Thanks to all the IPICS members who attended the recent S&OP talk but in particular, a massive thank you to Colm Mitchell, the Senior Planning Manager at Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard for his interesting presentation on S&OP in Irish Distillers which exceeded the expectations of those in attendance

The event was held on November 25th 2014 in the pleasant surroundings of the Old Jameson Distillery, Smithfield.. right in the centre of Dublin’s fair city

After some light refreshments, Colm proceeded to give all those in attendance a real detailed review of what the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) theory means to him, and the detail of how its applied day to day. With a healthy congregation made up of representatives from companies such as Diageo, Barclays Chemicals, Forest laboratories, Millmount Healthcare and Kerry Group to name but a few, a lively Q&A session followed the presentation

In addition to those from industry, we were also joined by many candidates currently studying for their APICS exams. The Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business was well represented also by the MSc in Supply Chain Management class. I’m sure this real world example of Supply Chain principles, the challenges faced and hard fought lessons learned will have been of great benefit to bring this topic alive

To top it all off, Irish Distillers kindly presented each attendee with their very own gift-pack which included some samples of their flagship Jameson brand of whiskey. A nice night-cap to a fine event, but thankfully not enjoyed before people safely drove home!

Guest speaker Colm Mitchell being presented with a gift by IPICS national council member, Dr Claire Brennan

A captive audience in the comfortable setting of the Old Jameson Distillery

A good mix attendees comprising of those who have completed certification, training professionals and students of APICS & MSc in Supply Chain

Colm fields another question from the audience during a lively Q&A session