The Hamilton Chapter received its charter from APICS on May 6, 1961, and became the first international Chapter. The Chapter's first President was Evan Duncalfe of the Steel Company of Canada, and the Vice-President was Arthur Bryant of Canadian

Westinghouse Company Limited. Initial membership was seventeen people.
In 1954, prior to the official formation of the Chapter, several of the founding members were meeting on an informal basis to share and exchange ideas and practices in Production and Inventory Control. The catalyst for forming the chapter came as a result of these people attending an early APICS conference. Contact was made with representatives of the Buffalo Chapter, and with their assistance, and the hard work of the founding members, the Hamilton Chapter was born.
 

The early Chapter meetings moved from one location to another until settling in at the Professional Arts Building, where the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce was then located. In 1980, we moved along with the Chamber to Stelco Tower. In 1984, the meeting locations began to vary to respond to the growing membership outside of the Hamilton area proper.
 

At about the same time our Chapter began, a group in Toronto was forming a Canadian association similar to APICS. Art Bryant worked with them and eventually, with a group in Montreal, formed the Canadian Association for Production and Inventory Control (CAPIC). Art became the first president of this association that, on joining with APICS, became Region VIII.
 

Early in the life of the chapter, a need for education in the field of Production and Inventory Management was recognized. Education committee members began to work on a course that was first presented at Delta Collegiate in Hamilton. In the late 1970's, two members and instructors, Larry Kretz and Bob Wheatley, were commissioned by APICS to write the Principles of Inventory Management course based on the Hamilton Chapter material and format. This became the APICS standardized course through to the late 1980's. In the 1990’s, the Canadian Chapters of APICS formed the Operations Management Education and Research Institute of Canada (OMERIC) and rewrote the Principles program to bring the contents up-to-date. Today, the program has been renamed as the Fundamentals of Materials and Operations management (FMOM) program. This five-module program is presented locally by the Hamilton Chapter, and is distributed globally by APICS.
 

Our purpose, as stated in our bylaws, is to:

• foster and maintain high standards in the field of resource management
• provide a means of mutual exchange of problems and ideas in the field of resource management
• promote educational programs for members and non-members in the philosophy, practices, techniques, and systems of resource management
• improve the status of those engaged in, and to work towards professional awareness and recognition by leaders of industry in the field of resource management.

Today, APICS consists of 14 regions comprising more than 270 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Total membership exceeds 60,000. In addition, 35 international licensees and affiliates exist worldwide. APICS, Region VIII itself is made up of 20 chapters with over 2800 members. The Hamilton Chapter with approximately 160 members representing over 100 firms, covers the Niagara, Hamilton/Wentworth, and Halton Regions, parents a college Affiliated Student Chapter, and offers its members and industry, monthly professional development meetings, periodic workshops/seminars, plant tours, and resource management courses both on-site and at local community colleges.