Oliver Wight Launch Integrated Business And Supply Chain Planning Education Academy In New Zealand

Online, December 6, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Business improvement specialists, Oliver Wight have announced the launch of a two-week business and supply chain planning education academy in New Zealand.

The academy, to be held in Auckland between 14th and 24th February 2011, is designed to provide an introduction for senior executives and middle managers to the very latest in management thinking on how to achieve successful integrated business, supply, product and demand planning.

Craig Griffin, marketing manager for Oliver Wight customer, Griffin's Foods Ltd in Auckland, says, "The Oliver Wight courses are both enlightening and inspiring. They have been essential in providing the knowledge that has underpinned the transformation of our planning processes; the resultant performance improvements and behavioural changes have been very substantial."

The New Zealand academy will provide an introduction for organisations on how to achieve business excellence and what is required to reach the prestigious Oliver Wight Class A standard. Courses include:

• Integrated Business Planning (advanced S&OP) in Practice
• Product Portfolio & Lifecycle Management
• Managing Demand
• Supply Planning in Practice

There will also be an exclusive opportunity for delegates to receive free one-to-one advice from Oliver Wight Managing Partner, James Small, who will conduct regular 'doctor surgeries' during the academy fortnight. And Oliver Wight partner, Oracle, will be holding breakfast seminars on the role of information technology in supporting the behaviours and processes required for change management and business performance improvement.

Small says, "The financial challenges of the last couple of years have shown organisations that business excellence has become a necessity rather than a luxury; it can make the difference between survival and failure. Oliver Wight Class A shouldn't be viewed as an objective in itself, but rather as a series of direct solutions to specific problems; organisations can achieve business excellence by taking a sequence of small steps, which in themselves will bring immediate and substantial returns. The new academy will give companies practical help on how that can be achieved."

The courses run on consecutive days from Monday 14th February to Thursday 17th February and are repeated the following week from 21st to 24th February. The courses are open to all New Zealand based organisations and delegates can attend any or all of the courses. There are discounted rates for delegates booking more than one course, and for organisations, which book multiple delegate places.