KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

P.O.BOX 1 KYAMBOGO
A REPORT ON THE INTERNSHIP/ PRACTICUM TRAINING CONDUCTED AT VISION GROUP (NEW VISION PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY HEAD QUARTERS), FINANCE DEPARTMENT, STORES UNIT BETWEEN 02ND OF JUNE 2014 AND 17TH OF JULY 2014.

TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENUERSHIP KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF PROCUREMENT AND MARKETING

BY AMUNYO DENIS
11/U/13994/PLE/PE
Email: deniskyu@gmail.com

DECLARATION; 4 APPROVAL; 5 DEDICATION; 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT; 7 CHAPTER ONE 8 1.0 Introduction 8 1.1 Objectives of the practicum: 8 1.2 The scope of the practicum: 8 1.2.0 Content scope; 8 1.2.1 Geographical scope; 8 1.2.2 Time scope; 9 1.3 Organizational profile: 9 1.3.0 Background of the organization; 9 1.3.1 Organizational structure 11 1.3.2 Nature of the organization 13 1.3.3 Clients/stakeholders 13 CHAPTER TWO 14 2.0 Introduction: 14 2.1 The role of the procurement& disposal/store unit 14 2.2 Reporting and induction by the organization. 14 2.3 The department to which I assigned at the work place 15 2.3.0 Category of the department 15 2.3.1 Duties of the unit: 15 2.3.2 The title of the head of the stores unit; 16 2.3.3 The responsibilities that I was assigned: 17 2.3.4 Offices that I have worked with and what they do 18 2.3.5 Relationship with other officers in executing 18 2.4 The role of the site supervisor 19 2.5 The role of the university supervisor; 20 CHAPTER THREE 21 3.0 Introduction 21 3.1 What I have learned in the work place in terms of; 21 3.1.0 The knowledge gained 21 3.1.1 Skills gained 22 3.1.2 How I intend to utilize what I have learnt for my professional development 23 3.2 Personal contribution to the organization (my innovation) 23 3.3 Challenges noticed during the practicum that are affecting; 24 3.3.1 The Organization: 24 3.3.2 The workers: 25 3.3.3 The intern: 25 CHAPTER FOUR: 27 4.0 Introduction. 27 4.2 Comments on the findings. 28 4.3 Recommendations for the identified problems/ challenges and the way forward. 29 4.4 My assessment of the practicum at new vision printing and publishing company. 30 4.5 Conclusion. 31 APPENDICES: 31

DECLARATION;
I Amunyo Denis sincerely declare that this report is authentic and an original work of my hands, initiative and brain and has never been presented to any institution/university for the award of certificate or diploma or bachelor’s degree or any other qualification. Therefore it’s valid and my personal working.
Students Name:……………………………………………………………………………………
Signature:…………………………………………………………………………………………
Date:……………………………………………………………………………………………….

APPROVAL;
I do certify that this was under my supervision and recommend it for submission.
Site supervisor/head of stores New vision:……………………………………………
Signature:………………………………………………………………………………..
Date:……………………………………………………………………………………...

Session supervisor:……………………………………………………………………...
Signature:………………………………………………………………………………..
Date:……………………………………………………………………………………...

DEDICATION;
This document is importantly presented in appreciation of my family’s effort in upbringing me right from the time I was born with a blank brain to this very moment when I can declare that I too have become a person of substance, to my elder brother Mr. Odeke Ivan who has all along taken my parents place mostly as my shield, my maternal relatives for the support they endeavored to offer me both materially and immaterially, my paternal Uncle Mr. Asako Robert Francisco who unconditionally offered his charitable hand and sponsored my University education, the many friends who kept by my side even in difficult moments. Not forgetting the teachers in primary and secondary school who prepared me for the different assessment exercises I participated in, Dr. Inangolet Francis, my mentor and most importantly the New vision staff specifically procurement/stores staff who spared time in their busy schedule to ensure that my internship exercise at vision group remains a memorable experience particularly Madam Nalwanga Brenda the head of stores, Mr. Harold, Mr. Henry, Mr. Gadafi and Miss Barbra my supervisors and precisely my friends. Above all I glorify God the almighty who created me in his image, imparted in me a gift that defined my purpose of existence as that of trying to unlock and utilize that gift for the betterment of myself and ultimately society.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT;
This report has been prepared with a lot of patience and keenness coupled with dedication, commitment and perseverance.
I solemnly extend my sincere gratitude to whoever contributed to the fruitful work during my practicum at new vision procurement, stores department and vision group at large.
Special thanks go to my site supervisor, the head of stores New Vision Madam Nalwanga Brenda, my session supervisor Madam Mpirirwe Comfort, Mr. Henry, Mr. Harold and Miss Barbra the stores staff for their tireless support, words of encouragement and hospitality that made the environment so conducive for the internship practicum and successful compilation of this report. With immeasurable gratitude, I wish to thank the entire school of management and entrepreneurship Kyambogo University.

CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
This internship report is a result of a 6 week (2nd June-17th July 2014) practicum/ field training conducted at New vision Procurement/ Stores unit as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a bachelor’s degree in procurement and logistics management of Kyambogo University, it will detail the activities I engaged in, important lessons I learned, the challenges I encountered and most importantly recommendations for improvement in the processes within New vision.
1.1 Objectives of the practicum: I. To bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical aspects of procurement/ warehousing management. II. To acquaint the student with the organizational culture and environment in a wider scope. III. To gain practical experience on how the different principles within the scope of procurement and logistics management are operationalized. IV. To march personality traits with the job requirements with the view of delivering desired outcomes. V. To detail knowledge for future improvements in the management of internship field practicum
1.2 The scope of the practicum:
1.2.0 Content scope;
The practicum was directed towards mastering the practical aspects of warehousing management of stock control, management of receipt of stock from the different suppliers with the attendant activities prior to acceptance or rejection of the stock items supplied that is to say stock inspection, verification and counting while benchmarking on the purchase order and verifying the correctness of the supporting documents, receipt and placement of stock to the different location as per the stores layout and space allocation policy of New vision stores, proper verification and approval of requisitions for stock items by the different user departments, order picking and issuance of requisitioned for stock items to the authorized representatives of the respective user department that requisitioned for the stock items, stock taking policy of New vision, management of returns which is mainly of unsold off newspapers and scrap management related activities and policy and above all maintenance of records for all the stock related activities conducted in stores.

1.2.1 Geographical scope;
The internship exercise was conducted at new vision printing and publishing company limited (NVPPCL) also commonly known as Vision group located along Jinja road plot 2/4 Third Street, industrial area headquarters procurement/ stores department where I was specifically posted in the New vision stores office but the activities span to Cavour the many stock locations that were under the foresight of the stores section that is JR store, Store number 9, Store number 7, factory main store (left and right) and the store for returns.
The practicum was also occasionally punctuated by activities involving operating in other departments and companies under Vision Group that is to say Bukedde TV, Urban TV, X-FM, Bukedde radio (1&2), IT department, and Editorial department among others.
1.2.2 Time scope;
The internship exercise lasted for 6 weeks from 2nd June to 17th of July.
1.3 Organizational profile:
1.3.0 Background of the organization;
The Vision Group

Introduction
This section shows the background of the New Vision Printing and Publishing Company Limited (NVPPCL), description of the organization, location, company mission, vision, objectives, work ethics, company profile, services offered and organizational structure.

The organization background.
New Vision Printing and Publishing Company Limited (NVPPCL), is a media company which was established in its current form in1986 by the government of Uganda. It was founded in 1855 as the Ugandan Argus, a British colonial government publication. The holding company that owns the New Vision newspaper is the NVPPCL.
The Vision Group incorporated as the New Vision Printing & Publishing Company Limited (NVPPCL), started business in March 1986. It is a multimedia business housing newspaper, magazines, internet publishing, television, radio broadcasting, commercial printing, and advertising and distribution services. NVPPCL is listed on the Uganda Stock Exchange, with an expected turnover of over UGX 60 billion (FY 2010/2011). It has gone beyond just a newspaper media house and has several milestones over the years. It now has New Vision, Saturday Vision, Kampala Sun, Bukedde (ku sande), Orumuri, Rupiny, Etop, for the newspapers, then FM, Bukedde FM, Radio West, Etop radio, Radio Rupiny and Arua one, for the radios.
It also has Urban TV, TV West, Bukedde 1 and Bukedde 2 for the televisions. It has also got magazines like Bride & Groom, Flair, Premiership, and mostly the World Cup magazine. It also does commercial printing (Vision Printing) for other firms, the online newspaper (www.newvision.co.ug), plus the mobile advertising facilities (8338).

NVPPCL is currently with no doubt the largest media house in Uganda. It is 53% owned by the Ugandan government and 47% by the institutional and individual investors. It is also listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).
Location details
NVPPCL has its head office located on plot 19/21, first street industrial Area and the advertising office are situated at JR complex, plot 101 Jinja road.
There also regional offices in Masaka, Mbarara, Fort portal (Western Uganda), Jinja, Mbale, Soroti and Tororo (eastern Uganda), Lira, Arua and Gulu (Northern Uganda) and Luwero (Central).
The NVPPCL Headquarter contacts are +256(0)414337000/+256(0)312337000, Fax; +256(0414)232050. And can also be reached on the website at www.newvision.co.ug

Company Vision
The vision of NVPPCL is “A globally respected African Media Power house that advances society” Company Mission statements
To be a market focused, performance driven organization, managed on global standards of operational and financial efficiency
To inform, educate and entertain, accurately and openly for a better world.
To expand as the dominant multimedia enterprise through editorial innovations and world class practices.

Company Values;
Honesty, openness and integrity
Courage backed by research and facts
Innovation, ambition and continuous improvement
Excellence in operation, people, customer care both internal and external, meritocracy, performance, product quality and service
Zero tolerance to corruption
Social responsibility
Company Goals and objectives;
To develop an effective marketing function
To develop performance oriented human resource practices
To be innovative for growth and development
To achieve international standards of financial efficiency
To achieve international standards of operational efficiency
Company organizational structure;

NVPPCL has David Ssebabi as the chairman of the Board of Directors (BOD), and then Robert Kabushenga comes second in authority as the managing director/ chief executive officer. The BOD has seven non-executive directors namely; Orono Otweyo, Captain Gad Gasaatwa, Hon. Steven Bamugaya, Mr. Oode Obella, Dr. Monica Chibita, Ms. Grace Dwonga and Charles Tukacungurwa.

