Winners announced for 2011 ASCL Awards

The Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA)has announced the winners for the 2011 Australian Supply Chain and Logistics Awards, one of the longest running national awards program in the industry.

Supply Chain Management Award

Out of the finalists a High Commendation was awarded to Woodside Energy Limited and the winner of the award was Nestlé Australia Limited.

Nestlé Australia Limited recently introduced an integrated robotic layer picker with FreePick Maximiser Software into the Arndell Park Distribution Centre. The new pallet layer picking solution picks 4 million layer and case orders automatically; substantially reducing OH&S risks and improving productivity in the DC. The system has significantly improved the safety, productivity and quality of mixed pallet assembly at the Arndell Park DC and is a safer and smarter solution.

Training, Education & Development Award

A High Commendation was awarded to TDT Victoria and the winner of the award was University of Wollongong - Sydney Business School.

The Masters of Science in Logistics Program is designed to give the students the analytical skills and intellectual framework they will need to succeed in designing and implementing a global logistics strategy.

Storage & Handling of Materials Award

The finalists were: COVS Parts and Nestlé Australia Limited and the winner of the award was Nestlé Australia Limited.

Nestlé Australia Limited won their second award for their robotic layer picking solution. The system is capable of picking the widest range of products from cartons and cases to bags, sacks, cans and bottles - around 80% of Nestlé’s SKUs held at the distribution centre. Completed orders are conveyed through the integrated layer picking system being checkweighed, stretchwrapped and labelled on the way, until they exit ready for collection and transport to despatch by forklift. The introduction of voice-directed computing has also significantly improved the efficiency of their remaining manual case-picking operations.

Environmental Excellence Award

Out of the finalists, a High Commendation was awarded to Schenker Australia. The winner of the award was the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of Queensland (WCRAQ).

WCRAQ was the coordinating industry body, supported by its members, that worked with the Brisbane City Council to facilitate the safe collection, transport and disposal of more than 400,000 tonnes of flood-related wastes and also provided specialist industry advice to other affected councils across the state. Across Brisbane, WCRAQ was responsible for all the back-end clean-up and disposal operations of all the flood-related wastes including all the commercial and industrial and other wastes generated - getting Brisbane back in business.

Information Management Award

Out of the finalists Fremantle Ports, Grays Online and The Just Group, a High Commendation was awarded to Fremantle Ports.

The winner of the award was The Just Group. With around a thousand stores in Australia and New Zealand, the company's twice-yearly stocktake has traditionally been a labour-intensive and costly operation, with stores remaining closed on the day of stocktaking until the process is completed. They wanted to simplify, speed and reduce the cost and impact of the stocktake process on sales. They developed and implemented a Bluetooth-enabled stocktaking solution for retail stores, RapidStocktake, which is now being rolled out across 500 stores in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, with the remainder of their stores to be rolled out later in the year in time for the next stocktake period.

Manufacturing Logistics Award

The winner of the award was Nestlé Australia Limited, winning its third award for its robotic layer picker. Arndell Park is a high-volume national DC, storing and distributing several hundred SKUs from Nestlé’s consumer food and beverage, food service and pet food businesses. Nestlé evaluated a range of technology and software options to eliminate the OH&S risks associated with manually building layers, and also increase the efficiency of single case-pick operations. Productivity and system efficiency are optimised by FreePick Maximiser software.

Industry Excellence Award

Out of the large group of finalists, a High Commendation was awarded to Allan Jones.

Jones plays an active role in the organisations logistics domain by providing assistance and mentoring to other logisticians on education and career paths. He has also taken an active role in launching the Master of Science in Logistics program to the ACT, with a view to start in early 2012.

The winner of the award was Rick Ralph.

As part of WCRAQ, Ralph acted as a liaison to facilitate the safe collection, transport and disposal operations of more than 750 separate requests of removing and disposing of hazardous and regulated wastes, the safe disposal of 25,000 dead chickens, and of moving more than 8000 tonnes of market waste in just 48 hours to get the markets reopened. It has been said the generosity of Ralph’s time and specialist advice was instrumental to helping Brisbane get back to business after the 2011 floods.

Future Leaders Award

The High Commendation was awarded to Karan Sikand.

Sikand’s success story within the Schweppes Supply Chain was his development and rollout of an execution planning model and the transformation of the supply chain to accommodate greater responsiveness and agility. He developed a mathematically derived safety stock/reorder point model based upon the standard deviation of lead time and demand. The model is being implemented on a national basis. He is also actively involved in promoting the development of the industry and its talented future leaders, acting as a committee member of the Future Leaders Group in Victoria.

The winner of the award was Amy Vassallo.

Vassallo was given the opportunity to coordinate service planning for the Regional Town Bus Service through WA, managing a portfolio of 20 service contracts to an annual contract value of tens of millions of dollars. Vassallo is constantly searching for ways to innovate and improve. As a public transport enthusiast, she is respected by the regional operators she manages as a fair, objective and conscientious officer.