Noel re-elected President ISMM for second term

The incumbent President of the Institute of Supply and Materials Management Noel Wickramasinghe was unanimously re-elected as the President for a second term by the outgoing Council of Management of ISMM.

He was formally sworn in as the President for 2016-2017 at the AGM held recently at the O.P.A Auditorium.  He took his oaths before Immediate Past President Anil Ponweera.

In his address the new President thanked the outgoing Council of Management and all Past Presidents for the confidence placed in him and electing him for another year. He also thanked the Office Bearers and the staff for the dedicated service during the last year.

He was happy to announce that discussions with the Open University with regard to the Commonwealth MBA in Supply Chain were successful and we are now awaiting to sign the MOU with them. Negotiations have also resumed with the Ministry of Higher Education to obtain UGC recognition.

He was also happy to note that the Business School had performed well last year organizing a record number of Workshops and Seminars resulting in a 60% growth in revenue.

The proposed ISMM Branch in Galle is scheduled to be opened in May and this will facilitate students in the south to follow short courses in store keeping, stores management, etc. initially without having to come to Colombo.

He was full of praise for the Alumni Association of ISMM which had organised several activities such as seminars, workshops, blood donation camps, etc. during the past year.

Finally he stressed on the fact that “we have a unique brand name which makes it hard for our competitors to overrun us. However we should not take it for granted and must remain vigilant of the real threats and challenges within the profession.”

Wickremasinghe is a Diplomate and a Fellow Member of ISMM. He has been a Vice President of ISMM for over eight years and has served in many committees including the Chairman of the Finance and Budgetary Committee. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK and further serves in the Executive Council of the Organization for Professional Associations (OPA). He has represented ISMM at a number of international conferences and summits.

Wickremasinghe holds an MBA from the University of Moratuwa in Project Management and is an old boy of Nalanda College, Colombo. He started his career as a banker and then switched on to Procurement and Logistics after obtaining the relevant credentials. He has followed a Logistics Management Course at the National University of Singapore in conjunction with Penn-State University.

He has been an influential figure responsible for organising and elevating the Procurement and Logistical Division of the Commercial Bank to its current levels, being the Assistant General Manager (Properties and Services) at the bank wherein he also served in the capacity of Senior Manager Supplies, Chief Manager Logistics and Head of Logistics during his tenure of 38 years. 

During the course of his service at the bank he was responsible for opening of the highest number of branches island-wide and contributed immensely to increase the number of branches to 235 at the time of his retirement from the bank. 

Having retired recently he took up an appointment with the Richard Pieris Group of Companies, which is one of the largest retail conglomerates in the country, as the General Manager – New Projects Development of Arpimalls Development Ltd. During the short span of one year he has contributed immensely towards the island wide expansion of the Arpico retail chain leading the project team to open a number of outlets island wide. 

Wickramasinghe possesses an unwavering record of over three decades as a logistics professional as illustrated by his vast knowledge in the areas of procurement and material management in the banking and retail sector that further embellished his reputation as a prime figure in the field of logistics and supply chain management.