Our Vision;
“A globally respected African media powerhouse that advances society”
Our Mission;
“To be a market-focused, performance-driven organization, managed on global standards of operational and financial efficiency”
1.3.1 Organizational structure
NVPPCL has several departments which are headed by different officers as shown below;
Operations headed by Gervase Ndyanabo
Editorial headed by Barbara Kaija
Finance headed by Zubair Musoke
Commercial headed by Tony Glencross
Human Resource headed by Kathy Sempebwa Turinawe
Internal auditing headed by Ms. Carol Kyomuhendo Lutalo
Printing headed by Peter Taremwa
Television headed by Mark Walungama
Radio headed by Bill Tibingana
Digital headed by Louis Jadwong
Marketing headed by Susan Nsibirwa
Sales headed by Hope Nuwagaba

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

1.3.2 Nature of the organization
The NVPPCL also called vision group is a public listed company with government and private individuals and institutions owning shares in the company, which is the leading media company in Uganda mainly dealing in news print with the dailies (new vision, Saturday vision, Sunday vision, Rupinyi, Etop, Orumuri, Bukedde, The Kampala Sun, and commercial printing) radio broadcast, TV broadcast with the online short messages (SMS) advertising platform.
1.3.3 Clients/stakeholders
All organizations (domestic, international and multinationals), parties, individuals and public entities interested in using advertising and media i.e. print ,air and digital as there marketing mix are clients of the company and stakeholders include the board of directors, employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, government, the public and financial institutions.

CHAPTER TWO
Management of the practicum exercise
2.0 Introduction:
This chapter details the scope of operations of the procurement and disposal/stores unit by bringing out the role of the unit and specifically will focus on the role of the stores unit. In addition it details the organization of the internship exercise right from the induction exercise through to the farewell meeting after the practicum and specifies the roles of both the site supervisor and the session supervisor.
2.1 The role of the procurement& disposal/store unit
The procurement & disposal unit shall- a) Manage all procurement or disposal activities of the company except adjudication and award of contracts ; b) Support the functioning of the procurement and disposal committee c) Implement the decisions of the procurement and disposal committee d) Act as a secretariat to the procurement and disposal committee e) Plan the procurement and disposal activities of the procurement and disposal entity f) Recommend procurement and disposal procedures g) Check and prepare requisitions/ statement of requirements h) Prepare bid documents i) Prepare advertisements of bid opportunities j) Issue bid documents k) Maintain a providers list l) Prepare purchase orders and any other contract document m) Issue approved contract documents n) Maintain and achieve all records of the procurement and disposal process o) Prepare periodic reports for the procurement and disposal committee p) Co-ordinate the procurement and disposal activities of all departments of the company q) Prepare any such reports as may be required from time to time
2.2 Reporting and induction by the organization.
I reported on 2nd of July 2014 to the conference room prepress where the personnel officer engineering department Mr. John Bosco Nsubuga addressed me and other interns. His address was directed towards enlightening all the interns on the selection criteria that was employed for selecting successful interns, the acceptable dressing code, code of conduct where at all times all members of the Vision family are expected to be presentable even when not at work and at all times hold a high impeccable standard character-wise.
I was also enlightened about the possibility of being retained once I performed profoundly well since new vision printing and publishing company sought to achieve the best out of the interns.
The other issue was to do with the expectations of interns in that salary and wages are not given to interns hence he called upon us to prepare well in order to be able to facilitate our selves for the entire internship period in terms of meals and transport fare.
Address was also done by head of security new vision printing and publishing company. His main concern was on the safety precautionary measures that have to be observed by all members of the vision family. He emphasized the need for presentation of identification cards at the entry and exit points during entrance and exit in a bid to control entry and exit.
Concern was also directed on compliance with the procedure of security checks done by the security personnel both during entry and exit by security personnel for safety reasons.
I was also enlightened about the company’s strong policy on detecting and handling theft by staff
An address was also done with a staff member in charge of VAS (value added services) mainly focusing on the scope of this services for example using SMS (short messages) platform to disseminate news/information to the public.
When I was taken to the stores unit, Mr. Gadafi an employee of vision group in the stores unit responsible for mainly forklift operations, order picking and placement of mainly heavy stock items stacked in pallets, took me along with other interns posted in the stores unit around the stores where he showed us the stores layout, the material handling equipment(the electronic forklift) , the different items kept in the stores, the special storage room mainly for inks where the temperature is regulated at 25˚c. I was also informed that New vision printing and publishing company utilizes centralized warehousing management system with mainly random stores lay out because the other types of layouts are uneconomical to adopt considering the goals and objectives of the stores unit.
The other issue of focus was the procedure followed in the stores to manage and control receipts, storage and issues of stock items which is mainly done through the Microsoft dynamics Navision 2009 classics software that enhances the coordination of warehousing activities in all the companies under vision group both in the headquarters and the outside bureaus.
2.3 The department to which I assigned at the work place
2.3.0 Category of the department
The department I was a signed to is the finance department specifically in the unit under finance department called stores.
2.3.1 Duties of the unit:
The stores unit at new vision printing and publishing company limited has mandate to carry out the following duties; i. Receipt of all the stock items supplied to new vision printing and publishing company following acceptance of the stock items upon their conformity with the specifications as specified in the purchase order and the purchase contract. ii. Inspect, verify, count and or test the supplied items with the help of a technical person if necessary while benchmarking on the specifications as defined in the purchase contract and the purchase order. In a sense they ensure that all deliveries conform to the specifications and in addition issue contract performance report or certification upon rejection of items. iii. Retrieve all the required documentation relating to supplied goods for example the purchase order, the suppliers invoice, the goods delivery note, and the goods received note, the certificate of insurance, the transportation documentations, documents relating to taxation among others and verify their authenticity before submitting to the procurement unit for processing of payment of the suppliers. iv. The stores unit is obliged to ensure that all the stores policies and procedures specified in the stores manual are followed at all times in the execution of the stores function. v. Ensure that the stock items kept in the store are availed with safe storage in terms of facilities, security, material handling equipment and in addition special storage facilities where necessary. vi. To prepare periodic report on the stores operations to be presented to the Chief Executive Officer. vii. The stores unit is mandated to manage the sale of returned paper and scarp while utilizing the disposal principles for examples, competition, and value for money, best evaluated bidder among others. viii. It is mandated to manage all requisitions for stock items by the user departments and issues while utilizing the stock control policies in order to leverage value for money and improve on productivity. ix. They are also mandated to ensure that proper documentation regarding sale of scrap items is generated for example sales invoice and authorization of dispatch of stock items to the outside bureaus and dispatch of sold scrap items by issuing gate passes x. They are also mandated to carry out stock taking exercises and asset verification in order to harmonize the balances as per the system and the physical balance in the store. xi. Carry out supplier reconciliation in order to sort out those particular supplier invoices for which payment against them has not been effected and is long overdue. xii. They are also responsible for maintaining a proper store layout, coding system and allocation of space to every stock item for efficient operations for example order picking.

