Two nonprofit industry associations that serve the supply chain space, APICS and the Supply Chain Council, announced yesterday that their boards of directors have voted to approve a merger between the two. The merger is expected to be completed in July, pending a vote of approval from Supply Chain Council members.

APICS, a supply chain and operations management professional association, is well-known for its professional certification programs, such as the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and the Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM). APICS was founded in 1957 as the American Production and Inventory Control Society, eventually expanding to include operations management and the wider supply chain and changing its name to APICS. The Supply Chain Council was formed in 1996 and made a name for itself based on its frameworks and methodology for improving supply chain operations, such as the Supply Chain Operations Reference model or SCOR.

"Our organizations have collaborated on a number of occasions and jointly determined that, as a combined entity, we can provide greater opportunities to our members, customers, partners, and employees," Abe Eshkenazi, APICS CEO, said.

The APICS brand name will remain the same, and Eshkenazi will remain as CEO. The APICS Foundation, which is a separate entity that is still part of the APICS corporate structure, will be renamed the APICS Supply Chain Council and will be run by the Supply Chain Council's current executive director, Joe Francis.

"The APICS Supply Chain Council will focus on advancing supply chain and operations management innovation through research, educational programs, and workforce development. It is the research arm of the organization, and Supply Chain Council's products line up nicely with the Foundation's activities," Eshkenazi said.

The SCOR model will continue to be supported under the new organization.

In order to go through, the merger must be approved by Supply Chain Council members. Members will receive an email on May 19 asking them to participate in the vote and will have until May 30 to respond.

More details can be found at https://supply-chain.org/merger/.