At its 2018 Annual Conference APICS 2018 being held in Chicago this week, the increasingly supply chain management focused educational organization announced the introductory launch of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM).
This announcement was made at the initial kickoff of this year’s conference. 
Essentially, this move represents a transitional rebranding of APICS, more to the specific role of professional education and certification activities that are directed at broad areas of supply chain management.
According to today’s announcement, ACSM will deliver newer, innovative products and services including a powerful global network of alliances and thought leadership collaborations, along with an on-demand ASCM Supply Chain Learning Center.
The announcement clarifies that the full launch is expected in early 2019, with additional information being released in the coming months. A web site presence has already been established.
Initial Take
As some of our blog readers may have surmised, the new naming is some similar to the Association of Supply Management (ISM), which is the professional organization focused on strategic sourcing and procurement professionals, and increasingly, broader supply chain areas. In prior Supply Chain Matters blog commentaries, we have noted the increasing overlap of APICS, ISM and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). The latter just happens to be conducting its annual membership conference in Nashville, concurrently with APICS.
Supply Chain Matters Executive Editor Bob Ferrari will be in-attendance at APICS 2018 and is scheduled to meet with APICS executives during the conference. Bob will provide additional background commentary regarding this announcement, later this week.
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