General Discussion

Via LinkedIn

As a professional organisation, should CILT membership be seen as a qualification or benchmark for industry standards?
Should that benchmark, when attained, be promulgated in a register of qualified members on-line?
I guess the question is: "what is the value of membership?"
Do we have a perceived value or is it a tangible value?
Other professional institutes and organisations set and maintain standards for the sectors they represent and membership is a necessary requirement for employment. Is this attainable for the CILT? If so how do we achieve it?

CAB wrote:

Via LinkedIn

As a professional organisation, should CILT membership be seen as a qualification or benchmark for industry standards?
Should that benchmark, when attained, be promulgated in a register of qualified members on-line?
I guess the question is: "what is the value of membership?"
Do we have a perceived value or is it a tangible value?
Other professional institutes and organisations set and maintain standards for the sectors they represent and membership is a necessary requirement for employment. Is this attainable for the CILT? If so how do we achieve it?

I have been a member for over twenty years and during that time I have repeatedly heard members say the Institute has lost its way and does nothing for them.

I am on the committee of the East Midlands Region and we are desperately trying to halt a declining membership and this seems to be typical of other Regions.

Other professional institutes and organisations may set and maintain standards for the sectors they represent and membership may be a necessary requirement for employment but I don't think this is attainable for CILT.

How would CILT propose to implement such an idea?

As a recruiitment consultant, I have met many extremely capable logistics professionals who are not members and it is not a requirement of many clients with whom I have worked.

Experience, achievement and ability are significantly more important than membership of CILT.   I think CILT would struggle to ensure that membership of CILT is a pre-requisite of obtaining employment in the logistics and supply chain industry, which is so widespread and encompasses procurement, forecasting, demand planning, sourcing  and many other disparate disciplines as well as transport and warehousing. Many excellent people working in these disciplines are already members of other Instituitions and would have no need to join CILT.

I think CILT should ask itself and the membership why so many members think CILT does nothing for them and ascertain what they do want. We canvassed over 1600 members in the East Midlands and I won't embarass you by saying how poor the response was.

CILT can more usefully devote resources to sourcing information and making it readily available and providing a portal for members to exchange ideas and experiences. A lot of good work is carried out by volunteers in the Regions who organise visits and networking opportunities and this cannot be underestimated.Corby should not lose sight of this and become over bureacratic and distant from members, who do after all, pay their wages.

I suppose that brings me back to the original question "I guess the question is what is the value of membership?"  Does this mean that someone at Corby has finally woken up and realised that this is a real issue which needs an answer?

Terry Abra  JLC Solutions

I work with many suppliers in the Supply Chain and find it increasingly surprising why none of my suppliers are even aware of the membership route or in fact hold any of the institute's recognised qualifications.

I chose to complete Level 5 diploma as I thought it would add to my practical experience and if I decided to change employers it would be a recognised qualification in logistics or supply chain.  Not so sure this was the correct decision and perhaps I should have pursued IOPS as recommended to me.

In Scotland awareness and perhaps even support to members is somewhat restricted and not sure even recognised as a worthwhile entity.  Although I can see some value I do ask what the future holds for the institute and its members.

Other than the monthly publication and my exams I don't really see my yearly membership costs adding any real or true value to my career or other.

Further to my reply to David Vaughan's note on Industry jobs qualifications v experience which appears elsewhere on the general discussion board.

I also thought that by obtaining recognised qualifications through the Institutes distance learning programmes, I would possibly become more "employable",especially since being made redundant last year. Unfortunately, even though I have obtained both the Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Freight and Passenger Transport and a MSc Post Graduate Diploma in Logistics I can honestly say that neither these qualifications, or my Chartered status has helped in finding a position. 

As I was unable to find any position within the logistics sector, partly I believe because of my age, I managed to get a bit of agency driving working for one of the largest logistics organisations in Europe. Although they employ several thousand staff within the UK, it is unlikely that there are any more than 30 - 40 who are members of the Institute. However, as the Institute no longer sends out a copy of members as they did when I first joined 16 years ago, I cannot check myself.

What does the Institute do for me - currently very little. Certainly the knowledge centre has been of help, especially when doing research for my MSc course, but other than that I would be pushed to see what value I get. I am just glad that I now pay a reduced rate as a "retired" worker as I would struggle to justify a full subscription. I am proud of my Chartered status and remain a member in order to retain the right to use it. It is unfortunate though that the industry in general does not give any importance to it.

I realise that the Institute provides for those members who give most back. I for one would have loved to become more involved,but unfortunately the local meetings all started too early for me to attend. I am also concerned that "Focus" is not as interesting as it used to be. I have just received this months copy and if you take out the adverts, large photographs and all of the article where the Institute is sing its own praises, there is very little left of interest. I do realise that the revenue generated by the adverts provides additional income for the Institute, but is it possible we could have articles on other subjects apart from buses. Some of us are actually involved with lorries.  

I used to be proud to say I was a member of the Institue. Now I don't know.  There are a lot of hard woirking people based in Corby and London. I would be interesting to hear of their views on the direction the Institue is currently taking.

Yours Sincerely

Mark Badkin 

I think even looking at lack of response to the discussion thread tells a story.  Is it valuable at all or should we all be looking at other networking/education possibilities related to our activities in the logistics or supply chain sectors.

Comments would be valued here folks.  

If you look at the main line of About Us of CILT (UK) and other Chartered Institutes you may know the difference 

CILT says: 

"The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK - CILT(UK) - is the pre-eminent independent professional body for individuals associated with logistics, supply chains and all transport throughout their careers."

CMI (Chartered Management Institute) says:

"We are the only chartered body in the UK that awards management and leadership qualifications, and the only body that awards Chartered Manager, the hallmark of any professional manager. We literally set the standards that others must follow. "

CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) says:

"CIPS exists to promote and develop high standards of professional skill, ability and integrity among all those engaged in purchasing and supply chain management. CIPS assists individuals, organisations and the profession as a whole. We are the leading body representing the field of purchasing and supply chain management. Established in 1932, we have grown to become the central reference for industry best practice and our code of conduct is the standard around the world. In 1992 we were awarded a Royal Charter in recognition of our status as a centre of excellence and support for the profession."

Therefore, along with the professional developement and qualification, CILT needs to standardize the profession then can introduce CILT as a reference in Logistics and Transport, after that members can really benefit from the membership.

If you look at the main line of About Us of CILT (UK) and other Chartered Institutes you may know the difference 

CILT says: 

"The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK - CILT(UK) - is the pre-eminent independent professional body for individuals associated with logistics, supply chains and all transport throughout their careers."

CMI (Chartered Management Institute) says:

"We are the only chartered body in the UK that awards management and leadership qualifications, and the only body that awards Chartered Manager, the hallmark of any professional manager. We literally set the standards that others must follow. "

CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) says:

"CIPS exists to promote and develop high standards of professional skill, ability and integrity among all those engaged in purchasing and supply chain management. CIPS assists individuals, organisations and the profession as a whole. We are the leading body representing the field of purchasing and supply chain management. Established in 1932, we have grown to become the central reference for industry best practice and our code of conduct is the standard around the world. In 1992 we were awarded a Royal Charter in recognition of our status as a centre of excellence and support for the profession."

Therefore, along with the professional developement and qualification, CILT needs to standardize the profession then can introduce CILT as a reference in Logistics and Transport, after that members can really benefit from the membership.