ISM 2009 heads to Charlotte

The focus is on the economy, education and suppliers at the 94th annual International Supply Management Conference and educational exhibit. Here is Purchasing's complete guide to the event.

By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 4/9/2009 2:00:00 AM

&& More ISM 2009 Conference coverage

Driving high performance is how purchasing professionals approach their jobs today and it's the theme of the Institute for Supply Management's 94th annual International Supply Management Conference and educational exhibit set for May 3–6, 2009, in Charlotte, N.C.

ISM used to be known as the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM).

Back by popular demand at the ISM event this year are educational tracks. The tracks consist of sessions that focus on issues relevant to supply professionals. They are: Doing business in China; talent management; headwinds and trends; best practices in supply management and sustainability, social responsibility and green issues.

Also, at the urging of attendees at past conferences, ISM is extending hours in the exhibit hall, which features booths manned by representatives of more than 100 supplier companies. These suppliers provide goods and services of interest to supply management pros from software and office supplies to travel services and purchasing cards and MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) items.

Shelley Stewart Jr., senior vice president, operational excellence and chief procurement officer at Tyco, and a member of Purchasing's editorial advisory board, presents the keynote address on the opening day of the conference. Stewart is speaking on "leadership in difficult times: an explosion of ideas."

The highlight of every ISM conference is the business survey/economic outlook and this year is no exception. Speaking on the economy are Sara Johnson, managing director of global macroeconomics with IHS Global Insight and Mickey D. Levy, chief economist with Bank of America.

The two economists will provide their perspectives immediately after the release of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing semiannual economic forecasts. On hand to give these reports will be Norbert J. Ore, chair, ISM manufacturing business survey committee, and group director, strategic sourcing and procurement at Georgia Pacific; and Anthony S. Nieves, chair, ISM non-manufacturing business survey committee and senior vice president—supply management at Hilton Hotels Corp.

Supply management professionals looking for a new job in this economy and who register for the conference may upload their resumes onto a confidential website. Representatives of supply operations from world-class companies will be available at the event to interview and recruit potential new employees.

Also at the conference, ISM announces winners of the 4th annual ISM R. Gene Richter Awards for Leadership and Innovation in Supply Management. Representatives of winning supply operations will lead educational sessions on Tuesday. Past winners include supply operations from Rockwell Collins, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Alltel, DaimlerChrysler, BP and Pfizer.

The conference takes place at the Charlotte Convention Center.

ISM expects more than 2,000 supply management professionals from more than 27 countries to attend its conference this year. Those planning to go who have not yet registered may download information from the ISM website at www.ism.ws.

Purchasing has a booth in the exhibit hall, and will report on the conference each day at www.purchasing.com.

Buyers speak

Perhaps more than in any other year, supply management professionals are scheduled to lead many of the more than 100 educational sessions and serve as members of panel discussions held during the Charlotte conference.

Within the educational tracks, supply management pros lead these sessions:

• "Worldsourcing the global supply chain" by John Zapko, executive director, global strategic procurement at Lenovo.

• "Capacity constraints" by Corey Keehn, director of commodities, integrated supply chain, Textron.

Panel discussions feature these supply management professionals:

• Cathy Rodgers of IBM Global Services leads the first on supply management's role in sustainability. On the panel are: DeLynne Ano, director, supplier diversity and sustainability at The Walt Disney World Co.; Judith Baranowski, chair of the ISM ethical standards committee; Michael Bunge, manager, North American supply, Libbey Inc.; Dennis M. Gawlik, director—purchasing services at the University of Washington and William G. Hatzichristos, director, corporate procurement, Sterling Mets (dba New York Mets).

• A panel discussion on ethics features Jonathan G. Ricker, product development platform finance lead at Harley-Davidson Motor Co; Steve Smiley, vice president, strategic supply at Master Halco and Gwendolyn Turner, manager at Pfizer. Baranowski leads the panel.