2.3.2 The title of the head of the stores unit;

The stores overall is The Head of Store.

2.3.3 The responsibilities that I was assigned:

Receipt, inspection, verification, counting of supplied items in order to determine conformity with the specifications as specified in the purchase contract of local purchase order, accept supplied stock items by signing on the documentation upon conformance of their conformity with the specifications and or rejection of the supplied stock items upon nonconformance with the specifications specified in the purchase contract of local purchase order with the guidance of the stores staff

Approval or rejection of requisitions for stock items on behalf of the Head of the stores unit except requisitions for airtime credit cards with the guidance of the stores staff

Verification and retrievment of documentation relating to supplied stock items for example the suppliers invoice, the delivery note, transportation documentation In addition I was mandated to sign as confirmation for receipt all the documentation relating to supplied stock items that I inspected, accepted and received.

Carrying out asset verification in different companies with in vision group for example Urban TV, Bukedde TV1, among others and all the departments within new vision printing and publishing company in order to determine the assets being held where and confirm their availability.

Coding and tagging of stock items for example TV sets, Cameras among others.
Carrying out stock taking with the guidance of the stores staff in order to determine the physical quantities of stock available in the stores

Preparation, generation and posting of sales invoices relating to sold scrap items and returned paper

Carrying out supplier reconciliation in order to filter out those supplier invoices for which payment has not been effected against and is long overdue while keeping in mind the company policies and the payment terms as specified in the respective purchase contracts

Data entry for both receipts and issues of stock items by making positive and negative adjustments respectively to the electronic stock cards in the system by posting in the Microsoft dynamics Navision classics 2009.
The positive adjustments relating to receipts of stock items supplied add on the balance of stock items in the electronic stock cards and in a sense the negative adjustments reduce on the balance on the electronic stock cards of the respective stock items

Carrying out order picking for those stock items whose requisitions have been fully approved by the respective authorities
Authorizing dispatch of both issued stock items destined for the outside bureaus for example TV West among others and sold returned paper and scrap items
Record keeping by maintaining proper filling of all copies of documentation relating to stock items that are kept in stores
Reviewing records both in hard copy and in soft copy in order to identify the source of the variances between the physical balance of stock items available in stores and the balance as per the systems (electronic stock cards)
Attending periodic performance assessment meetings directed towards identifying performance gaps and haw to bridge this gaps. Under this the head of stores always reminded the stores staff of their intended outcomes, goals and objectives for easy analysis on whether or not the goals where achieved and if not the best way forward for seeing into it that the goals are achieved
Reviewing entered data for identification of any data entry errors for example wrong treatment like making positive adjustments instead of negative adjustments
On the day for the end of the financial year annual stock taking exercise, I was assigned to supervise a group of three (3) stock taking members specifically to guide them on the different names of the different stock categories kept in stores, differentiation of WIP (work in progress) from full packets specifically for commercial paper in the main store.

2.3.4 Offices that I have worked with and what they do

1. Procurement; this manages all purchasing activities in new vision printing and publishing company 2. All other department; this are mainly the users of the different stock items kept in the stores 3. The human resource department; is responsible for human resource planning and ensuring that all the human resource requirements of New vision printing and publishing company are met

2.3.5 Relationship with other officers in executing

They were supportive and encouraged me to ask as many questions as I could about the subject of warehousing management in order to enhance my learning experience and in addition I was assured that every member of the stores staff would be glad to give a response to my questions.
They assigned me tasks including technical tasks for example inspection, verification, counting and acceptance or rejection of the stock items supplied and signing of the attendant documentation relating to the supplied stock items, allowed me to control and oversee the processes within this activities for example during the end of the financial year stock taking exercise, I was assigned to supervise one group of the stock taking members comprising of mainly staff from the audit and finance department where my responsibility was mainly to clarify of unclear things to them for example the different names of the different types of commercial paper kept in the main store which was evidence that they were confident with my abilities having seen my passion and speed of learning new things.
I had to accord these officers with respect because each of them was my immediate supervisor and was tasked to assess my performance mainly in terms of dressing and behavior and attitude to words work for example the stores staff.
They were friendly and supportive to the extent that there was no significant line delineating me as an intern and them as new vision staff as they ensure that I felt at home at all-time specifically by assuring me that by the fact that I was doing my practicum at new vision printing and publishing company, I was a member of the vision family for the whole of my internship period.
While executing my tasks the primary focus was to enhance the achievement of the goals and objectives of each task on time and hence in times when I was having a huge workload, I was empowered to delegate some tasks to the stores staff who by that particular moment had accomplished their tasks or did not have any urgent tasks in their desks hence a more family like relationship.

