On 29 April and 1 May, Transformed exhibited at the Women in Procurement and Supply Chain Conference 2019 held at the Pullman Hotel Sydney.
The conference is in its 5thyear and brings together over 140 individuals from all levels of procurement in the private and public sector. This year there was a focus on the changes to modern slavery legislation as well as innovation in the supply chain and digital transformation in procurement.
Below we share key points from some of the presentations:
Jane Cole, Global Product Head Trade Finance from Westpac Institutional Bank presented on ‘Assessing the Potential Technologies to modernise procurement’. She started with a simple statement “Before you look at the technology – take a step back and look at your customers pain points and then see how technology can help them.”
Jane Wetherill – Head of Supplier Governance and Supply Chain (Global Business Services), Telstra presented ‘Laying the groundwork for third party risk management’ and kicked off her presentation by asking the room – “What keeps supply chain and procurement people up at night?” This question was quite topical with the first two audience members asked responding that they were concerned once the suppliers were awarded the contract that they would take advantage of vulnerable clients.
Jane advised that this was a common concern for many in procurement but that you’re unable to think of or be responsible for every thing that might go wrong. Her advice was to collect and categorise risks so that they can be prioritised and managed appropriately. Some of the categories she uses are in the slide below:
Continuing with this theme Amanda Cech, Former GM Logistics-Coca Cola Amatil, presented on Life After Procurement: Managing Supplier Partnerships after the Contract is signed.
Key points from her presentation included:
- Learn from the past
- Create a 1 pager of key contract points
- Establish routines within a contract (see slide)
So,what does the future hold for those procurement and supply chain roles in 2019.
- Importance of career development. Gigi Tam, Head of Procurement, Roche Pharmaceuticals highlighted the importance of identifying and mentoring talent for a new generation of procurement leaders. Gigi believes that alignment of the role, the people and the company goals can produce commitment and results.
- As the Modern Slavery ACT comes into play for many businesses, understanding the reporting requirements will be crucial for organisations with supply chains that use global suppliers. Victoria Gordon, Partner at Holding Redlich delivered a comprehensive presentation on the prevalence of modern slavery the reporting requirements.
Did you attend the conference? What were your thoughts about what is in store for those in procurement in 2019-20 – let us know in the comments below!
Have you seen our Procurement Central group on Facebook?
You can check out the group here – https://www.facebook.com/groups/procurementcentral/
