APICS - "What's in it for Me!"
by Peter J Blok, PhD
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My career has been a gift in many ways, moving from R&D, to process development, to production and commercial operations. I wish I could say it was all by brilliant design but frankly some of it was a bit of luck.
I fell into the pharmaceutical business in 1983 after a tour in the Navy and a short stint in chemical engineering. I was befriended by an operations guy who introduced me to APICS in northern New Jersey.
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I remember going to meetings whe reclasses would start at 5 pm and PDM’s at 6:30 pm. Dozens of people were in classes and what seemed like a hundred people would be at the meetings. I was a bit overwhelmed. I was a process development guy at the time and my operations management skill set was sad to be kind. Those meetings opened my eyes to a world one doesn’t often see as a young person. A mix of young pups like me and old hands from dozens of companies all sharing friendships and ideas. All sharing a common passion, finding ways to do what they do every day better.
I’ve been in and around APICS now for over 25 years. I’ve been a member of a few different chapters over the years depending on where my job was. But there has been one common theme – get better at what you do – for yourself and for your employer.
What does APICS mean? Of course the training & education. But also the exchange of ideas at the meetings. The PDM presentations are, of course, very informative, but also the informal interchange. Meeting other practitioners of the art of operations management from other companies has been of great value. I’m met many people, some from my own industry and some from other industries. The dialog always sparks and idea or two that I can apply to by day-to-day job. So what does APICS mean to me? In way the best word to describe it is enrichment.
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[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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