Fueling Innovation: Upcoming Events in Procurement and Supply Chain Management
ProcureCon offers a broad range of events for a strong second half of the year.
By Andrew Greissman
With 2017 already more than halfway over, the next few months offer a chance for supply chain and procurement executives to shore up their strategies and add some jet fuel to their initiatives. A full range of generalist and specialized events are yet to come from Worldwide Business Research’s ProcureCon and Supply Chain conference series, bringing the premier talent in the community face-to-face to troubleshoot their most difficult challenges.
Here’s a look at what’s to come this fall, including a preview of some of the industry challenges that will be addressed by the agendas of each unique conference.
ProcureCon Indirect West
When: Sept. 18-20
Now in its seventh year, the ProcureCon Indirect West conference, located in sun-drenched Scottsdale, Ariz., will convene with an agenda focused on meeting the major cross-industry challenges facing procurement today. These include keeping pace with the rapid advancement of technology and tools, as well as risk mitigation, including data, logistical, environmental and third-party risk. Front of mind for many, strategies for showcasing value to stakeholders will also figure highly on the agenda, alongside tactics for managing long-term strategy in the face of economic and political uncertainty.
LogiPharma
When: Oct. 4-6
Since 2002, LogiPharma has served as the largest gathering of biopharma supply chain executives in North America. This is the only forum that brings together heads of the supply chain on both the manufacturing and provider sides to work toward deeper collaboration.
This year, cost containment is the No. 1 trend shaping the overall agenda. The industry is under pressure to lower costs, and the cost of making and transporting product is one of the first things on the list. There is equally huge pressure to lower drug prices, and if the new administration does put pressure on firms to manufacture in the United States, the implications will be enormous for the cost. Add to this the challenges of creating a lean globally distributed and patient-centric supply chain, and the gravity of the task facing logistics managers becomes even more clear.
ProcureCon Pharma
When: Oct. 24-26
Pharma and biotech manufacturers are investing billions into lengthy R&D processes, risk mitigation solutions for quality assurance and inventory management, digitization to automate processes and achieve speed to market and big data analytics to capture market intelligence.
In order to proficiently operate these expenditures and further leverage internal resources to cut costs, procurement must take the point in creating value with suppliers and reaching targeted consumers quicker while products are still patent supported. While in some cases, procurement is considered ancillary support on key decision making for product development, the industry is in the midst of reassessing and supporting procurement in their function to strategically analyze the most cost effective initial steps to each process in the drug product value chain.
The overall flow of this year’s agenda will equally cover pharma specific topics related to risk mitigation, digitization, M&A (divestiture), SRM and stakeholder engagement for both direct and indirect procurement. It will also address actionable data point conversions for big data/market intelligence; global compliance and collaboration; solution/API quality; R&D/clinical sourcing; pharma category management; relationship building with both internal and external partners; and, finally, advanced analytics to drive value and supplier relationship management strategies for uncovering new innovation.
LogiChem
When: Nov. 13-14
Now in its seventeenth year, LogiChem boasts being the premier –and only – event dedicated to supply chain, logistics and transportation management executives specifically within the chemical manufacturing industry.
LogiChem 2017 will introduce a special focus this year on embracing digitization to drive supply chain optimization across your entire network. Changes in North America’s chemical industry have forced an increased emphasis on supply chain value and optimization. Between currency and commodity fluctuations, various mergers and acquisitions, emerging geopolitical situations and ever changing regulations across the globe, a feeling of uncertainty is plaguing the industry. With so much ambiguity, companies are being proactive and working on solutions to remain as efficient and profitable as possible. Whether it is mitigating risk by investing in technologies that create more visibility in the supply chain, reducing costs by negotiating with suppliers, or having the closest, most accurate forecast by moving from a sales and operations planning (S&OP) method to integrated business planning (IBP), there are many factors that a supply chain or logistics executive can control to make their customers as happy as possible.
Finishing the second half of the year strong, the ProcureCon conference series and its supply chain events offer something for the supply chain generalist, as well as for highly specialized procurement practitioners looking for the answers to niche problems within their industries. Regardless of background or specific areas of challenge, participants are sure to meet peers who have the same challenges at these exhaustively researched and generously accommodated events. Visit wbresearch.com for more information about these events as well as many others.