Daniel Stanton is the well-known author of “Supply Chain Management For Dummies”. He is a supply chain executive, entrepreneur, and educator popularly known as “Mr. Supply Chain”. Stanton will share his insights with African supply chain professionals at the annual SAPICS Conference, Africa’s leading event for the profession, which takes place from 24 to 26 August 2021.

“We are thrilled to have Daniel speak at the 2021 virtual SAPICS Conference,” announced Keabetswe Mpane, president of SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management.

Since his book was published in 2017, Stanton has received numerous commendations for helping people to grasp a complex field. Supply and Demand Chain Executive honoured him as a “Pro to Know” again in 2021. It was the fourth consecutive year that he won this award.

Stanton is a professor at Bradley University in the United States, a doctoral researcher at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, and the creator of several online courses for LinkedIn Learning. He says that his focus in recent years has been on educating the whole world about supply chain management. “Part of that is explaining what supply chains are to people that don't know. Another aspect of it is helping supply chain professionals pick up the skills and the insights that they need to do their jobs better and to advance their careers,” he explained in an article in Supply and Demand Chain Executive after his recognition as a Pro to Know.

“For me, supply chains are complex systems. What that means is the decisions that you make in one place can have far reaching consequences. The more that people understand about what supply chains are and how they work, the better job all of us can do with balancing those trade-offs. The better that we understand the tools, the rules and the jargon of supply chain management, the better job that we can do of communicating with our suppliers and with our customers. At the end of the day, that means education is really a critical part of running supply chains efficiently and of adapting to changes when we need to, which is critical when we see a challenge.”

Stanton is also the co-founder of a tech startup called SecureMarking, which enables companies to create a fully integrated, end-to-end supply chain security platform that leverages nanotechnology, blockchain and the Internet of Things. “It is a powerful new tool for manufacturers, distributors, and their customers to combat the growing threat of counterfeit, black market and grey market products in global supply chains,” he explains.

In the recently published second edition of his bestselling book, Supply Chain Management For Dummies, Stanton has included technology advances and changes in trends in supply chain, and there is a greater focus on risk management and resilience. 

“There has never been a time in history when supply chain management is more important for society than right now. Professionals in the supply chain industry do great work every single day to help make modern life possible, and this has never been more apparent than during the Covid-19 crisis,” he asserts.