WA Region
Welcome to the WA Region page
| WA Regional Chair: | Tony Davey |
| WA Regional Vice Chair: | Tina Groves |
| Contact Email: | wa@cipsa.com.au |
| Click here for WA events | events@cipsa.com.au |
Latest WA News & Events
WA Calendar of Events
Mark your diary now for these CIPSA events in WA. More dates will arise, so remember to keep an eye out on the WA Events page.
10 September - Tender Evaluation (Open Training courses)
24 September - Marketing Strategies for the Recruitment of Procurement Professionals in WA
29 October - Challenge of Socially Responsible Procurement (CPO Agenda Masterclass)
Other courses/events you may be interested in:
17 September - Tender Evaluation (Melbourne)
18 September - CPO Agenda Masterclass - The Winning Agenda (Melbourne)
22-23 September - Introduction to Procurement & Improve your Procurement skills (Sydney)
24-25 September - Contract Law Masterclass (Adelaide)
25 September - CPO Agenda Masterclass - The Challenge of Sustainable Procurement (Sydney)
8-9 October - Introduction to Procurement & Improve your Procurement Skills (Melbourne)
14-15 October - The 4th Annual CIPS Australia Conference (Melbourne)
29 October - CPO Agenda Masterclass - Fixing the links in the Supply Chain (Sydney)
30 October - Supplier Relationship Management (Melbourne)
12 November - CPO Agenda Masterclass - Fixing the links in the Supply Chain (Melbourne)
Marketing Strategies for the Recruitment of Procurement Professionals in WA
24 September Event - Perth Concert Hall
How can companies attract procurement professionals to their organisation in the tight WA market? Does online recruiting replace or compliment other mediums? How is procurement currently recognised and valued as a profession in the WA recruitment market?
To discuss this important issue facing many growing WA businesses, WA CIPSA committee have assembled a panel of media experts to debate their understanding of what procurement is and then how best to promote the profession to potential recruits.
The event will be conducted in a panel style with senior representatives from print and online mediums as well as recruitment industry and creative marketing professionals. This information and networking event will be of interest to procurement and human resources professionals looking to understand the most successful recruitment strategies in today’s market and gain an edge in securing the best people.
Download the full invite here.
When & where: Wednesday 24th September 2008 Perth Concert Hall, 5 St George’s Tce, Perth.
What time: Stand up breakfast at 7.30am. Session from 8.00-9.30am.
How much will it cost? $33 member, $55 non-members. Please note that payment must
be made prior to the event to confirm attendance.
RSVP: Email Friday events@cipsa.com.au or call 1300 765 142 by 19th September 2008.
Please use the booking form attached
Adelaide and Perth CIPSA Conferences score well
The week commencing 18th August saw the CIPSA Conferences team hit the road to present back-to-back conferences in Adelaide on 19 August and Perth on 21 August. Both events scored high satisfaction ratings from delegates – 98% in Perth, 99% in Adelaide
The inaugural CIPSA Strategic Procurement and SCM Forum in Adelaide at the Stamford Plaza attracted 65 delegates, a good turnout for a first major conference in SA. Featuring a diverse range of speakers, including Greg Tunny, CEO of Australian Submarine Corp [ASC], as well as CPO’s from Lion Nathan, Santos and BAE Systems the conference was scored well by delegates.
Detailed programmes can be found at the CIPSA Conferences website www.cipsaconferences.com.au
On to Perth for the 3rd CIPSA Strategic Procurement Forum on the 21st August at the Novotel Langley and feedback was very similar. Presentations included contributions from major resources players Alcoa and Rio Tinto. As in Adelaide, the comments from delegates were overwhelmingly positive regarding the conference.
Delegate numbers increased significantly from previous years, with 115 delegates attending – a reflection perhaps on the growth of the Perth market and the ongoing receptiveness to and relevance of the CIPSA Conference programme.
