The traditional measures of driving business improvement through process redesign, organizational restructuring and enhanced marketing have been fully exploited. Major consultants and practitioners are convinced that procurement and supply chain optimization is one of the few last frontiers for profit improvement left in the race for international competitive advantage.

Procurement and the Supply Chain is one of the prime areas for improving cash flow and enlightened Management Teams are starting to believe that focusing on Strategic Procurement and Supply Chain Management can make a major contribution to the business bottom line.

This seminar-workshop will demonstrate that building on a sound base of strategic approaches to procurement and the supply chain can bring a new competitive edge to business. It will review strategic procurement tools, processes and new practices which will enable you to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.

Chris Jones will share with you the knowledge he has gained from an extensive career, managing procurement practitioners in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

In the last one year, he has been researching the market realities of introducing e-procurement. He will present the suggestions through the eyes of a seasoned practitioner which requires simplicity, real business benefit in the short term, solutions that are attractively priced and practical to implement.

• an in-depth knowledge of key themes in world-class procurement
• an ability to make a real contribution to business improvement
• a knowledge of the procurement value proposition: a review of areas where procurement brings the greatest value
• a framework for accessing the potential of applying e-procurement
• a simple approach that enables real business application in the short term

Immediate Benefit To:

Managing Directors & CEOs
Chief Operating Officers & Vice Presidents
Directors and Managers with responsibilities in developing and implementing procurement strategies and managing the supply chain :

• Are your procurement vision and objectives based on those of the business?
• Are the business objectives understood by all in the procurement process?
• Is there a review process involving management and customers in place?
  

PROCUREMENT PROCESSES
Procurement and supply chain is a continuous process that enables companies to synchronize and optimize activities, assets and resources at strategic, tactical and operational levels and allows the business to be managed as a single entity.

• Where does the supply chain start and finish?
• Which procurement strategies are deployed by leading-edge organizations?
• How do companies make the leap from 'reactionary to strategic'?
• What is the roadmap to moving to excellence?
• What are the key features of best practices?

STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATION
The procurement value proposition: where procurement brings the greatest value, and an overview of the latest thinking on managing the value chain. Learn techniques to differentiate between goods and services in context to their importance to the business and potential for improvement.

• What is the purpose of differentiation?
• How is differentiation achieved and what are the benefits?
• Where are you most at risk?
• How does the supplier's view impact the choice of strategies?
  

E-PROCUREMENT
How will procurement change over the next ten years and what procurement staff can do to take advantage of the opportunities that will exist.

• Why the hype?
• Why is e-procurement important?
• Why are many companies uncomfortable about e-procurement implementation?
• Does e-procurement bring bottom-line benefits?

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
Many companies have difficulty in measuring procurement and supply chain performance and its contribution to the bottom line.

• What to measure?
• How to measure?
• Does bench marking play a part?

MAKING IT HAPPEN!
MANAGING EACH IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE AS A PROJECT
Converting knowledge into real action is a major problem for many companies. The key is to manage each improvement initiative as a project and set objectives that match business needs.

• Why is it necessary to 'projectize'?
• How to reduce cost of your supply chains?
• Why is the contribution of cross-discipline teams important?
• Why should procurement initiatives deserve priority when competing for limited resources?

SUSTAINING IMPROVEMENTS
For many companies, sustaining improvement is frequently the barrier to success. Learn a method that some successful companies are using to 'make it happen' which includes a simple process to successfully sustain improvement.

Interactive Sessions
-Throughout the two-days, you will be engaged in a series of 'Management Team Meetings' for the purpose of discussing management issues relating to procurement, e-procurement and the supply chain.
-Participants will also be asked to present examples of initiatives within their division that has brought benefit to the business.

Organizations that have benefited from Chris Jones…