While the theme of the 15^th Annual National Association of Purchasing and Payables (NAPP) conference was "The Procure-to-Pay Journey Continues," speakers and attendees at the event paused to consider their place within their companies.

Purchasing professionals from companies big and small on the agenda at the event held recently in Orlando, Fla., talked of the importance of selling the function and its value to its internal—and external—customers.

John Stephens, senior director of marketing procurement at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, led the discussion by providing conference attendees with a glimpse into the evolution of his company's purchasing operation and its suite of buying tools. He said that he and the procurement team now are working to become "a true value-added partner" with the company's business units.

"You have to sell the discipline and yourself," he said, adding that this is especially true if purchasing doesn't have a corporate mandate. "The businesses have to believe in you. To earn that trust, you need to be familiar with the subculture of the business and you need to understand what the business values."

Stephens substituted as keynote speaker at the NAPP event for Microsoft's Tim McBride who was recently promoted to global procurement officer and was traveling in Europe on business.

At New York-based American Express, the purchasing services operation is taking the idea of selling the function a step further. Susan Feiner, vice president of customer experience transformation, leads a relatively new group within purchasing services that focuses its attention on working more closely with the businesses to meet its requirements. "To sustain our success, we need to treat the businesses as customers," she said, explaining to conference attendees ways her organization tracks customer satisfaction. Now, Feiner and her team are expanding their capabilities beyond their internal customers. Their first external client: Ameriprise Financial, a recent American Express spin-off.

The theme of selling the purchasing function and working with internal customers to fill requirements continued throughout the conference. Peter DeBruin, vice president and director of sourcing technology at State Street Corp., added to the discussion in his presentation, "Going Global in a Local World" in which he noted that he's a salesman as much as he is a sourcing professional, especially as he helped implement a new e-procurement system. "As we made the move from tactical to strategic, we needed to redefine the skill set of the sourcing professionals we were hiring," he said. "We are in a dynamic of constantly having to sell our skills."

There was something for everyone at the event. Attendees at past conferences had asked for more workshops led by purchasing professionals who work for smaller or mid-size companies. In one session, George Doolin, purchasing manager at UNICCO Service Co., of Auburndale, Mass., talked about "Moving purchasing to the next level." Keeping in mind the needs of his internal customers who are located throughout the U.S., he created a user-friendly training CD that also helped minimize his need to travel the country. Bob Melanson, global commodities manager at Keene, N.H.-based Markem Corp., discussed his company's vendor managed inventory (VMI) system for MRO (maintenance, repair, operations) items.

Doug Smock, Bob Rudzki and Steve Rogers were on hand to sign copies of their new book, "On Demand Supply Management: World Class Strategies, Practices and Technology."

A Procure-to-Pay Solutions & Technology Fair showcased goods and services of such exhibitors as American Express, Ariba, Acquirex, BMO Financial Group, BasWare, ePlus, Perfect Commerce, Puridiom, Sciquest, U.S. Bank, and Verian Technologies.

Next year's NAPP conference is moving west to Marriott Marina Del Rey Resort in Marina Del Rey, Calif. The event, which will be held on Feb. 10–13, will have as its theme, "A Look into the Future of Purchasing and Payables."

NAPP is the only national professional organization that brings together purchasing and accounts payables professionals. For information on NAPP and its conference, go to: www.nappconference.com.