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FOUR MAIN messages emerged from the 12th annual conference of the International Federation of Purchasing and Materials Management (IFPMM) held at Sun City from October 24 – 26.
· Globalisation is key in the development of organisations today and this is having a direct impact on procurement professionals; · The concept of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce – and the role of e-procurement, e-marketplaces and supply chain management within B2B was explored in-depth with some 60% of the conference discussions centred around the “e” component of e-commerce, e-marketplaces and e-systems, illustrating its relative importance in today’s economy; · However, given this focus on e-commerce, this should not overshadow the importance of procurement expertise in leveraging those technologies in order to attain the real bottomline benefits. Procurement managers should take a holistic approach to e-procurement; and · South Africa faces specific challenges in the e-procurement arena, particularly with regard to skills development and black economic empowerment and companies need to be proactive in this regard.
It was key to realise that South Africa is right up there with the rest of the world in the B2B space in terms of both the technology solutions & implementation and adoption.
And we also showed that South Africa stands second to no-one when it comes to arranging a highly professional international conference. The Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa (IPSA), who hosted the event and all involved in its organisation, deserve our congratulations. Both South African and international delegates were enormously impressed by what was on offer. The facilities at Sun City awed them; the gala banquet delighted them (I saw at least one group of Eastern Europeans who couldn’t contain themselves, joining a young SA performer on stage to do their version of kwaito jive); and the content of the conference presentations was generally acknowledged as high.
A highlight for many was a fascinating presentation by environmentalist/conservationist/anthropologist Quinton Coetzee who drew on his knowledge of the San people to provide lessons and examples for business in general, and the procurement industry in particular.
Johnnic Holdings’ non-executive chairman Cyril Ramaphosa’s call to use procurement as a powerful tool for black economic empowerment in South Africa – and Africa as a whole – struck a strong chord with local delegates.
At the end of the day, however, the conference can be declared a resounding success for the procurement industry in South Africa, and for South Africa itself. It will make a large contribution towards the re-positioning and profiling of the Procurement, Supply Chain and Materials Management functions within Corporate SA, and give these professions due recognition.
Miraculum is proud to welcome Avis to the community.
Heather Price, Office/Facilities Manager for Internet Solutions puts through 250 Purchase Orders per month, she has been using Miraculum Hosted Procurement for 6 months. This is what she had to say about the system: "I love it - the system is basic and easy to use. The financial reports that MHP (Miraculum Hosted Procurement) is able to produce has made it simple to put formal contracts in place with a limited amount of suppliers and keep track of the service levels and spend with those suppliers. The support and service that I have received from Miraculum has been tremendous."
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