Other sessions led by supply management professionals include:

• "Importance of knowing the supplier collaborative cost reduction evaluation (S.C.O.R.E.)" by Cheryl Phillip-Thillis, director of corporate purchasing at Masco Corp. and Steven A. Melnyk, professor of operations and supply chain management at Michigan State University.

• "How to identify commodity risks and implement a corporate hedging program" by Christopher M. Sedor, vice president of strategic sourcing at C&D Technologies.

• "Supply chain risk management" by John O'Connor, director supply chain risk management, Cisco global supply chain management.

In addition, there are mini-seminars held throughout the event on such hot topics as business continuity, project management and services procurement.

The conference begins at 7 a.m. on Sunday, May 3 with registration at the convention center.

Throughout the event, attendees may stop by a conference Cyber Café which has access to the Internet to check e-mail.

ISM presents The J. Shipman Award, honoring an individual's career in supply management at a luncheon on Tuesday.

Pre-conference seminars begin on April 29 and include a CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) exam review course and a session on how to develop and manage a supplier diversity program.

Exhibitors show their wares

The ISM 94th Annual International Supply Management Conference and Educational Exhibit features more than 100 suppliers of a variety of goods and services. Here is the complete list, as of press time for this issue, with booth numbers and web addresses:

AdaptOne (Booth 238), www.adaptone.com

ADR North America (Booth 101), www.adr-international.com

AECsoft USA (Booth 120), www.aecsoftusa.com

AFMS Logistics Management Group (Booth 211), www.afms.com

Allegiant Global Services (Booth 209), www.allegiantglobal.com

AlliedBarton Security Services (Booths 235, 237), www.alliedbarton.com

American Express (Booth 407), http://corp.americanexpress.com/gcs/cards/us/default.htm

American Graduate University (Booth 220), www.agu.edu

American Metal Market (Booth 214)), www.www.amm.com

Archstone Consulting (Booth 615), www.archstoneconsulting.com

Ariba Inc. (Booth 315), www.ariba.com

Asset Auctions (Booth 202), www.asset-auctions.com

Axway Inc. (Booth 623), www.axway.com

Basware (Booth 511), www.basware.com/Pages/default.aspx

Beeline (Booth 110), www.beeline.com/beeline_home

Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (Booth 334), www.bdainc.com

BizNet (Booths 226, 228), www.bizneteis.com/default/index.cfm

BravoSolution (Booth 107), www.bravosolution.com/cms/us

Censeo Consulting Group (Booth 109), www.censeoconsulting.com/index.asp

ClearPoint Resources, Inc. (Booth 608), www.clear-point.com

CombineNet (Booth 310), www.combinenet.com

Competitive Solutions (Booth 232), www.competitive-solutions.net

Connolly Consulting (Booth 301), www.connolly-consulting.com/home.aspx

Corbus (Booth 207), www.corbus.com

CoreTrust Purchasing Group (Booth 607), www.coretrustcorp.com

Corporate Graphics International (Booth 523), www.cgintl.com

CVM Solutions (Booth 426), www.cvmsolutions.com

D&B (Booths 535, 537), www.dnb.com/us

Discover Global (Booth 234), www.discoverglobal.com

EBSCO Information Services (Booths 515, 517), www.ebsco.com/home/

EC Sourcing Group (Booth 610), www.ecsourcinggroup.com/index2.asp

eCompany Store (Booths 632, 634), www.ecompanystore.com/eCompanyStore.asp

Egencia (Booth 208), www.egencia.com

Emptoris (Booth 527), www.emptoris.com

ePlus Systems (Booth 230), www.eplus-systems.com/en

Equifax Commercial Information Solutions (Booths 627), www.equifax.com/home

eServices (Booth 635), www.eservicesllc.com

ESIS (Booth 641), www.esisinc.com/home/index.php

ET2C International (Booth 115), www.e-trade2china.com

Fairmont Supply Co. (Booth 606), www.fairmontsupply.com

Fastenal Co. (Booths 700, 702), www.fastenal.com

First National Bank of Omaha (Booth 236), www.firstnational.com/001/html/en/personal/personal.html

