Supply Chain Alliance: Bridging the gap between industry professionals and supply chain enthusiasts 

Do you know how the soap you use reaches the local retail shops from where it was made? Do you ever wonder how it is made?

Starting from sourcing the raw materials, bringing it to the manufacturing plant, storing it in warehouses, to circulating the products among distributors, and finally putting them up on shelves in retail shops for you to buy, is probably the most simple way one can describe the term 'supply chain'. 

Our world today would not have been possible without the optimisation of supply chain management. An effective supply chain can bring a nation to the pinnacle of progress. 

With this belief, in 2019, Abir Ahmed Rabbi along with his co-founders Rakib Kabir Niloy, Kazi Nahiyan Muktadir, Akib Zabed Nirob, FM Mujibur Rahman, launched Supply Chain Alliance (SCA) - Bangladesh's first-ever supply chain-based knowledge-sharing platform.

Sketch: Abir Ahmed Rabbi

"Prior to forming the SCA, I did not know how or where a soap available at a local retail shop would reach the final consumer from the manufacturers. I only understood particular aspects of a business that were tangible. After a lot of research, I came across the term - supply chain management," said Abir, during an interview with The Business Standard. 

When Abir understood the process of how products reach final consumers, he wanted to learn more and thus, grew a passion for the supply chain. Abir and his team won a scholarship after participating in a competition organised by the International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA) Bangladesh. After that, he availed a professional degree in supply chain management and became a Certified Supply Chain Analyst in August 2019.

Upon digging deeper into the prospects of supply chain management in Bangladesh, Abir figured there is a big gap in our supply chain knowledge stream. "The students of the different universities have a very limited scope to gain knowledge about supply chain management," he said.

In 2020, the SCA won the Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards jointly initiated by the IPDC Finance Limited and the Bangladesh Supply Chain Management Society (BSCMS) to recognise the innovative methods, solutions and strategies adopted by businesses and individuals to navigate the pandemic

He realised the need for equipping fellow students with the supply chain knowledge that they can use in their academic and professional careers and thus, the SCA was formed to bridge the gap between students' knowledge and the supply chain. 

"I pitched the idea - to four of my CSCA mates - of forming a club through which we will work with a niche group of people who would spread the idea of supply chain systems among their fellow acquaintances," said Abir.  

Now, the organisation has 76 members and have worked with around 15 to 20 leading supply chain professionals who have helped them in their journey of spreading knowledge. But there have been challenges and the journey has been stressful for the team. 

"There were 13-14 clubs in our faculty already and convincing to add another one was one of the biggest challenges we overcame. Our moderator Dr Yousuf Kamal and our advisor Dr Nasrin Akter have continuously supported us in this process. 

Building a growth mindset-oriented team was another challenge and soon after we launched the club with the Covid-19 pandemic making its way into Bangladesh. To resolve this problem, we arranged "SCA: HARBINGER" where the executives got the opportunity to learn supply chain management from the leaders and apply the knowledge in case solving although organising such events amid the pandemic was very difficult as well," Abir explained. 

However, SCA has been impacting people's careers nonetheless; the platform's main objective is to reach supply chain enthusiasts across the country. 

"We launched a national event - SCAUpStream where 45 to 50 universities participated in competitions, seminars, and workshops, from all over the country. Through this event, we met our club's objective as around 400 teams participated in the competition and we successfully managed to spread our ideas among other institutes as well," said Abir.

Other activities in the club include detailed sessions about supply chains - supply chain management, corporate culture, case studies, communication, etc. 

"This year, around seven members of our club availed the CSCA degree and around 8-9 members from our club got scholarships from ISCEA – the highest number so far. The executives of the club have already published three articles on supply chain management. 

Currently, they are working on case studies, industry analysis and content marketing to make people more aware of supply chain management. In short, the club works as a catalyst to nurture future supply chain leaders of the nation," said Abir.

In 2020, the SCA won the Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards jointly initiated by the IPDC Finance Limited and the Bangladesh Supply Chain Management Society (BSCMS) to recognise the innovative methods, solutions and strategies adopted by businesses and individuals to navigate the pandemic

SCA members now want to represent Bangladesh on a global level through the club and create future leaders who will create an impact on Bangladesh's economy. 

"We believe that the individuals who are a part of our club will be the future leaders who bring about a positive impact on Bangladesh's economy," added Abir.  

The organisation now serves as a bridge between learners and professionals so that they can have a better understanding of the industry.