NAPP considers certification for e-purchasing pros
Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 3/6/2003 2:00:00 AM
At the annual conference of the National Association of Procurement and Payables, officers of the organization highlighted recent changes in the group's strategic direction:
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A new name. Stressing the need for procurement and accounts payables professionals to interact, the group changed its name from the National Association of Procurement Professionals. "The new name better reflects our membership and focus," says Dave Elko, chairman, NAPP.
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A transition of the group into a membership organization. As such, the association has started to publish a quarterly newsletter called NAPP News & Notes and hold regional meetings to provide additional networking opportunities for members throughout the year. Purchasing and AP professionals can register for membership online at www.nappconference.com.
The first regional meeting will be held at American Express Tax and Business Services Inc., New York, N.Y. on March 17. Speaking on the topic of "Mining Accounts Payable for Free Cash & Discounts" will be Robert S. Jaffe, director, treasury and working capital, American Express Tax and Business Services. Also on the agenda is a presentation on "Electronic Invoice Presentment & Payment" by Thayer Stewart, strategic accounts, Open Business Exchange. Interested participants may register on the NAPP Web site. -
Creation of a certification process to recognize professionalism of those working in the purchasing and accounts payables processes, including such newly created positions as e-procurement managers and e-catalog managers.
Held at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, (a new venue for the expanding group this year), the event drew nearly 200 purchasing and accounts payables professionals. Speakers from both disciplines addressed the theme, "The Essential Interaction Between Purchasing and Payables." Conference highlights of sessions geared toward purchasing professionals include: -
A presentation by Robert K. Harlan, director, Internet negotiations and e-sourcing programs, Motorola Inc. The sourcing operation at Motorola held 160 e-sourcing events in 18 months, representing $2 billion of the company's annual spend, or roughly 10% to 30% of annual spend, based on business unit. For Motorola, e-sourcing comprises many elements of the sourcing process, including use of an e-RFQ (request for quotation) tool and pre- and post-negotiation processes. E-auction tools are used for suppliers to bid on things other than price such as contract terms and conditions.
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At Whirlpool the purchasing operation developed a Supplier Welcome Site on the company's homepage with Supplier Insight. The site provides capability for supplier registration, evaluation and a scorecard and was demonstrated for attendees by Jenny Novakovic and Bob Oman of the purchasing organization. Supplier registration (for new suppliers) collects such data as key contacts, commodities, capabilities and diversity. Whirlpool buyers post on the site global supplier evaluations that are performed by auditors trained by Supplier Insight. A global qualification scorecard provides more detailed information on such measures as relevance, facility review and e-readiness, among others. Use of the site improves efficiency for the purchasing organization: Supplier evaluations that used to take two to six months can now be completed in three to six weeks. The site helps cut costs of purchased goods and assists with supplier development efforts in emerging markets. It also helps to reduce costs of goods purchased via e-sourcing events, because of use of suppliers prequalified through the site.
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Creating Procurement/Payable Systems at GlaxoSmithKline by Jason Magidson, director, procurement systems, GSK, and Richard Hollingsworth, manager, e-sourcing, GSK, provided attendees with a detailed look at the pharmaceutical giant's e-sourcing platform called GalaXy. Internally developed technology (based on input from users), GalaXy comprises such electronic tools as SpendTrak (for spend analysis) ConTrak (for contract management) and SaveTrak (for cost savings), SourceTrak (for sourcing plans and strategy), and ePass (for eRFIs, sealed bid eRFP/Qs or reverse auctions). GSK estimates cost to develop each tool at $200,000.
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"Execution trumps strategy every time," said Kathleen Marshall, president & CEO, TrinTime, in her presentation, "The Missing Match in Procure to Pay." The consultant whose expertise is in spend management, told attendees that existing financial reporting was not created for use by purchasing, but for accounting. She says that purchasing operations should look to their supplier base to provide additional information on spending activity. Although suppliers are reluctant to divulge the data (with it, they know purchasing may be able to reduce spending), she suggests that purchasing consider using this as a criterion in the supplier selection process. Cost savings will come from billing error reduction, elimination of off-contract spending and improved end user demand management.
Rounding out the conference were networking sessions and a Procurement Solutions & Technology Fair that provided attendees with opportunity to meet with representatives of such companies as PeopleSoft, Noosh, Commerce One, American Express, Emptoris, Software House International, Supplier Insight and GE Corporate Payment Services.
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