VIC/TAS Easter Event

The CIPSA Victorian/Tasmanian Region presented an Easter-themed event at the CIPSA office in late April, where guests congregated to hear Robert Pease, Procurement Director of Cadbury Schweppes. Robert provided interesting and valuable insight into Cadbury Schweppes procurement initiatives, which was highly regarded due to Cadbury’s international success and brand recognition. Thank you to Cadbury Schweppes, who donated chocolate show bags to all attendees as parting gifts for the Easter break!

Rent a Neutral Venue

Bookings for the CIPSA training room at 520 Collins Street have increased dramatically in the last two months as organisations increasingly seek a neutral venue for big negotiations or need a professional venue to run in-house courses and large meetings.

The CIPSA training room takes up to 24 people U shape and many more classroom or theatre style and overlooks Collins Street, the Rialto and the bay. Unlike hotel venues, members can book by the hour and often at short notice. Rates include AV equipment and beverages and are only $72 per hour for members.

Committee Profile - Charmayne Rose

Charmayne Rose’s current role is with the Department of Treasury & Finance, working on ‘whole of government’ strategic contracts. After a previous career in human resources, Charmayne obtained her MBA and moved into the procurement industry around 6 years ago. Since then, she has worked in local government outsourcing and selected services, as well as in the banking industry managing a suite of services contracts. She has experience in the public and private sector and has worked in Australia and the UK.

Charmayne is also an active member of the CIPSA Victoria/Tasmania Regional Committee. One of her key plans for the Committee’s 2006 Business Plan is the review of individual professional development within procurement in Australia. As part of this review, the committee will produce a White Paper on the role of harmonisation consulting on the recruitment industry, CIPSA members and other organsiations, and aims to provide a framework that identifies key procurement roles, their corresponding competencies, indicative remuneration levels, and suggested training and education pathways. The project will conclude in June 2006

CIPSA Capability Benchmarking Survey 2006

A joint survey between CIPSA and The Portland Group is seeking to benchmark the relative capabilities of the strategic procurement role within the Australian profession. In addition to a base questionnaire, to be sent to several hundred practitioners, over 50 face to face interviews will be conducted with strategic procurement professionals from across the profession including: private sector, public sector, academics, consultants and trainers who are active in the procurement field. The final results will be published at the CIPSA annual conference, to be held in Melbourne at the Crown Promenade Hotel, between 17 and 18 October. Detailed feedback on the survey will be revealed at the ‘CPO stream’ series of seminars during the first day of the conference, and will be published in booklet format for the second day of the event.

Managing the Tail Explored

Our “Managing the Tail” Conference took place at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney last month. Almost 100 attendees listened to a variety of speakers who dissected and deliberated over the ‘tail’ – an often-neglected area of expenditure. Informative and practical sessions were held on managing, making over, capturing and outsourcing the tail. The CIPSA white paper, “Managing the Tail” was provided to all conference attendees. To request a copy, please contact the CIPSA office on 1300 765 142. 18% of the delegates rated the overall conference as excellent, 79% good, 3% average and 0% poor.

Global Supply Management Awards

CIPS welcomes entries from Australian organisations for the CIPS/SM Global Awards 2006. These awards recognise excellence in a variety of procurement categories – public sector, private sector, large organisations and SMEs. The award will be presented at a gala dinner in London in October. Telstra are a previous winner. For further information and application details, please visit the CIPS website, www.cips.org.

Training program off to a flying start

In April, CIPSA kicked of their first training course for the year - ‘Strategic Price Management’, held at the CIPSA office in Melbourne. The course proved so popular, it was a sell out weeks before-hand. Future training courses are scheduled in both Sydney and Melbourne, on a range of relevant topics, such as: Contract Law, International Procurement, e-Procurement and Procurement Strategy. To view the CIPSA training brochure, please visit: www.cipsa.com.au and click on “Training”.

New Strategic Alignment with UK Government Procurement Service

A new strategic alignment between CIPS and the UK’s government’s procurement service (GPS) was announced at a launch event on 20 March. As part of this new relationship, CIPS will set up a public sector faculty as a central reference point and resource for public sector purchasers. DCEO Keith Trower will be revealing more about this exciting alliance at the Public Sector Procurement Forum, at the Hyatt hotel in Canberra between 17 and 18 May. For further information, please visit: www.cipsaconferences.com.au

International Council Election Nominations

Nominations have now closed for the RoW seat on the CIPS council. At the closing date, the valid nominations are:

• Nick Bennett MCIPS, Strategic Development Director, Glanbia plc, Republic of Ireland
• Tony Clare MCIPS, Purchasing Manager, Auckland District Health Board, New Zealand
• David Freeman MCIPS, Supply Chain Manager, Vodafone, New Zealand
• Derek Gaynor MCIPS, Procurement Officer, National University of Ireland, Republic of Ireland
• Rene Kling MCIPS, Chief Executive, RMK Business Consulting, Australia
• Paul Maras-Hilling MCIPS, Senior Purchasing Manager, Teligence Communications, Canada

Ballot papers are being printed and are currently being dispatched from Easton House, UK directly to all full members of CIPS, who are eligable to vote i.e. those which are MCIPS only.

Wanted: Your Top 10 Issues!

Currently, each CIPSA region is collating the Top 10 procurement issues specific to each region. Once compiled, CIPSA intend to publish a White Paper that explores each issue in more depth. CIPSA would welcome your contributions. Please email: CIPSA at info@cipsa.com.au with “Top Ten Issues” in the subject line.

REMINDER: University of Melbourne Survey-Supply Chain Uncertainty

Just a reminder that CIPSA members are invited to participate in the new University of Melbourne survey of Supply Chain Uncertainty. Download the pdf document, complete the survey and return it to the University of Melbourne. It should take no more than 15 minutes of your time, but shall no doubt provide some valuable insights for all of us.

Renew your membership before the end of the Financial Year

As you may be aware, we are coming up to the end of financial year, which means your membership may be up for renewal. Renewal forms will be sent out as early as the end of May. If your details have changed since renewal last year, please forward through your change of details to: info@cipsa.com.au. And of course, renewing before the end of the financial year means claiming your tax back!

Expansion of CIPS International Conferences

CIPS is expanding its conference programme internationally. May sees the inaugural CIPS Middle East Conference being held in Dubai, as well as the 2nd IPSA/CIPS Pan-African Conference being held in Johannesburg. IPSA is the South African purchasing institute, now affiliated with CIPS to support practitioners in South Africa.

Queensland Supply Chain Conference

The 2-day Queensland Supply Chain Conference kicks off on 13 July. The theme is “Availability”, and conference attendees will delve into issues such as: right price, right price, right place and right time. This conference is designed for all professionals - ranging from logisticians, practitioners to procurement and supply chain managers. An earlybird rate is available for CIPSA members.

Click here to download the pdf attachment to secure your seat now! For further information go to www.qldscc.com.

How do we measure up? Performance Measurement Conference

Measuring performance is one of the key areas of interest for many procurement organisations. “How do we measure up” will address specific ideas and suggestions for improving performance measurement of the procurement contribution via expert presentations and case studies. Held at the Crown Towers Melbourne, this conference is not to be missed. To register or for further details, please visit: www.cipsaconferences.com.au

CIPS Australia Level 10, 520 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Tel: 1300 765 142, Fax: 1300 765 143, Email: info@cipsa.com.au, www.cipsa.com.au

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