2.4 The role of the site supervisor

The site supervisor among other duties performs the following role;
Orienting me at the beginning of the practicum by taking me through the policies and procedures of the stores operations, goals and objective of the stores unit and how they are aligned towards the achievement of the overall organizational goals and objectives of vision group printing and publishing company.
To assign work tasks to interns and fore see the performance of this tasks by interns by guiding in time s where a challenge is met.
Call for and chair performance assessment and review meetings for the stores interns where the extent to which warehousing management goals specifically to do with the tasks assign is analyzed.
The site supervisor is the overall authority in the stores unit hence final guidance on contentious issues in the discharge of work tasks for example authorizing issue of items whose requisitions have not been fully approved on the account that the authorities responsible for approval might not be in office due to occasional field work is offered by her.
Verifying and posting entered data on receipts and issues of stock items.
Occasionally disseminating advice to interns on the career choices and demands of the media industry
Assessing my performance from time to time during the internship period with consultation with the university supervisor

2.5 The role of the university supervisor; a. To prepare the intern mentally for the practical field experience and in addition clear the high expectations and illusions that may be possessed by the student. b. To assess the performance of the intern during the entire internship exercise. c. The university supervisor acts as a coordinator between the university and the sight organization for the practicum. d. Assessing the internship environment on the grounds whether it is availing the student with and objective learning opportunity for easy bridging of the gap between theory and practice. e. Filling a report to the university basing on the assessment of the intern on the desirability of a given organization as a field placement site.

CHAPTER THREE
Findings/observation
3.0 Introduction
This chapter details the knowledge gained, observations taken during the practicum. It further brings out how the I intend to utilize what I have learnt for my professional development, my personal contribution to New vision printing and publishing company, and the challenges I noticed during the practicum that are affecting new vision printing and publishing company, staff and interns.
3.1 What I have learned in the work place in terms of;

3.1.0 The knowledge gained

I have mastered how to use Microsoft dynamics software for stores operations of maintaining stock cards, supplier reconciliation among others.
I have gained knowledge on how stores operations are carried out in a profit making company. Additionally I have gained immense knowledge on the acceptable code of conduct and dressing code in an office environment in order to be presentable and not to offend any colleagues. Executing tasks with in ethical boundaries is significant in the journey of my career path within the supply chain management scope. I have also gained knowledge on how the practical stores operational are executed, the procedure followed in new vision printing and publishing company stores unit in management of issues, receipts and storage and stock rotational policy of stock items and scrap management. I have gained knowledge on haw bid evaluation is managed and executed in a profit making company where the focus is on reducing bureaucracy while leveraging benefit to the company
Knowledge on also timeliness and maintenance of accuracy in data entry and postings concerning issues and receipts as the audit done by both the internal and external auditors through the end of financial year stock taking exercise is carried out to find answers to the variance between the physical count and the balance as per the electronic stock cards and in order to avoid inconvenience then one as the stores staff has to be keen during data entry. In addition it’s inevitable that every person taking stock items to the user department upon issuance should record details in the issue book and sign against the record for easy tracking this in a sense enhances data entry and posting of all entries pertaining to issues.
The bureaucratic measure incorporated in the requisition procedure is meant to control and eliminate tendencies of abuse of requisition system and process by staff by for example requisitioning for items that are not actually urgently needed which leads to wastage.
Issues of items must be managed for example commercial paper precisely WIP which are packets that are not full in that any issues of commercial paper that is not worth a packet is got from WIP which has already been posted as an issued packet hence if issuance is left to the staff of the commercial printing, he may fail to locate where WIP is and hence may get paper from a full packet without notifying the stores department hence that packet remains un posted causing a variance between the physical balance in the store once stock taking is done and the balance as per the electronic stock cards which may prove to be impossible to harmonize.
Also its inevitable that one follows all the procedure specified in the stores procedural manual and ensure that the person coming to pick stock items is actually the one authorized to pick the items on behalf of the users for example by issuing gate passes upon satisfaction that the person is actually the one authorized to pick the stock items and in addition authorized to take them outside the store for example the outside bureaus by issuing gate passes.
During the stock taking exercise the members in the stock taking team must be keen to count every item because most times the variance between the count and the balance in the electronic stock cards is due to human error mainly due to laxity during the stock taking exercise.
In order to enhance continuity in the operations of new vision printing and publishing company, the stores procedural manual defines a procedure to be followed that allows for flexibility in execution of the warehousing activities for example at times the user departments could be in urgent need for particular requisitioned for stock items whose requisition has not been fully approved due to absence of the officer required to approve and in this case the next person in charge of that department is required to communicate formally by sending mail accompanied by a call of physical coming to stores in the interim and hence the items are issued out and the requisition is then later officially approved.

