Pieter/Phil et al, just wanting to share a message sent out by Jon Westerland ("Westy"), the president of ASCI's IPS/ILS College Council. He aptly & concisely summarised how the a/m short courses (& other ASCI training offerings) align with their stream and current/future members' capability paths. This should enable community members to pick the courses that suit them best (regardless of what stream they focus on). Here is Jon's input:
"ILS/IPS Professionals typically come up through 1 of the ILS Constituent Capability paths. They are:
Operating Support - the provision of everything a user needs to operate the systems. Think fuels, wharves, airfields, hangars, ammunition and ammunition facilities, secure compounds, security systems, software systems, etc. This tends to be coordinated by Operational Commanders with the support of Engineers, Maintainers, Supply practitioners.
Engineering Support - the provision of the systems and processes that ensure the integrity of the system through it planned life. Configuration management, test and evaluation, upgrades, etc
Maintenance Support - the planning and conduct of corrective and preventative maintenance activities to maintain the integrity of the system through its planned life.
Training Support - the design, development, delivery, evaluation and validation of the training required to ensure all people involved in the deployment, operation, maintenance, warehousing, distribution, and disposal of the system. Including the training of trainers and the commanders that will deploy the product system.
Supply Support - each of the capabilities above usually incur a requirement for supplies, be that; production supplies, the supported product itself, fuel, ammunition, test equipment, tools, spares, consumables, computers, software, training materials, problematic items of supply, the list is endless. Our supply support practitioners and professionals are an integral part of an ILS/IPS team as they codify and catalogue the items of supply, plan and manage their procurement, receipt, warehousing, shelf life management, distribution and disposal.
The Supply Support practitioners use the same skills as many retail / sales focused supply chain practitioners with a focus on supporting Defence training and Operational needs.
To date, unless a Defence Supply support oriented candidate expressed a desire to step up to overall IPS management roles and recognition, we redirected them to the Supply Chain Council.
Westy"
------------------------------
Klaus Zillner
Senior Consultant
klauszillner@yahoo.comAustralia
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-04-2026 23:21
From: Pieter Nagel
Subject: The benefits of ASCI Short Courses
The short courses are a key part of what ASCI offers, complemented by a broader suite of development opportunities. As a Premier Partner of APICS/ASCM, we also provide the full range of APICS certification programs. In addition, our partnership with ISM gives you access to a comprehensive selection of procurement and supply courses, along with flexible e-learning options.
Altogether, this creates one of the most extensive CPD portfolios on the market, positioning ASCI as a strong partner for anyone serious about their career development.
------------------------------
Pieter Nagel
Chief Executive Officer Australasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI)
Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2026 14:24
From: Phillipe Heenan
Subject: The benefits of ASCI Short Courses
ASCI Short Courses
For many years now, ASCI has provided the supply chain community with short courses designed to provide knowledge to implement improvements in a company's processes that provide immediate improvements. These courses have included sessions to help senior management with aggregate planning, distribution planners plan inventories in DCs better, master schedulers manage finished goods at the plant more effectively, production and purchasing staff manage work in progress and purchased items more effectively, personnel in charge of data management achieve higher levels of accuracy and IT staff implement ERP/MRPII systems better.
Classes are usually held on a monthly basis and address areas such as: Introducing an effective S&OP/IBP process to manage aggregate plans in an integrated fashion, understanding the use of firm planned orders at a master scheduling level protecting purchasing and reducing stock outs, using cycle counting for tock accuracy rather than the painful annual stock take, achieving high levels of data accuracy, integrating MRP with the supply base, introducing a capacity planning process based on demonstrated capacity rather than theoretical capacity, and implementing an integrated business planning process rather than installing a new ERP system. Plus many more.
These classes help address the situation where the previous staff member has left leaving the new person with some knowledge but little education on how processes should work and non-existent software training to fully understand what the ERP system is capable of.
Be aware, techniques and principles covered in these short courses are based on decades of practitioners experimenting then agreeing on conventions that work in the real world so why not make an enquiry now on which classes would be most suitable for your business and staff.