I was recently in Barcelona Spain at the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) World Summit. The IFPSM brings together 48 national purchasing and supply management associations from around the world to discuss trending purchasing and supply management topics and strategies for increasing the value of membership in national associations.
National associations took considerable interest in IFPSM’s Global Standard accreditation program for post-secondary purchasing and supply management programs. The Global Standard is a universal measure against which educational programs, degrees and designations are evaluated for the depth and breadth of their curriculum to ensure that it adequately prepares graduates to take on leadership roles in procurement and supply chain organizations. The Standard measures the mix of knowledge, learning and skills that are critical to the purchasing and supply management profession, for Bachelor degree or equivalent courses which are typically three to four years in duration. Programs that receive the IFPSM Global Standard have clearly demonstrated their ability to produce graduates who meet a rigorous world standard for procurement professionals. Several universities and organizations have already achieved the Global Standard Accreditation including Canada’s Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA), the University of Twente in the Netherlands, Old Dominion University in Virginia, USA, and, the Swiss national association Procure.ch to name a few.
Global education and work opportunities have not been widely available to supply chain professionals. With the expansion of the Global Standard, supply chain professionals and their employers will be able to align individuals and skills to meet the demands of the global market creating greater labour mobility among supply chain professionals and further development of supply chain careers.
You can find out more about the IFPSM Global Standard at www.ifpsm.org/global-standard/.