3.1.1 Skills gained

Computer skills on Microsoft packages of excel, word, internet skills the operations of the different applications within Microsoft dynamics and in addition how to operate other office equipment like photocopying machines among others.
Relationship-wise, I have gained interpersonal skills that have enhance the completion of my practicum with every person I interfaced with remaining happy with how I executed my tasks and still willing to help me in anything that will enhance my learning once called upon.
In all the tasks I performed upon completion I had to report on the final output hence availing me with the platform of developing my reporting skills.
I was privileged to be selected as an interns coordinator as a link between the human resource department and the interns specifically to convey information any challenges encountered and need for improvements in order to avail inters with a learning environment. This in a sense enhanced the development of my leadership skills.
I also gained skills on conceptualization of tasks that enhanced easy understandability of the work tasks I was assigned in a sense enhancing the achievement of the objectives of the work tasks.
During the course of the exercise, many time I was in a dilemma but as I remembered that the stores operations are guided by the stores procedural manual, I was able to take accurately ethical decisions which enhanced the development of my decision making skills.

3.1.2 How I intend to utilize what I have learnt for my professional development
The execution of every activity within the warehousing function at new vision printing and publishing company is guided by a stores procedural manual which is directed towards ensuring that there are systems in place to regulate the operations of the stores function for efficient and effective use of a company’s resources. In a sense I have to stick to the predefined parameters, scope of ethical conduct and professionalism by observing the acts in the law of the law which in Uganda is the constitution of the republic of Uganda specifically the Public procurement and disposal of public assets act 1 of 2003, the sale of goods act the penal code act, among others in order to grow my career in the path of procurement and logistics management.
The activities within the warehousing function go hand in hand with the activities of other functions in New vision printing and publishing company through the different reciprocations and at times informs other activities in other function within NVPPC hence timeliness in delivering the work output is key and in a sense, in order to professionally develop my career, I intend to accomplish every task I may be assigned to do where ever I go to work with in order to enhance efficient flow in the processes.
I have also learnt that in order to be able to execute work tasks within the scope of procurement and supply chain management, I have to acquire professional training in these fields and hence to professionally develop my career, I intend to pursue CIPS (Chattered institute of purchasing and supply).

3.2 Personal contribution to the organization (my innovation)

Following the unresolved, continuous flow of complaints from the agents over the copies of unsold/ returned paper declared and returned and received by the stores unit over the continued variance between the number of copies declared by the agents and the number of copies received by the stores unit upon delivery by the company van, I did suggest that the gap between the agent and the stores unit which is the delivery van that delivers the dailies to this agents which by the time I got to stores for the practicum was not accountable for the variance , should be harmonized by factoring in control measure for accountability and in a sense in my view the driver should verify the quantities given to him by the agent by physically counting them in order to examine the accuracy of the declaration forms and upon confirmation of their accuracy specifically the number of copies declare and sign together with the agent on the receipt and transportation documents which would later on be presented to the stores unit upon delivery of returns which stores unit would also weigh, physically count the returned copies and hence determine whether the count matches with the declared amount in the transportation documents in a sense tracking mistakes and accountability is easy to effect. By the time my practicum period ended, the head of stores was planning to adopt my suggestion.
During the asset verification exercise, I discovered that there were a number of company assets that where in different departments without item tags/cods engraved on them and in addition many of such assets such as television sets were nowhere to be traced, others were at risk of being smuggled out and exchanged with different one due to their lack of cods since the security system at the entrance and exit points is only strict with the company property which can only be identified by the engraved item cods. Hence I did suggest immediate engraving of those items and their serial numbers captured which we were able to effect as soon as the head of stores gave as a green light.

3.3 Challenges noticed during the practicum that are affecting;

3.3.1 The Organization:
Some stock items kept in the store are not frequently used in that some of them deteriorate by for example depreciating before they are used for example some types of commercial paper kept in the main store have been there since the year 2010 and hence some of it is now damaged and needs to be written off from the company (NVPPC) books of accounts which in a sense is a loss to the company.
It is also challenging to ensure safety of certain items which in most cases are of small sizes for example the camera glasses which look like any other gaggles yet they are spy cameras, the external hard drives among other that in most cases the employees smuggle out by stealing. This in a sense is a financial loss to the company (NVPPC).
As by default every function interacts with the other, one department with another and one unit with another through the respective reciprocation of activities, information among others that defines the work processes as one informs the other, inefficiency from one unit, function, department affects the other hence slowing down the operations that translate in to reduced output with the reduction net profit as compared to the fixed costs incurred by the company (NVPPC) hence lose.

3.3.2 The workers:
As most of the activities in the different functions are carried out online while using Microsoft dynamics Navision classics 2009, share point and internet, times when the internet speed is slow or when Navision is over-loaded for example in every working day from the afternoon till the evening, the stores staff enter data to the electronic stock cards in Navision and hence if the internet speed is low it takes long for them to post their data and hence it slow down the completion of other tasks by denying other tasks time hence buildup of workload.
In efficiency by a unit/ department/function that is supposed to inform the subsequent unit/ department slow down the operations of the subsequent unit/department/ function making employees’ fail to meet performance deadlines hence earning negative comments during employee performance assessment.

The audit exercise of the company books of accounts and the source documents done by both the internal audit department and the external auditors, interrupts the efficient execution of tasks by the company employees due to constant questions asked by the auditor that are raised in a bid to solicit clarification from them and hence the company staff are subjected to high pressure due to fear of failing to meet deadlines in respect to the different tasks carried out by them.

