12 people honoured in Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2020

IPDC Finance Limited in collaboration with Bangladesh Supply Chain Management Society (BSCMS), have hosted Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2020 through a virtual event on December 29. This year, BSCEA 2020 recognised 15 organisations and individuals under eleven categories for their excellence in supply chain management, with 12 winners and 3 special mentions.

IPDC Finance Limited, in collaboration with Bangladesh Supply Chain Management Society (BSCMS), started Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards in 2018. This was the third edition and was broadcast live on the official IPDC Facebook page and YouTube channel.

International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA) was the knowledge partner of the event and its CEO, Ejazur Rahman, anchored the award-giving ceremony.  

The Chief Guest of the event, Dr Rubana Huq, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), stated, "IPDC had always been special. I congratulate both the organizations for such a timely step because it is important to incentivize and recognize the good work that goes behind building an organisation..."

Guest of Honor, Kedar Lele, Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, said, "What a year this has been. 2020 will go down in history as one of the most exceptional years of all our careers. None of us was trained to handle this pandemic. It's also special because if there are one set of heroes that all organisations had in this year, they have to be the supply chain professionals…"

Mominul Islam, Managing Director and CEO of IPDC Finance, said, "Today's event is all about innovation and invention. Those who can continuously reinvent their processes, their internal resourcing, their corporate culture, and can collaborate continuously can attain this excellence. Bangladesh has achieved phenomenal social and economic growth in the last decade..."

Naquib Khan, President of BSCMS, said "This year is an unprecedented year for mankind and supply chain was one of the worst affected sectors during this pandemic. This year was the most challenging years for all of us for continuing supply chain practices, but supply chain cannot be stopped." 

IPDC is catering to over half of the supply chain financing needs in Bangladesh which is why the non-banking financial institution is engaged to inspire supply chain efficiency and excellence.  

Islam hopes that within 2030, the supply chain sector will multiply in size, and until then his company will continue to support their Supply Chain Finance (SCF) clients to flourish and expand.

Imran Rahman, Special Advisor to the Board of Trustees, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh; Masud Khan, Chairman, Unilever Consumer Care Bangladesh; Syed Nasim Manzur, Managing Director at Apex Enterprise Ltd; and Md Miarul Haque, Managing Director, DHL Express Bangladesh created an independent jury panel who selected the winners from over 85 nominated organisations and individuals this year. 

Management from all winning organisations were present in the event--Shehzad Munim, Managing Director, British American Tobacco Bangladesh; Rupali Chowdhury, Managing Director, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited; Sudarshan Reddy, Chief Operating Officer, Apex Footwear Limited; Ashish Goupal, Managing Director, Marico Bangladesh Limited; Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Reckitt Benckiser (Bangladesh) Limited; and Abir Ahmed Rabbi, President, Supply Chain Alliance.

Apex Footwear Limited and Marico Bangladesh Limited both won the award for their excellence in Customer Service, Warehousing & Distribution

Reckitt Benckiser (Bangladesh) Limited took the award for Logistics & Transportation Management category for their cost savings in freight through increasing stack height & upsizing case configuration.

The award for Supply Chain Collaboration and Partnering was won by British American Tobacco Bangladesh for their project on joint value creation in extended value chain, such as enhancing farmers livelihood, loss analysis of distributors and suppliers, and partnering with the government for capability building.

Marico Bangladesh Limited took two more awards for Supply Chain Finance Management and Supply Chain Planning Process due to their excellence in customer service and significant process improvement through the strengthening of monthly S&OP process, respectively.

Unilever Bangladesh Limited took the award for Supply Chain Sustainability For their project in Paper & Plastic Sustainability through packaging activities.

Supply Chain Alliance received the award for Supply Chain Talent Development for their initiative to recognize professionals who have led the way in the implementation of the best supply chain practices.

Technology as Supply Chain Enabler award was bagged by Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited for two projects combined, Berger Aastha and their Implementation of Real Time Tracking System of the Sourcing Process on the Cloud. Kishwar Ahmed Hashemee from Kludio Limited, a Cloud Kitchen based digital food chain with multiple brands sharing technology, real-estate, and supply-chain leading to customer experience designed for delivery, received a special mention for the Technology as Supply Chain Enabler category.

Young Supply Chain Talent of the Year category saw two winners this year, both women, reaffirming the notion women leaders will be playing in the future of supply chain in Bangladesh. Asma Akhter from Unilever Bangladesh Limited won the award for her initiative in creating synergy between business growth & service, while Zeba Samiha from Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited bagged the award for creating customer value through strengthened collaborative demand planning.

Hasnain Ishtiaq from British American Tobacco Bangladesh won Supply Chain Professional of the Year for his leadership in innovating newer ways to ensure maximum optimization of resources. There were two other special mentions for this category – Md Abdul Alim from Unilever Bangladesh Limited        for his contribution in both topline and bottomline of the company & ensured social responsibility, and Mohammed Zia Uddin from Reckitt Benckiser (Bangladesh) Limited for his initiative to drive business growth through excellence in SCM and contributing in supply chain professional development in Bangladesh.