Page 9 - Linkline Yearbook 2017

'First Choice for Our Profession'
As we come to the end of this year, it is natural to assess our perfor- mance and reflect on our achievements in 2016. Earlier this year we shared with you key elements of our revised business plan.
Our Vision and Purpose is to be recognised as the ‘First Choice for Our Profession’ and to ‘Promote professionalism in Logistics, Transport and Supply Chain’. The three key strategies underpinning our ambitions are as follows:
• Education and Services
• Developing a stronger brand – CILT
• Governance – continued application of strong principles and
implementation of best practice
We have made a lot of progress in 2016 in these key areas but much more remains to be done. We are determined to further build on our achievements and enhance our performance while serving the best interests of our membership and industry sector. It is worth reflecting on and sharing some of our key achievements.
Education and Services
We continue to improve our Diploma course in Logistics and Supply Chain with new modules added and new highly qualified lecturers joining our academic team. We are currently preparing to submit the course for QQI accreditation which we plan to have completed in 2017.
CILT has had an ambition for many years to develop a degree programme as a natural follow on from our Diploma. This year we launched a new L7 degree course in collaboration with the Carlow Institute of Technology. This allows our Diploma graduates to migrate directly onto the degree course seamlessly and to progress their academic and professional ambitions.
The Institute successfully secured funding from Skillnets having made
a very strong submission to develop a Skillnet Network for the Freight
Transport, Distribution and Logistics Sector in Ireland. We formally
launched our Skillnet on the 21 November – already we have over
30businesses who have signed up to join the ‘Network’ representing thousands of employees. This will allow these companies to avail of subsidised ‘Continuous Professional Development’ training for their people who can continue to grow their capabilities and improve the performance and contribution of our industry sector.
We also continued to deliver a wide range of events across the country throughout the year which were well supported and received.
Our Policy Committee have been particularly active and have produced a number of excellent papers which have been shared with our members and the relevant government/official bodies.
Governance
CILT complies with standard and legislative requirements in relation to our status as a registered charity e.g. charities
and lobbying register, independent financial auditing provided by Brown Murphy & Hughes. We also comply with CILT International’s requirements in relation to their standards and expectations. We are very mindful of our duties in relation to compliance and the trust which is placed in us by our members. To this end, we have introduced a number of new initiatives to further protect CILT and implement and embed best practice.
The Institute sought and achieved accreditation to ISO 9001 this year and we were complemented by the lead auditor
on the quality of our processes and systems. We also introduced an Internal Audit Committee with representation from
a former senior leader from CILT UK as its Chairman. The Internal Audit Committee has also recruited an independent professional auditor to conduct a complete review of all our process, systems and services. The audit will commence at the end of November and a report will be presented early in the New Year.
The Institute also conducted a number of risk assessments and has developed appropriate risk mitigation actions that were necessary. Our journey continues and we will continue to strive for excellence in the application of best practice governance.
Pat Treacy' CILT CEO
The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT 9
CEO'S INTRODUCTION