Both events featured excellent networking opportunities, with formal seated lunches and cocktail functions at the end of the day hosted by the local CIPSA regional committees, both of which were well attended. Our thanks go to both the speakers and sponsors for their support of these conferences, and to the delegates, who continue to demonstrate strong interest in the content.
Our final event of the 2008 conferencing season is our flagship event - the 4th CIPSA Annual Conference on 14-15 October 2008 at Crown Towers in Melbourne. Last year 560 people attended, hopefully this year even more will attend to understand THE WINNING FORMULA. Full details are at www.cipsaconferences.com.au
Results of the CIPSA WA Regional Membership Survey
Thankyou to the 75 members who took the time to respond to the survey. This is a particularly good response when you consider that our membership is just shy of 350.
The survey results showed that just over one quarter, 28.4%, of the respondents attend three or more regional events per year, making the comments received relevant to the expectations of the membership. There was a clear preference to hold breakfast events with 72.2% of respondents favouring this option. Good support was also received for luncheon events, 25%, and sundowner events, 31.9%. As expected, holding events in the central CBD is the preferred option, with 80% of respondents nominating this location. Professional development and topics of interest were listed as the two main reasons for wanting to attend an event.
The survey respondents have also provided the committee with some great feedback around the topics of interest for future events. In total, 36 topics were put forward, and for the purposes of this summary, the committee tried to cluster the ideas into broader topics. The following themes were identified:
- Inventory management and inbound supply chain management
- A strong demand to have more case study type events where guest speakers talk about how their organisations operate, manage and develop their procurement functions. There is also a strong interest in understanding how procurement operates within different industries and the types of contracting strategies utilised.
- Understanding the types of technology in the market to help procurement perform better and deliver more value.
- Events which cater specifically to the challenges faced for small to medium size enterprises.
- And finally a general presentation around carbon trading.
CIPSA WA would like to once again thank you for this fantastic feedback. Please understand that we’re not able to adopt all ideas put forward due to financial constraints, however, you never know, we may in the future actually run an event in a regional location should the demand exist. Other ideas can be adopted immediately, i.e. we will increase the attendance fee differential between member and non-members. In general the feedback provided in the survey has laid a great foundation for future events and has certainly made the committee’s job a lot easier in terms of targeting topics that interest you.
JazCorp Australia Pty Ltd invites CIPSA Procurement members to its end of year Corporate Lunch and Presentation Day.
Networking at its best, State managers, Directors, Business Owners, Procurement, Business Development Managers unite with one objective: To build on business relationships, brand awareness and secure future negotiations with the right company.
Brief Structure: Selected members and companies present their products and services to a captive audience within a designated time frame of 20 minutes. Social networking will continue after and during the lunch.
Date: Friday 31st October 2008
Venue: Waters Edge Estate, South Guildford, Loder Way (Off Great Eastern Highway) Western Australia
Time: 10.30am arrival for an 11am start
Finish: 4pm
Includes: Presentation times for selected companies, buffet lunch, beer wine soft drinks, coffee tea, dessert & Social Networking opportunities
Lunch will be served at 1.30pm – 2.30pm. Social networking will commence during this time and till 4pm.
Cost: $50 for CIPSA Procurement members
Parking: Free parking available
RVSP: By 15 September 2008 Call Lynn 1300 667 709 or email lynn@jazcorpaustralia.com.au to register your
interest or for any further enquiries.
Review: Sam Walsh breakfast event
Topic: "Reflection on procurement from a customer’s perspective"
We were honoured to have Sam Walsh (Chief Executive, Rio Tinto Iron Ore) guest speak at our 14th of May, WA regional event. He chose to speak about procurement from a customer’s perspective and highlighted a number of key expectations as a business leader. Firstly, Sam, provided some context on the RTIO business and painted a picture of strong growth with major investment in expanding existing operations, as well as bringing on new operations in more remote regions like Simandou, Guinea. Sam indicated that the RTIO business faced some key challenges as it moved to implement a bold expansion strategy. These challenges 
include, managing strong growth, achieving sustainable development targets, effectively utilising a global reach and building on an already strong performance. Sam then went on to describe the role of procurement in addressing each one of the challenges.
