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QLD scholarship winner

Alexandra Goffey was announced the winner of the CIPS Australia Queensland Young Procurement Professional Scholarship 2006. Alexandra enjoyed a complimentary trip to Melbourne for the annual conference where she was presented with her Scholarship award. The aim of the scholarship is to promote further study within the procurement profession in Queensland, in order to foster best practice amongst young professionals. As part of the fulfilment of the scholarship, Alexandra will use the money towards the study costs of the Masters of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Curtin University of Technology.

Strategic Sourcing for Business Impact - Excellent presentation

CIPSA Queensland would like to thank Dave Allen for his excellent presentation on "Strategic Sourcing for Business Impact". 32 people attended the evening networking session on October 25, to catch up with peers and take away some valuable tools and knowledge to help them implement a strategic sourcing model within their own organisation.

QLD Region Essay Winner

Queensland’s regional Essay competition winner was Vivienne Buss, who took home a $1000 prize kindly donated by CQU and Curtin Business School, Perth.

Vivienne began her professional career in the financial arena, completing her Chartered Accounting qualification, and working in audit, finance and also held a role as Project Director for the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Subsequently, Vivienne broadened her professional interests into business consulting, with emphasis on strategic financial business processes, business improvement and business analysis. During this time, Vivienne also completed an MBA and held consulting roles with Deloitte Growth Solutions and with 451 Consulting.

One of Vivienne’s specialisation areas in her MBA was Corporate Environmental Management, and this prompted her to continue to study more deeply into the field of business and the environment. She is currently completing a Masters in Environmental Science (research based), and works for Queensland Purchasing in their Sustainable Procurement team.

A summary of Vivienne’s essay will be published in the next issue of Procurement Professional (PP10).

Final Queensland 2006 event – Bring Your Boss Breakfast

The Queensland Committee is running its final event for the year, a “Bring Your Boss for Free and Join in the Panel Discussion” breakfast. Numbers are filling fast, so secure places for you and your boss now.

CIPS Australia PMI/PSI Monthly
Service for Members

CIPSA endorse the Performance of Manufacturing Index [PMI] and Performance of Services Index [PSI] which are compiled monthly by the AIG. Other supporters include PWC and NTC Research. As a benefit for CIPSA members, these indices are available monthly from the CIPSA newsletter.

PMI report for October (PDF) PSI report for October (PDF)

CIPS Australia Booklist

For a complete list of all our current books available and to order, please download the CIPSA booklist (PDF)
 

PMI in Newsletter NOW

Following feedback from members, as of November, the PMI and PSI will be published with a link from the monthly newsletter. To suit the release date of the PMI and PSI, the newsletter will now be sent out a few days later than normal – usually the 5th working day of the month. The CIPSA/PI Indirect Category Indexes and Benchmarking Reports are also published monthly through this newsletter.

The 2006 2nd Annual CIPS Australia Conference

Record numbers attended the 2006 2nd Annual CIPS Australia Conference this year at Crown Promenade Hotel, Melbourne. The Purchasing Exchange trade exhibition was bursting at the seams on October 17 & 18 as more than 500 delegates enjoyed their choice of seminars over the course of two days. At the conference dinner, Jeff Kennett as guest speaker delivered an entertaining, and sometimes moving speech, on his work with Beyond Blue. CIPS Australia and Beyond Blue would like to thank the delegates for their generous fundraising efforts on the night, with $3000 being raised for Beyond Blue.

Feedback received from the event so far is excellent. 51% of respondents rated the conference “Excellent” and 49% rated it “Good”, while 0% rated it Average or Poor. The 3rd Annual Conference is already booked for October 16-17, 2007, at Crown Towers Hotel, Melbourne, and looks to be bigger and better than ever.

Next Steering Group and Regional Chair meetings

The final Steering Group (SG14) meeting for 2006 will be held on December 7 in Melbourne, to discuss upcoming issues for 2007. The following day, on December 8, the Regional Chairs (RC4) will also have their final meeting of the year to plan their programme for 2007. Regional Chair meetings ensure consistency and cohesion across regions and facilitate discussions on important regional issues. Outcomes from this meeting will be published in the February newsletter.

New Exam Centres open for business in 2007

From November 2007, you will be able to sit CIPS Australia & New Zealand exams. Exam centres will be available in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Auckland and Wellington. The Assessed Training Programmes starting in 2007 will be announced early in the New Year.

Old “White Papers” available

Don’t forget copies of previous White Papers can be requested and sent out to you, simply by emailing info@cipsa.com.au. Please note that the new White Paper “Building the case for centralisation in public procurement” was distributed with Procurement Professional issue PP9, published October 17, 2006. Further copies are still available.

New CIPSA staff

Jerusha Penny, has joined CIPS Australia & New Zealand as the new Marketing Manager and Regional Coordinator. Coming from a strong membership background, Jerry, as she is known around the office, will bring a wealth of marketing experience to the CIPSA team. Jerry is responsible for the delivery of all CIPS marketing communications work in Australia and New Zealand as well as co-ordinating all regional activities and events. Jerry succeeds Ebony Lowther who has left the concrete jungle of Collins St for the slopes of Canada, and further world travel.

CIPS Australia and its regions wish Ebony all the best in her adventures. If you didn’t get to meet Jerry at the annual conference, feel free to introduce yourself to her on 1300 765 142.

Rejoin CIPS Australia now – Last chance for recently expired membership

For those of you who haven't yet renewed your CIPS Australia membership, it's your last chance to do so, before a $100 re-joining fee applies (should you decide to re-join in the future). Final renewals for many were due by September 30, 2006. Whether you receive reimbursement from your employer (see PP7 June 2006, page 9) or claim a personal tax rebate, your membership is excellent value. CIPS Australia is delivering a fantastic growing range of benefits for all members. A member attending one conference and one training course can save more than $500 in member discounts alone! Renew now to make the most of your membership benefits.