Four Corners Consulting Group (Booth 126), www.4ccgroup.com

Freeman (Booth 233), www.freemanco.com/freemanportal/freeman/home.jsp

GetThere (Booth 321), www.getthere.com

Global eProcure (Booth 206), www.globaleprocure.com/www/en-US

Guardsmark (Booth 216), www.guardsmark.com

Hagemeyer North America (Booths 335, 337), www.hagemeyerna.com

Iasta (Booth 306), www.iasta.com

ICG Commerce (Booth 533), www.icgcommerce.com

IHS Global Insight (Booth 322), www.ihsglobalinsight.com

Institute for Supply Management (Booth 103), www.ism.ws

Integrity Interactive (Booth 106), www.i2c.com

International Computer Negotiations (Booth 210), www.dobetterdeals.com

IQNavigator (Booth 434), www.iqnavigator.com

JVKelly Group (Booth 509), www.jvkg.com

Kaman Industrial Technologies (Booth 421), www.kaman.com/index.php

Kelly Services (Booth 507), www.kellyservices.com/web/global/services/en/pages/index.html

Logistics Management (Booth 437), www.logisticsmgmt.com

MarkMaster (Booth 332), www.mmstamp.com

MSC Industrial Supply (Booth 111), www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm

MTM Recognition (Booth 308), www.mtmrecognition.com

National Business Travel Association (Booth 222), www.nbta.org

NetGain (Booth 503), www.nish.org

Office Depot (Booth 415), www.officedepot.com

OfficeMax (Booth 227), www.officemax.com/omax/home/homePage.jsp

Omega World Travel (Booth 617), www.owt.net

Oracle (Booths 215, 217), www.oracle.com/applications/procurement.html

Peopleclick (Booth 221), www.peopleclick.com

Perfect Commerce (Booths 601, 603), www.perfect.com/home/index.html

Plus Relocation Services (Booth 614), www.plusrelocation.com

Purchasing (Booth 122), www.purchasing.com

PurchasingNet (Booth 613), www.purchasingnet.com

Puridiom (Booths 314, 316), www.puridiom.com

Resources Global Professionals (Booth 534), www.resourcesglobal.com

Robertson Marketing Group (Booth 123), www.robertsonmarketing.com

Sabre Travel Network (Booth 321), www.sabre.com

ScanMarket North America (Booth 622), cms.scanmarket.com/EN-GB/home.aspx?langAbbr=EN-GB&islangFormS=1&

SciQuest (Booth 527), www.sciquest.com

Source One Management Services (Booth 200), www.sourceoneinc.com

SSC Service Solutions (Booth 621), www.sscserv.com

Staff Management (Booth 121), www.staffmanagement.com/pg.124.157.877.aspx

Staples (Booth 201), www.staplescontract.com

Storeroom Solutions (Booth 128), www.storeroomsolutions.com

Strategic Procurement Solutions (Booth 609), www.strategicprocurementsolutions.com

The Ligature (Booth 627), www.theligature.com

The Pasha Group (Booth 435), www.pashagroup.com

The Suddath Companies (Booth 620), www.suddath.com

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Booth 124), www.thermofisher.com/global/en/home.asp

ThomasNet (Booths 114, 116), www.thomasnet.com

TradingPartners (Booths 127, 129), www.tradingpartners.com/en/index.aspx

Travelocity Business (Booth 321), www.travelocitybusiness.com

Turtle & Hughes Integrated Supply (Booth 616), www.turtleintegrated.com

U.S. Lawns (Booth 720), www.uslawns.com

University Alliance (Booth 108), www.universityalliance.com

University of San Diego (Booth 633), www.sandiego.edu/business/?areaid=13

Verian Technologies (Booth 320), www.verian.com

Vinimaya (Booth 307), www.vinimaya.com

Volt Workforce Solutions (Booth 521), www.volt.com

Wheels (Booth 132), www.wheels.com

Women's Business Enterprise National Council (Booth 625), www.wbenc.org

Worktopia (Booth 501), www.worktopia.com/Default.aspx

Zycus (Booth 401), www.zycus.com