers.
The Inland Empire Chapter covers the inland empire region of Southern California, which spans the easternmost portion of Los Angeles county in addition to San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The chapter offers educational classes, programs and special events in the hotbeds of manufacturing and distribution activity including Ontario, Riverside, and Temecula. APICS Inland Empire partners with other organizations supporting manufacturing and distribution such as the DMA (Distribution Management Association), neighboring APICS chapters, industry leaders and government officials in support of furthering the region’s workforce development and growth.
About LMA Consulting Group – Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP
Lisa Anderson is a leading expert in selecting & implementing strategic priorities and ranked 16 most influential in supply chain by SAP. Anderson is Board approved in Supply Chain strategy by the Society for Advancement in Consulting, is an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and won the APICS Southwest District’s Milt Cook Award in 2011. Named a top 100 supply chain blogger on SupplyChainOpz, she has the unique ability to zero in on the critical strategic priorities and bridge the gap between strategy and execution to achieve dramatically improved service levels, accelerated cash flow and increased profits. With a keen focus on elevating business performance, Anderson is passionate about not only synthesizing strategic priorities that will deliver business results but also in designing an implementation approach that delivers rapid results.
Anderson, also known as The Manufacturing ConnectorSM, is currently working on a book entitled “The Amazon Effect” detailing a business roadmap to thriving in an ultra-competitive marketplace. A regular content contributor in topics including supply chain, ERP and SIOP, she has been interviewed for articles in publications like Industry Week, tED Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. She actively posts educational blogs three times weekly and has two newsletters, Profit through PeopleSM and “I’ve Been Thinking.”
Prior to founding LMA Consulting Group Inc., Anderson was the Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain of PaperPak, Inc. Her twelve-year tenure included transitions and promotions through the company transformation from a $100 million family-owned business, through a merger and acquisition of three businesses into one $350 million dollar global company, followed by a management leveraged buyout in combination with an investment banking group.
A sought-after writer and speaker, Anderson has spoken at the Global Supply Chain & Logistics Summit, the APICS International Conference and as a visiting lecturer at the University of Southern California’s Entrepreneurial Program. Anderson is the author of “Leverage Social Networks to Drive Business Results,” has published hundreds of articles and has been quoted in the media including The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and Industry Week.
With a blend of management, finance and operations, Lisa received her MBA with an emphasis in Finance from California State University Fullerton and her BSBA with an emphasis in Operations Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She has traveled extensively throughout North America, Central America and Europe, including a summer in Oxford when attending the University of North Carolina. Lisa tries to make as many stops as possible at in New Orleans to enjoy a beignet at the Café de Monde. And, in recognition of her extraordinary tenacity to accomplish goals, her colleagues fondly refer to her as “pit terrier.”
Lisa Anderson
President
LMA Consulting Group, Inc.
Claremont, CA
909-630-3943
Originally published on ExpertClick on February 7, 2017