If you haven’t considered logistics and supply chain management as a career path, you aren’t alone. There were over 100 000 open positions for logistics manager recorded in South Africa in 2015, a massive untapped employment opportunity for medium-skilled to high-skilled individuals looking to enter the world of business.
Consider a freight transport company. Not only do they need to move a fleet of trucks around the country, they also need to organise these trucks efficiently. They also need to ensure effective communication between truck drivers and management. They need to make sure their trucks are safely stored wherever they arrive, and they need to be able to repair and replace their trucks without affecting the flow business. All of these needs are met by logistics managers.
And these needs aren’t specific to freight companies. General management and logistical skills are called for in all consumer industries. These industries have to coordinate transportation, purchasing, communication, warehousing and many other processes that require skilled logistical managers in order to be successful. Companies stand to save a lot of money through good management and coordination of their operations, and so they are willing to pay very highly for those who meet these needs.
How to Get Accredited
Logistics and supply chain management is highly specialised, which is good news for those trying to enter industry. By choosing between national certificates in freight forwarding, customs compliance, retail operations, road transport, retail distribution, materials management and more, you can build a skillset which you can use in almost any consumer industry.
The Open Learning Group (OLG) is offering logistics and supply management qualifications all the way up to a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. These programs are guided and supported by their Specialised Articulation Pathway. Let’s have a look at what they are offering.
The Specialist Articulation Pathway is distance learning course which provides personalised support for students throughout the OLG course. This support is extensive, connecting different courses together and helping you to continue with your education and training to higher levels. In considering your personal development, the pathway aims to help you graduate successfully and drive your own career development. Most importantly, it offers accredited qualifications that any employers will be able to recognise as legitimate.
Qualifications
Because of the need for logistical managers in so many industries, there are a wide range of qualifications suited to the different needs of companies. There are 3 Higher Education and Training (HET) programs, 13 Further Education and Training (FET) programs and many Short Learning (SLP) programs. This means that you can develop your skills to suit whatever industry and skill level you are interested in.
As an added bonus, this course introduces you to the industry as a part of your studies. The program gives students the opportunity to undertake investigations into the logistics field, including gathering information, interpreting it, learning the industry terminology and establishing contact with industry role players. This will help you immensely in trying to get a job and begin your career while still finishing your course.
Take a look at what this course has to offer on their site. Their website is a very easy to get around on and they explain their certificates and services very well.
Who is This Course For?
This course is ideal for any person looking to become formally qualified and enter a consumer industry. These courses can be taken by people of any skill level and anyone looking to get into management and logistics at various levels.
This course is also suited to those just leaving matric. According to the OLG website, these are the admission requirements of the Logistics and Supply Chain Management Higher Certificate:
- Matric/Grade 12 having obtained at least 40% in English
- Certified copy of Matric certificate
- Recommended subjects: Mathematics, Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, Information Technology or Computer Application Technology
These relatively low requirements set this course apart from bigger technicons and universities. If you did not achieve the matric results necessary to apply to these institutions, then this course offers a valuable alternative through its support structure and wide range of qualifications.
After the Course
Thanks to the focus of logistics qualifications on working directly in the logistics field during your training, you are likely to have a very good idea of what kind of work and which industries would suit you.
You can follow one of the following career paths by obtaining a qualification through OLG:
- Wholesale
- Retail
- Warehousing
- Transport
- Supply Chain Management
- Logistics Management
- Project Management
- Procurement
- Purchasing
- Clearing and Freight forwarding
- Freight handling
- Operations supervision
- Distribution
EduConnect 2Cents
For those looking for a comprehensive and supportive introduction to the world of business management and logistics, the OLG Specialist Articulation Pathway is worth looking into. Very few courses offer the same kind of guided support and connections into the industry as offered by this program. Find out more about the OLG Specialist Articulation Pathway here.
This article was brought to you by Open Learning Group.