Essay competition winner

After much deliberation and a very high calibre of entrants, Belinda Adam from the ACT was adjudged as the inaugural winner of the CIPS Australia National Essay competition 2006. Belinda enjoyed a complimentary trip to Melbourne to attend the annual conference, and was presented with the winning prize of $2000 at the conference dinner. Belinda won the Regional essay for her territory, and was subsequently adjudged best in the country out of the 6 regional winners. The other state winners include:

South Australia/NT: Tim Dawson

Victoria: Michael Morpeth

Queensland: Vivienne Buss

Western Australia: Ben Smith, and

New South Wales: Robert Halsall,

who each took away a $1000 prize for the top essay in their state. Each entrant had to answer an essay question set for their state. A short summary of each entrants essay will be published in Procurement Professional (PP10), due early December. Congratulations to all entrants who participated, CIPS Australia looks forward to running the competition again, and receiving even more entries in 2007.

APCC endorsement

The Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) has announced its endorsement and support of CIPS Australia as a peak body for the Procurement profession. MCIPS is recognised as the international standard for the Australian public sector, and the educational pathways to MCIPS have also been recognised. There is now a new APCC action team appointed on Skills Development who will work closely with CIPS Australia to meet the needs of all procurement professionals working in the public sector, chaired by John Tondut, Executive Director (Government Procurement) WA Department of Treasury & Finance.

Conference dates for 2007

Building on the success of the 2006 programme, work is already well under way on developing the CIPS Australia Conference Programme for 2007. CIPS Australia’s aim is to deliver a broad range of content, covering issues critical to the development of the procurement profession at pricing levels that reflect excellent value. The planned events for 2007 are:

Emerging Trends in Procurement

7-8 March, Sydney Shangri-La Hotel

The 2nd CIPS Australia Public Sector Procurement Forum

17-18 May, Hyatt Hotel Canberra

The Inaugural CIPS New Zealand Conference

14 June, Auckland SkyCity

The SMART Supply Chain Technology Show

20-21 June, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre

The Queensland Supply Chain Conference

2-3 August, Brisbane Sofitel Hotel

Strategic Procurement

22-23 August, Perth Novotel Langley

The 3rd CIPS Australia Annual Conference

16-17 October, Melbourne

Mark these dates in your diary now. Full programme information and registration details will be circulated as they become available. Check for regular updates at www.cipsaconferences.com.au

Cyberlynx appointed

CIPS Australia has appointed Cyberlynx Procurement services to run their RFP process for Open Training Courses in 2007 and the EOI for the Assessed Training Programmes for 2007-2009. Cyberlynx will help with the sourcing process, evaluating the responses, selecting vendors and negotiations. The new training contracts will be awarded in December, and members will be advised of the new training programmes in February 2007.

Xchanging Sponsors CIPS Australia Conferences

Xchanging, the business processing services company, has entered into agreement for lead sponsorship of the 2006/2007 CIPSA conference activities. The agreement saw Xchanging as the Platinum Sponsor for the CIPS Australia 2nd Annual Conference, as well as the principal supporter of CIPSA conferences, events and publications during the tenure of their one year Sponsorship.

Xchanging is a leading procurement services provider, with over A$10bn of supplier spend under management in a broad range of direct and indirect categories. Jonathan Dutton, Managing Director CIPSA, said: “This sponsorship agreement will help support our goals in Australia, acting as a voice for the profession and helping individuals and organisations improve their procurement practices. Xchanging has an excellent historic relationship with CIPS and we are confident CIPSA will benefit from this experience."

David Ward, Managing Director of Xchanging Australia, said, “To date Xchanging has achieved some exciting procurement deals in Europe with key players in their sectors, including National Australia Bank UK, BAE Systems and United Biscuits. We’re delighted to build on that success by working together with CIPSA and being a part of procurement best practice in Australia.”

Awards 2007

Forget the Brownlow count, the inaugural CIPS Australia National Procurement Professional Awards will be presented at next year’s Annual Conference dinner in Melbourne on October 16, 2007. A full list of categories and nomination details will be available in the New Year. This Awards ceremony will be a great opportunity to recognise outstanding achievements amongst our procurement community.

New Zealand

Plans have advanced for the launch of a new region in New Zealand. The interim chair of the region is to be David Freeman MCIPS, who works for Telstra NZ in Auckland. To be known as CIPS New Zealand, the region will be included in all mainstream CIPS activities in this region in 2007. The inaugural conference in New Zealand will be held on June 14, 2007 at SkyCity in Auckland.

New website timetabled for February 2007

Work is progressing on populating a new website for CIPS Australia, with many new features and benefits becoming available for members. Benefits such as online payments, purchasing, registrations and an e-learning portal are just a number of the new features on the upcoming new website.

The Knowledge Club 4

The next issue of The Knowledge Club, the fourth quarterly digest of briefings on hot topics for procurement practitioners, is due out in mid-December. Members with suggestions of what topics they might like to be covered, specifically in the coming issues, should email their suggestions directly to info@cipsa.com.au while there is still time.

CISPA JOB SEARCH

Visit the Jobs area of www.cipsa.com.au to view the latest jobs in procurement. If you would like to advertise a position on the website, jobs are $49 + GST per month, download the attached flyer to find out more.

Previous Issues

CIPS Australia Level 10, 520 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Tel: 1300 765 142, Fax: 1300 765 143, Email: info@cipsa.com.au, www.cipsa.com.au

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