– by Nashlene Maharaj
This past week I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and learning from well-known facilitators in the fields of Project Management and Supply Chain Management, Professor P.M. Rwelamila and Mr. Kishan Singh.
The first session was dynamic in that Professor Rwelamila shared his experience on various international and national projects that he has worked on. He highlighted the Executive management interface between Project Link and Clients (internally and externally) and the focus on continuously ensuring appropriate and optimised solutions. This forms part of the Strategic Management process which together with Tactical Project Management ensure efficiencies across all projects within the organisation. Prof. Rwelamila was adept in his dialogue and I can’t wait to be on another one of his programmes.
The second focus area for the module was on Supply Chain and involved a field trip. Our SLDP group embarked on an enlightening tour of the Nampak Divfood Factory based in Mobeni, south of Durban. We were taken through the rigorous health and safety regulations first, ensuring that we were also properly attired with safety shoes and ear plugs. We were met by Mr. Pat Iyer the “National Sales Manager -Monobloc Aerosals” who took us on a guided walk through the sheet metal factory. The first stop was at the DTP (Desktop Publishing) studio, where the manager outlined the process of how artwork is converted to plates and in turn the plates replicate the design on the sheet metal, which then forms the aerosols. It was fascinating to see the end product – truly an incredible journey from the Industrial revolution.
On inspecting the aerosols and can lines, we interacted with the experienced line managers and quality controllers. Their immense knowledge of the processes were explained and delegates acquired an understanding of terminology such as; ISO9000 standards, environmental sustainability, efficiency, process mapping and many more.
The only shortfall on the programme was that there was too little time…. learning is a continuous wheel and it’s up to the delegates to immerse themselves in knowledge both in and out of the classroom.
I’m looking forward to the Executive Leadership Development Programme in 2020!
