Recently graduated from the IMPA Certified Buyer Course, Mr Hideki Itoh, Manager in the Supply System Division of Fuji Trading Singapore, shares his feedback about the Association’s education programme
Congratulations for your achievement, Hideki! Why did you decide to join IMPA’s course?
I already knew about the International Marine Purchasing Association’s education offering and was interested in taking it up. The way I enrolled onto the programme, however, was with the help of my General Manager who offered me the opportunity to join.
How have you found the course content and what were you looking forward to learning about?
In summary, the course covered the basics of procurement and taught us the skills needed to do our job efficiently. It was very useful, for instance, to see how ship-owner and ship-management companies buy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What do you think about the online format of the course?
This was the first time when I participated in such a programme, so it was very exciting. I found that the instructors managed classroom time well and they were always prepared for every class, bringing forward the necessary resources and guidance. What I liked the most, however, was that the teachers encouraged discussion and we had the online discussion forum where all students were able to bounce ideas off each other and exchange opinions regarding different procurement topics. It took me a while until I learned how to properly engage, but in the end, I did, and it all worked for the best – I found this format interesting and think it worked very well.
Was it feasible to commit sufficiently to the course while working?
I will not lie; juggling work and education at the same time was tough, especially in the beginning, as there was a lot of interaction expected from us in the discussion forum. I think this feeling persisted more in the first and second term, but once I became adjusted to the speed of things, I coped very well.
Would you recommend this course to a friend?
Definitely, yes! I have already told management how important it was to learn about these definitions and business models, and strongly highlighted the value offered by the programme. Before I had attended the course, we relied much more on past experience when providing services. With the knowledge gained, I feel that we now have more productivity at work. I really do not think we could find another education programme such as the one offered by IMPA.
