Category Archives: Event

Technology for Procurement

ISM may be over, but that doesn’t mean that conference season is. There are still lots of events to come. One event in particular that I am going to point out is EyeForProcurement’s Technology for Procurement event coming up next month – June 19-20 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway Hotel in San Francisco.

In the spirit of EyeForTransport events, they are focussed on bringing together a wide range of leading industry practitioners and executives to share their stories, tactics, and strategies for success – something every practitioner can benefit from. Furthermore, their events are usually in the “decent size range” – not so many attendees that you feel lost but not so few that you feel that it was not a good use of your time. (It’s one of the few events in the first half of this year that I’m actually hoping to make. I was hoping to make Synergy, but I needed to be somewhere else at the time.)

Product Innovation Summit later this month. And if you like technology, and are an Aberdeen sponsor or subscriber, you might also want to consider attending Aberdeen’s

5th International Symposium on Supply Chain Management

The Purchasing Management Association of Canada (PMAC), McMaster University’s e-Business Research Center (MeRC), and Ontario Research Network for Electronic Commerce (ORNEC) have just announced the 5th International Symposium on Supply Chain Management (see leaflet) taking place in Toronto at The Grand Hotel & Suites in October and have just put out their Call for Contributions. As you may recall, I attended the 4th International Symposium on Supply Chain Management last year, and there were a lot of great presentations, which I blogged about in numerous entries, including New Technology Strategies for Supply Chain Management.

Advanced Sourcing Strategies Webinar

Procuri’s Supply Strategy #3 Webinar:

Advanced Sourcing Strategies: Expanding Sourcing Success

February 15, 2007: 11:30 am to 12:30 pm EST

 

Strategic sourcing provides the greatest and most direct lever for controlling costs and managing performance across the supply chain. With globalization and outsourcing on the rise and supply markets tightening, strategic sourcing has become a must-have competency for enterprises of all sizes and industries.

Many enterprises have tested Web-based negotiation technologies, such as reverse auction and e-RFx tools, reporting double-digit cost savings, halving sourcing cycles, and improving overall productivity and process standardization.

However, many early approaches and solutions were too feature-narrow and price-focused to drive sustained results. As a result, supply management groups are looking to build upon their success by adopting advanced sourcing approaches and broader e-sourcing suites.

What you’ll learn

  • How to move beyond the early stages of strategic sourcing to drive sustained results
  • Advanced sourcing strategies to assess true total cost and optimal award scenarios
  • How to assess and select the right e-sourcing platform for your organization
  • How to drive rapid deployment, quick results, and broad adoption with your sourcing program
  • Leverage supply market intelligence and services to improve and sustain momentum

 

The CPO Tales

Last week, over on supply excellence, Tim Minahan posted three interviews he did with three leading supply management executives on behalf of eyeforprocurement, which is hosting the Supplier Management Forum next April in Miami. (Register before year’s end to save $400 of the registration price, and quote “Sourcing Innovation” in the discount code area of the registration form to save another $100.)

These interviews were published on SupplyExcellence [WayBackMachine]:

  • Tale of Three CPOs: Coors Brewing Company November 21, 2006
    Tale of Three CPOs: Alltel November 22, 2006
    Corus: The Final CPO Tale…err…Short Story November 24, 2006

They are worth the read.

Supply Chain Direction II: Collaboration is Key

… And a study underway by Craig Hill at Georgia State University may prove it. In his presentation Performance Aspects of Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) Technologies, Dr. Hill is studying the effects that the implementation of CPFR has had at over 110 compaies that have employed CPFR for over five years. The premises of CPFR is that it (1) decreases inventory, (2) increases customer satisfaction, (3) positively affects stock price, (4) improves performance, and (5) increases sales. Dr. Hill’s preliminary results seem to indicate that inventory turnaround is increased (by 16%), return on assets is increased (by 12%), and average sales are increased. Increased inventory turnaround decreases inventory levels which increases savings (and decreases overall costs), return on assets positively impacts company performance (which likely increases stock price), and increased sales are increased sales. In other words, Collaboration is Key.

On a related note, eyefortransport’s 2nd Supply Chain Directions Summit takes place three weeks from today. For more details, see my earlier post.