Good afternoon
It’s a great opportunity to stand on this platform to deliver the valedictorian speech today. My name is Alok Sharma and I work for a mining company here in Singapore, supporting the IT function. In recent times, I had a great interest to spend quality time to understand the business side in the area of Supply Chain. As I was looking around, I found the course I was looking for on the SIPMM website and it took a very little time for me to decide to join this course.
I remember rushing in the evenings after a long day at work to reach SIPMM class on time. It was worth the time invested as the learning at SIPMM from experienced industry leaders has enhanced my knowledge in the area of Supply Chain and Procurement Strategy. I am sure many of you would have a similar experience and today we are all here for the Graduation Ceremony.
I started my career as a programmer and then moved as a business process consultant in the logistics area supporting companies to implement the ERP solutions. I had an opportunity to work for various top consulting companies and implement projects in different industries from Pharma, Airline, Banking to Mining. While I was busy implementing ERP solutions, I always had the desire to learn the business side of the process to see how companies structure their processes to align to the company strategy. I was lucky that I managed to attend the ADPSM course (Advanced Diploma in Procurement and Supply Management) at SIPMM. Through this course, I learnt different perspectives from the business standpoint covering strategies that companies apply in the area of Supply Chain.
Mr Wong and Mr Choo are both experienced industry leaders and they shared their practical experience throughout the course. We spent less time on theory and more on the practical aspects which was great. Day after day we were learning about new areas. Mr Wong was focusing on Supply Chain Strategy and Mr Choo was focusing on Procurement Strategy. We got a chance to meet Professor Poh first on day 1 for a very short time and later when he took few classes when Mr Wong was not able to make it due to business travel. Professor Poh has a very different teaching style which allowed me to gain even better knowledge in various aspects of Supply Chain.
Then came the time to work on the projects. It was challenging at the start but with the guidance from Professor Poh, it became relatively easy and, in the end, my article was published on the SIPMM portal which was a happy moment.
Great time at SIPMM and I must admit that it has given me a kick to study and explore this area even further which I have already started to do and can see benefits in my job.
Thank you Professor Poh, Mr Wong, and Mr Choo. Special thanks to my family who supported me throughout this course duration and my management who trusted me and offered flexibility to leave early to attend this course.
Dear fellow graduates, I know you will agree with the things that I have just mentioned. In appreciation of our family and friends who have given us their support and love during our course of studies, I would like to invite all my fellow graduates to join me in giving 3 cheers, to express our gratitude to our family members and friends.
Finally, I wish all of us every success in our future endeavours. Thank you and have a nice day.
