Top Procurement Executives Discuss the Critical Issues of Supplier Relationship Management
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) December 3, 2007 -- eyeforprocurement has recently interviewed top procurement executives on issues related to Supplier Relationship Management (SRM).
Bob Price, Director Global Supply Chain Management, Kimball International says about the importance of Supplier Relationship Management - "We engage our suppliers during the initial stages of our product development process. They will help develop components, capabilities, identify materials, and work with our engineering team on product design. We feel this "collaborative approach" is our best tool in the bag."
In one of the interviews, we learn the top 2008 priorities of the procurement team at the Northrop Grumman Corporation - "We have been working on visibility to our entire spend and spend analytics tools since 2005. In addition, since that time, we have also measured compliance to our corporate agreements. These will remain as priorities for 2008, in addition to the design and implementation of the new purchasing shared service organization" - says Stephanie Conover, Corporate Director, Systems and Processes Corporate Contracts, Pricing and Supply Chain, Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Contract compliance is critically important to Thomas S. Hahn, VP Supply Chain Mgmt & Logistics, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, especially when sourcing for automotive OEM applications. He says: "OEM PPAP and change control guidelines are extremely stringent and gaining approval for sub supplier changes is expensive and time consuming. For this reason we have structured our Terms &Condition's of Purchase to protect us from suppliers pulling out of contracts prematurely. Obviously this remains a very challenging topic and disputes are common in the industry."
Full interviews are available for a free download at http://www.eyeforprocurement.com/interviews.shtml
Much of the issues gathered in the Q&A interview series will be discussed at the eyeforprocurement 2nd Supplier Management Forum, which takes place on April 10-11th, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV.
At this truly international event the delegates will network with more than 150 procurement executives and will find out how Supplier Relationship Management can help them to reduce their costs, improve inventory and payables management and increase customer satisfaction. 14 high level presentations, 5 interactive panel sessions, 10 informative roundtables will give the delegates the ammunition they need to meet the cost reduction targets and improve their overall procurement performance.
Over 28 top procurement executives are on the speaking program; including:
- Novartis International,CPO, Marino Buser
- Sears Holdings Management Corp, VP - Procurement & Supplier Management, Ronald Schnur
- 3M, Manager, Business Process & Talent Development, Sourcing Operations, Wolf Bartel
- Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, VP Supply Chain Mgmt & Logistics, Thomas S. Hahn
- Kimball International, Director Global Supply Chain Management, Bob Price
- Procter & Gamble, Associate Director Global Strategic Sourcing, Matthias Manegold
- Pfizer, Director Global Logistics Policy, Tony Barone
- Alcan, VP Procurement, Carlo Aversa
- McKesson, Sr. VP Purchasing and Branded Product Management, Greg Yonko
- Whirlpool, Director of Global Systems - Procurement, John D "Jack" Cleminshaw
- American Safety Razor Company, Director of Corporate Purchasing, Scott Champion
- Environmental Protection Agency, Manager, Tom Murray
- HP, Operations Director, PSG Supply Chain, Tom Adams
- Goodrich, Global Program Manager Cargo & Sensor Systems, Vivek Kamran
- Dell, Environmental Policy Manager, Mark Newton
- Coors Brewing Company, Group Manager - Strategic Sourcing, H. Darrall Loggins
- Northrop Grumman Corp., Corporate Director Sourcing and Procurement, Betsy Miller
- Steelcase, Manager Environmental & Diversity Supply Chain Management, Mary Ellen Mika
- GE Commercial Finance Trade Distribution Services, Sr. VP, Robert Belshaw
- Novellus, VP Global Supply Chain & Materials Operation, Shahriar Shaghafi
- Circle K, Procurement Manager Couche-Tard, Neil L. Schloss
- Continental Airlines, Sr. VP Technical Operations and Purchasing, Dante Marzetta
- Baxter, Purchasing Manager Manufacturing Operations, Phillip R. Lockhart
- Apollo Group, Purchasing Director, Patrick Bliss
- Coburns, Purchasing Director, Obie Ford
- Northrop Grumman Corporation, Corporate Director, Systems and Processes Corporate Contracts, Pricing and Supply Chain, Stephanie Conover
- The Dow Chemical Company, Global Purchasing Director, Paulo L. Moretti
- Harrah's Entertainment, Director of Sourcing & Professional Service, Sharon Seaman
For more information on the conference, see http://www.eyeforprocurement.com/suppliers2008/ or contact Izabela Janecka at izabela @ eyeforprocurement.com, US toll-free 1 800 814 3459 ext 252 or +44 (0) 20 7375 7564.
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