Nestlé and NMMU Business School Celebrate Certification Ceremony

Sandton, 13 February 2014 - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Business School and Nestlé South Africa celebrated the first certification event for employees who completed the Nestlé Supply Chain Development Programme.

In 2012 Nestlé (South Africa) entered into a partnership agreement with NMMU and NMMU Business School for the design, development and delivery of a progressive supply chain development programme. This programme was launched in August 2012 at the Nestlé Longmeadow Distribution Centre in Johannesburg.

One year after its launch, the achievements of employees who successfully completed the programme were celebrated at a certification event which took place at the Quatermain Hotel in Morningside in October 2013.  Employees as well as senior executives from Nestlé South Africa were in attendance, including Mr. Sullivan O’Carroll, the Chairman & Managing Director of Nestlé (South Africa).

The programme comprises nine modules covering the disciplines of lean manufacturing, finance, operations, management, leadership,  demand and supply chain planning, warehouse management, logistics and procurement. The focus is 70% biased to supply chain functional development, while the remaining 30% is focused on management, leadership and financial development.

“This progressive supply chain development programme will empower Nestlé supply chain staff to enhance its service, insight and engagement as part of the FMCG giant’s vision and commitment towards excellence,” said Leon Mouton, Director of NMMU Business School’s Leadership Academy.

“While the programme aims to provide sustainable value creation for Nestlé customers, it simultaneously addressed the education inequalities that affected Nestlé supply chain that was previously unable to pursue studies in the field of supply chain at university level,” he added.

To relieve after-hour study pressures on Nestlé employees, the programme was presented during work hours with full backing and support from stakeholders. Nestlé sought to provide authentic levels of a formal academic learning environment to provide student motivation and engagement and turned to NMMU Business School for a programme that dealt with aspects of the supply chain, but also general management and leadership.

“Programme modules have been customised to meet Nestlé’s specific requirements without becoming excessively FMCG-orientated.  This rationale was followed to create a university learning experience for supply chain staff,” said senior manager of Business Development & Customised Learning at the NMMU Business School, Joey Staphorst.

“Extensive consultation and collaboration between NMMU Business School and the Nestlé Supply Chain College took place for programme customization and contextualization in order to adhere to Nestlé global best practices.”

A highlight of the certification ceremony was a presentation given by the top student on the programme, Becky Anastassopoulos. Anastassopoulos’s presentation showed her journey through the new programme and gave light to the many new skills she acquired through her exceeding efforts.

Dr. Tony Domingo, Nestlé Supply Chain Director, said:  “Our supply chain programme is designed in such a manner that it equips our leaders with the required levels of capabilities to continuously 'learn-unlearn-relearn' innovative techniques that would advance Nestlé's agenda in today's ever-growing, complex, volatile, ambiguous and uncertain world.

“I am delighted to state that we are now seeing very good results emerging through the first cluster of employees that are part of this programme,” he concluded.

Mr. Sullivan O’Carroll, the Chairman & Managing Director of Nestlé (South Africa) indicated that it was gratifying to witness not only the enthusiastic manner in which the delegates approached the learning but, more importantly, the practical application thereof at Nestlé.

Successful completion of the NSCDP provides access onto the 2nd year of the National Diploma in Logistics, which will commence during February 2014 , hereby adhering to the vision of Nestle to create “Supply Chain Graduate Professionals” in order to continuously improve service delivery levels.