The first challenge, managing strong growth, would require the procurement organisation to identify the key supply relationships, both globally and regionally, and focus on developing relationships that position RTIO in the ‘preferred customer’ quadrant. The business was going to depend on those relationships remaining strong, competitive and effective in order to secure the required growth. A second element in addressing this challenge revolved around the way the procurement organisation integrated with the business, and is vital, in that tight integration allows for a clear understanding of both the business requirements and the priorities. The procurement organisation must be able to distinguish between the strategic projects, those requiring business involvement, and the projects where procurement should just get on with it and avoid tying up limited business resource. Sam went further to describe a third element to addressing this challenge, that of talent management. He had an expectation that in a market of talent scarcity a procurement organisation would promote itself within the market, create an excitement around the profession, and implement tools which would allow for the fast track development of new talent.
The second challenge, sustainable development, describe by Sam in terms of a community dividend, a dividend to be experienced both in the areas in which the business operates and in the areas from which the business procures. The procurement organisation has a role to play in working with the supply partners to ensure that the community dividend is experienced and that the businesses reputation is upheld.
The third challenge, which Sam described has having a global reach, is a challenge brought about due to the business seeking to unlock value and develop operations in remote areas. Sam indicated that the business was going to lean on the global procurement organisation to find global solutions to anticipated supply constraints for it’s remote locations and work with supply partners to help build these remote operations and in some cases actually establish a presence themselves.
The forth challenge, describe by Sam as improving on a already strong performance, involved a procurement organisation measuring and reporting on meaningful key performance indicators. Sam continued to elaborate on his expectation for the procurement organisation to be in a position to provide a forward view on supply markets and brief business leaders on forecasts. There was also a mention of a procurement organisation be required to explore the supply market for innovations which could be adopted by the business, those innovations, that would drive safer, more competitive, more sustainable operations delivering higher output. In closing Sam indicated that the procurement organisation had a critical role to play in shaping and delivering the businesses overall strategy.
Thank you to the 180 procurement enthusiasts who attended the Sam Walsh breakfast at the Hyatt. This kind of support proves how strong the procurement community is in WA.
For those who would like a copy of Sam's presentation, download it here.
Regards
Tony Davey – WA Chair
Contribute to your local news
Always considered yourself a bit of a Clark Kent? Procurement Super Hero by day, sleuth journalist by night? Well we would love to see your talent, and even if you don’t have the talent, we would still love to hear the gossip from your region. Got any news on movers and shakers, big contracts awarded, something local to your region, or country? Send in your article, or link to an article on the web and if we think its newsworthy we will publish it in the monthly newsletter. Deadlines for each newsletter is the last week of each month, so get in your submissions now. Submissions will be by-lined by agreement. Email news@cipsa.com.au with the subject line <Your Region> Newsletter Submission.
Meet Your WA Chair and Vice Chair:
WA Chair: Tony Davey
Manager – Source, Rio Tinto Procurement
Tony Davey, B-Tech (Ind.Eng.), MBA, is currently employed at Rio Tinto Procurement in his capacity as West Coast Regional Manager – Source. He leads a team of category specialists who manage a diverse portfolio of spend with an objective to deliver value on behalf of the Rio Tinto operating assets. He has seven years experience as a supply chain consultant, having worked for both IBM Business Consulting Services and Deloitte Consulting. As a consultant he participated in the design and delivery of various supply chain improvement projects across many different industries. He has a particular passion for strategic sourcing and delivered the Procurement Centre of Excellence at Lonmin Platinum.
WA Vice Chair: Tina Groves
Director maintenance and minor works, WA Department of Housing and Works
Tina’s challenge will be to reform maintenance service delivery in an environment where the building industry is struggling to meet demand for services.
Tina has held several senior procurement roles within the WA Government with experience in strategic procurement and planning, service evaluation,business improvement, change management and customer management.