3.3.3 The intern:
The time period for which I was accepted to do the practicum at NVPPC was quite short (6 weeks) for me to be able to understand all the processes, procedures on operations of the stores function for example there are a lot of functionalities in Microsoft dynamics Navision 2009 Classics and yet I managed to learn quite a few.
I also encountered constant challenging circumstances mainly during data entry, there was no standard format of naming stock items or coding them as captured in the system and in a sense I failed to identify the item name in the system which necessitated frequent enquiring from the stores staff the was so inconveniencing,
Some of the doors to some offices had security control installations that required swiping a security access card for the doors to open and yet as an intern I was not issued with this access card hence once I encountered such doors I had to wait often for a longtime for someone to come on swipe theirs.
During the stock taking exercise, I was assigned to supervise a group counting commercial paper and the main challenge I faced was that particular types of paper that was not frequently issued had a unique name that I could not easily identify for example a case of classic paper that I first got to know on the day of the stock taking exercise.
I was at one point in time assigned to carry out asset verification exercise at Bukedde TV offices (both 1& 2) where what was supposed to be captured for every item verified was the item category for example TV screen among other, the item cod engraved on it and the serial number but the challenge was that some items had their serial number stickers removed by unidentified staff members, item cod stickers removed hence making ot difficult to verify such items.
Some items kept in the store most especially the different types of ink had technical names different from the ones captured in the system mainly because they are supplied by more than one supplier hence during the order picking exercise, it become quite difficult to determine the particular item that had been requisitioned for.
Some items are supplied in large quantities making it tedious to verify, count and inspect each one of them and in most cases I had to sample a few and assume all the others to be of the same quality due to limited time available.
Some interns specifically ladies were constantly disturbed by male staff that were interested in satisfying their sexual desires hence hindering free, comfortable learning by this interns.
During issuance of requisitioned for stock items whose requisition had been fully approved, the persons to whom the stock items have been issued to are supposed to record on the issue book which book informs data entry as it is mainly where data to be posted in the respective electronic stock cards relating to negative adjustments, is got from. The challenge I encountered is that some staff to whom stock items had been issued to do not record on the issue book the details of the issue hence ultimately resulting into non posting of the adjustments relating to those issues.
As defined by the issue procedure specified in the stores procedural manual all authorities relating to a specific requisition must fully approve it prior to issue of the stock items as per that requisition. There were circumstances when stock items relating to a given requisition would be urgently needed especially by commercial printing department yet the requisition relating to those stock items would be partially approve as the responsible approving authorities would be in the field and hence it put me in a dilemma where I had to solicit for formal communication from the assistant departmental heads before issuance of the stock items. This in a sense was time consuming.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Conclusions, recommendations and way forward;
4.0 Introduction.
This chapter details how the practicum programme at the work place was managed, comments on the findings, recommendations on identified problems/ challenges and the way forward, my thorough assessment of the practicum experience in the organization and the conclusion.
4.1 Management of the practicum programme at the work place.
The practicum was managed in such a way that work tasks where continuously assigned to me with defined objectives to be achieved and a desirable acceptable range of output while keeping in mind the time period within which the tasks should be completed for example approval of raised requisitions which had to be done within a time frame of 7 (seven) days from the time they were raised since they expire after one week, order picking which had to be done in the shortest time possible to avoid slowing other company processes such as commercial printing, invoicing for example on Thursdays for those who come to purchase scrap and returned paper and since the number is high while considering the other activities done by the stores staff within the scope of warehousing management, time remained of essence.
The official reporting time for the company staff is 8:30 am and the official reporting time for the interns was 9:00 am. The 30 (thirty) minutes deference being to allow for other staff to read their mails before starting work and the official time for signing out for the company staff is 5:30 pm while the interns officially were allowed to sign out any time from 4:00 pm.
The official working days for the stores staff is 6 days a week from Monday to Saturday while the interns were a given two days off in the weekend ( Saturday and Sunday) to do their laundry and meet their friends.
The atmosphere availed to me and other interns was friendly in that I blended in so easily as though I was one of the fulltime staff and in a sense as I was at liberty to ask for guidance at the course of executing the work tasks assigned to me, I was equally fully accountable to the head of stores who was my site supervisor over the outcome of the tasks assigned to me and in a sense my internship practicum would be counceled if I did not corporate and delivered results.
Once in a while I attended the stores unit meetings chaired by the head of stores that were directed towards reviewing performance of the unit and set periodic performance targets for example prior to the end of the financial year’s stock taking exercise, a meeting was convened by the head of the stores unit to brief the whole unit on how the stock taking exercise would run and how it would be managed.
The activities I performed in the stores unit do cut across other functions/ departments within New vision printing and publishing company for example asset verification which requires moving to others departments/ offices, working with other departmental staff in order to be able to identify the company assets for example computers, cameras among others being held in the different departments.
The other staff in the stores unit, were equally my supervisors but the stores head along with the human resource manager were my overall supervisors.
To allow time for the university supervisor to have an opportunity to supervise me, with consultation with the head of stores I informed her to consider supervising me on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning hours since during the rest of the time, the stores staff were so busy that they could not get time to interact with the university supervisor.
At the end of the practicum on 16th of July 2014, a meeting was convened by the human resource managers in charge of interns with all the interns at new vision printing and publishing company to review our internship experience. The main objectives were on our experience as interns in the company, the challenges we encountered, possible areas of improvement so as to enhance a memorable experience for interns in the subsequent years to come and their comments on their observations of the experience they had with the interns.

