APICS and AST&L merger is made official

Following a May announcement regarding plans to merger, two prominent supply chain associations, APICS and the American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L), said last week that the merger is now complete.

APICS and AST&L officials said that this merger will provide support to the end-to-end supply chain body of knowledge that fuels APICS’s global supply chain research, education and certification programs. And they added that APICS will integrate AST&L with its existing operations, resulting in unmatched content and subject matter expertise that will enable individuals and organizations to meet key supply chain and logistics challenges.

“Integrating AST&L into APICS allows us to fortify our supply chain education and certification offering with deeper content in the areas of transportation and logistics,” said APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi, CSCP, CAE, CPA, in a statement. “APICS continues to bolster our offerings to address two of the most important topics in the global economy today – developing supply chain talent and elevating supply chain performance.”

On the leadership front, Eshkenazi will remain the chief executive officer of APICS and Laurie Hein Denham, AST&L president, will join APICS as a senior director.

An APICS official said in a previous interview there were various drivers for this merger.
“As documented in the Material Handling and Logistics U.S. Roadmap published in January 2014 [by MHI], there is a real and present need to develop the U.S. workforce to meet the needs of the materials handling and logistics industry, which is a rapidly growing employment sector,” the official said. “The industry is calling for education and certification programs that will offer individuals the skills they need to advance their careers and employers the trained personnel they need to meet customer demand. The combination will enable us to more effectively meet this demand. Our research shows that there are approximately 300,000 logistics professionals in the U.S., and growing at 4 percent annually.

What’s more, the organizations have a history together, with the official noting that APICS has provided “backroom functions” for AST&L since 2013 and during this time, APICS has learned first-hand about AST&L products and services, as well as the organization’s operational processes.

As for the membership benefits of this merger, the official said members from AST&L and APICS will now have access to unmatched content and subject matter expertise that will enable individuals and organizations to meet key supply chain and logistics challenges. APICS will expand, extend and deepen end-to-end supply chain body of knowledge.

“The merger brings together complementary organizations that have been working closely together to better serve the needs of students, professionals, organizations and the industry at large,” the official said. “AST&L has content within the transportation and logistics areas of supply chain, but as a smaller organization has less resources to update, develop and distribute this content. APICS has greater resources and the merger will add to their content in transportation and logistics. Together, they have the capabilities to provide members and customers with more comprehensive content and programs.”

AST&L has approximately 800 members and APICS has approximately 41,000 members worldwide. Together the organization will reach approximately 42,000 members.

APICS and AST&L cited some of the most notable member benefits of this merger, including:
-Creating the most complete supply chain body of knowledge. The combination unites APICS’s Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework, SCOR Professional (SCOR-P) brands with AST&L’s three credentials including the Certified in Transportation and Logistics (CTL) designation;
-Ensuring investment, improvement, and continued relevancy of transportation and logistics content. The combination offers greater resources and access to volunteer subject matter experts committed to providing individuals, supply chain organizations and the transportation and logistics industry with a respected and validated credential program; and
-Strengthening competitive position and platform for growth. Fortified transportation and logistics content creates a more sustainable organization better positioned to address the end-to-end supply chain education and certification needs of individuals and companies