4.2 Comments on the findings.
New vision printing and publishing company utilizes centralized ware housing systems for all the stock items used by the companies under vision group which include New vision printing and publishing company, Urban TV, X-fm, Bukedde radio, Bukedde TV (1 &2), magazine, commercial printing, radio west, Etop radio, TV west among others where over 5 (five) stock storage areas/ ware houses are all overseen and managed by one stores unit headed by the head of stores. In this respect the company uses Microsoft Dynamics Navision Classics 2009 systems application to coordinate the warehousing function within the different locations for example in terms of requisitions and in addition the systems application enhances the coordination of the other functional activities for example procurement, finance with those of the stores unit.
Just like any other unit or function, the operational execution of the daily activities of the stores unit are done with the guidance and direction of the a manual called the stores manual which is a policy document developed by the board of governors which is directed towards factoring in control measures in to the functioning of the stores unit in a bid to smoothen operations and prevent prevalence of corrupt tendencies by propagating in to the execution of activities a sense of accountability hence enhancing continuity in the operations of New vision printing and publishing company thereby enhancing productivity and profitability ultimately leading to improvement in the competitive position of the company which is evident with the ever increasing company annual turnover.
The control measures in place for example the record of issue and receipt of stock items in their respective books prior to data entry and posting, verification of data entered by the head of stores among others are directed towards enhancing the entry of complete data and posting of both complete and accurate information in the system which information is used to inform the activities of other functions for example procurement needs to know whether the quantity of a particular stock item has reached the reorder level for a purchase order to be raised in order to enhance continuity of operations and avoiding suffocating the stores function by considering the storage space available and the lead times.
The performance assessment meetings held once in a while are focused towards enhancing continued achievement of pre-defined goals and objectives by analysing the extent to which this goals and objectives are continually being achieved and in instances when they are not being achieved, strategies are suggested discussed to align the activities with the achievement of the objectives.
The stock taking exercise carried out is a form of an audit of the operations of the stores unit which enhances accountability and elimination of issues of wastage and misuse of stock items which have a money value attached to them.

4.3 Recommendations for the identified problems/ challenges and the way forward.
For the challenges and problems that I identified that do affect the interns, staff and the organization at large, I do recommend the following.
That all the damaged stock items for example damaged commercial paper, be written off immediately in order to increase space available for the storage of vital stock items for the continued functioning of the organization and in addition reduce costs for example stock holding costs, costs associated with space among others.
Small stock items and assets kept in various departments which are also difficult to safely keep owing to their size and at times difficult to engrave on, should be allocated to particular staff for example those who frequently use them in respective departments for easy tracking of these items during assets verification exercises and in addition easy accountability.
New vision printing and publishing company should work closely with the supplier of Microsoft Dynamics Navision Classics 2009 systems application software for example Microsoft in order to improve its performance and ensure enhanced speed even when its overloaded in order to avoid buffering of the operations of the users.
Recruitment of one more staff member to the stores department be effected immediately in order to smoothen the operations of the stores unit with high efficiency and effectiveness by specifically handling data entry activities relating to issues and receipts of stock items and hence enhancing timely data entry and posting pertaining to electronic stock cards.
All the staff members of new vision printing and publishing company have to be mentored with the aim of enlightening them with the need to work together as one organization irrespective of the department one is in order to enhance the smooth flow of operations and ultimately improve the overall performance of the company.
More time should be availed to the interns for example a minimum of 2 (two) month in order to avail them with more time to internalize the many operations of the functions within their respective fields of specialization that they seek to grasp.
The naming and coding of stock items and company assets should be standardized throughout the organization and a list of stock items be availed to the departments using those particular stock items for easy understandability and clarity during requisitioning, issuance and entry of data relating to issues.
All interns offered placements in new vision printing and publishing company should be availed with access cards in order to enhance their smooth movement to the respective offices/ departments in new vision printing and publishing company during the execution of their work tasks and in addition eliminate delays in this access point requiring swiping of access card before going through.
All stock items, company assets be coded and if possible item codes be engraved on them and serial numbers in respect to this assets, their locations be captured for easy tracking, easy asset verification and accountability.
Approval process pertaining to specifically requisition should be properly defined in that if the authority expected to approve a specific requisition is not in office authority should be delegated to any staff member in that office in order to enhance smooth operations and continuity of operations without delays.

4.4 My assessment of the practicum at new vision printing and publishing company.
New vision printing and publishing company is a desirable place for a student pursuing studies in the field of procurement and supply chain/ logistics management to undertake a field practicum because it has developed processes and enormous dealing in this scope with enormous supply chains stretching between Kampala where the company offices are located in and places like the United States of America, South Africa, United Kingdom among others which are mainly source locations of the raw materials used in new vision printing and publishing company. In addition the warehousing/ stores function of new vision printing and publishing company is highly developed utilizing operational applications (Microsoft Dynamics) for the execution of activities pertaining to the warehousing function.
The learning environment availed to any intern doing their field practicum at NVPPC is that of practical learning environment where an intern is availed with the opportunity to practically engage even in activities that would not be assigned to interns in other organization due to their sensitivity and the lack of confidence by the staff of those organizations in the capabilities of interns. In a sense NVPPC just like with the staff is focused in bringing the best out of interns since the industry is so competitive and in this way they are able to identify talent that they may want to retain.

4.5 Conclusion.
All in all the internship practicum I conducted at new vision printing and publishing company (NVPPC) availed me with the tools, people, processes with which I was able to practically understand the link between what I learned in school within the scope of warehousing management specifically in the areas of warehousing policies, procedural manuals, stock control policies relating to inspection, verification, acceptance or rejection of supplied stock items, placement, stores layout, stock classification and coding, issues, stock taking and record keeping particularly maintenance of the stock cards and above all maintenance of ethical code of conduct while executing the different task and while with emphasis on how to relate with other employees in an organization.

APPENDICES: