This year’s Summit hosted just over 120 delegates, who descended upon Boston with the individual goals of learning the latest trends and best practice ideas and expanding their network and the collective goal of driving the procurement profession (and the role of the CPO) forward.

The fantastic presentations, unique setting, executive audience, and intimate environment have become the trademarks of the CPO Rising Summit. Over the next few days, we will share some of the scenes from the 2019 Summit while also reminding each of you to save the dates – October 27 & 28, 2020 for CPO Rising 2020!

Andrew Bartolini moderates the “CPO Panel: Expanding Procurement’s Value” with (from left), Shelley Stewart Jr., Managing Partner, Bottom Line Advisory and CPO Rising Hall of Fame Class of 2017, Nisreen Bagasra CPO, Veolia North America, and Dan Warn CPO, AthenaHealth

Great discussions and networking during The CPO Rising Summit

And the food is always top class!

David Kern, Head of Global Procurement at TripAdvisor Media Group, gives his “Employee Gig, Liquid, & Agile Procurement Opportunities” keynote presentation

Ardent’s Bob Cohen leads an engaging panel discussion on “Technology Trends and Innovation” along with (from left), Kristian O’Meara SVP of Global Value and Solution Engineering at Jaggaer, David Bush Chief Revenue Officer at SpendHQ, and Dr. Christian Heinrich, Ph.D. Co-Founder at scoutbee.com and Professor of Digital Transformation

On Day Two of the conference, we had the opportunity to sit down with Greg Tennyson of VSP Global – and CPO Honors Award winner – and dive deeper into the role of sourcing in modern business. As part of the largest not-for-profit vision benefits provider in the United States, VSP Global’s sourcing organization must work closely with the business to ensure optimum cost savings and risk management. To do this, VSP uses technology including  Scout RFP to demystify sourcing for the rest of the business and encourage enterprise-wide engagement.

With simplified processes, the VSP sourcing organization has become a strategic partner to the business, leading to increased engagement and savings across the enterprise.

How do they do this? Here are Greg’s top tips:

1. Sourcing requires 2020 vision.

Complete visibility into the sourcing process is imperative to smooth operations. With new technologies, procurement professionals can now manage all of their projects in one place and keep their stakeholders constantly in the loop and up to date.

2. Automation is your friend.

With increasingly complex projects, the sourcing organization must nurture its internal and external relationships more than ever before. Procurement professionals need solutions to help streamline and automate their workflows, and ultimately give them more time to focus on people, not paperwork.

3. If you’re not early, you’re late.

Being proactive is imperative to sourcing success. Greg urges procurement professionals to engage with the business early and often in order to establish strong relationships and achieve better outcomes.

We sincerely appreciated our roundtable discussions with Greg and loved hearing how VSP Global is leveraging technology to maximize sourcing’s impact on the business. CPO Rising 2019 reinforced that sourcing and procurement are more important than ever in managing risk and driving cost savings. As business challenges become increasingly complex, sourcing organizations must be equipped with the proper tools in order to keep up and get ahead. We can’t wait to attend next year’s summit and continue learning from procurement industry leaders.

The ABCs of New Procurement Tech

AI: On AI, I gave some backstory on the term, and sought to clarify what AI is and what it isn’t, including some popular definitions and distinctions – like how there’s Narrow AI (like machine learning, natural language processing, and robotic process automation), and Artificial General Intelligence (like deep learning, neural networks, and fully-autonomous, self-learning systems). I then gave some examples of procurement use cases for AI – like guided buying and predictive purchasing.

Blockchain: On Blockchain, I again gave some historical context (it was invented only a decade ago), and really tried to explain what Blockchain is – a distributed, decentralized database that acts as a ledger for all transactions, changes, and movement. Everything you do on a blockchain is permanent, cannot be changed, and is open to others to see (especially on “open” blockchains). So it drives great transparency into transactions – especially those across extended supply chains. On that note I shared a couple of use cases for Blockchain, such as supply chain track and trace, and smart contracts that are written into the Blocchain’s code that automatically execute and fulfill.

Connected Devices: On Connected Devices, or what we also call the Internet of Things, I talked about how advances in sensors, processors, and transmitters enable them to be embedded within everyday items, machines, and products – like thermostats, utility poles, gas/electric meters, commercial equipment, and so on. This enables the automatic transmission of critical business intelligence point-to-point, or machine-to-machine. They’ve long-been used by manufacturing, and use cases for procurement have started to emerge, like helping procurement teams get ahead of managing maintenance, repair, and operational services (MRO) spend, and syncing with Blockchain digital ledgers to link the physical and digital supply chains to enhance track-and-trace.

Summary

Artificial intelligence for procurement has already started to become a reality, even if for now we’re still applying “narrow” AI to the discipline. Blockchain use cases for procurement, such as supply chain track and trace, smart contracts, and now supply chain financing and payment reconciliation, continue to be modeled, explored, and piloted, although the technology has some issues of scale to work out, like high energy consumption and effective aggregation of disaggregated commodities (like bulk coffee).

For their part, connected devices / IoT continue to collect and transmit vital operational intelligence to procurement, manufacturing, and services, allowing these departments to get ahead of MRO and budget accordingly. If industry can iron out some integration and deployment issues, IoT-integrated Blockchain can be the missing link for linking the physical and digital supply chains and enhancing track-and-trace.

RELATED ARTICLES

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Manufacturing Success: How Procurement can Leverage Industry 4.0 to Manage MRO Spend

How Far Can We Apply Industry 4.0 to Procurement?

BOSTON, October 29 — Today, more than 140 Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) and other procurement executives convene at Boston’s elegant Harvard Club to discuss best practices, learn about emerging market trends, and collaborate with like-minded peers. The fourth annual “CPO Rising” Summit and executive symposium, hosted by prominent research and advisory firm Ardent Partners, will feature an unrivaled lineup of speakers and presentations, all of which will serve to push the procurement function into a new era.

This week’s event, which will feature nearly two dozen procurement luminaries from large corporations around the globe (and across many industries), will tackle a vast array of exciting topics within the world of supply management. These executives, from Johnson & Johnson, DuPont, Rio Tinto, and many more, will speak about:

• Expanding Procurement’s Value (this year’s event theme)
• Data-driven procurement strategies
• The role of innovation in today’s procurement function
• Designing and building the optimal procurement operation (and procurement transformation)
• The Future of Work
• And much more!

“The procurement function of 2019 sits on the edge of an incredible transformation in its ultimate quest for business agility and enterprise-wide value,” says Andrew Bartolini, founder and chief research officer at Ardent Partners. “Today’s procurement executives have the power to leverage innovation, intelligence, and transformational thinking to become a truly agile business function. The CPO Rising 2019 Summit is the ideal forum for procurement professionals from around the world to learn how to achieve these goals.”

This exclusive summit is sponsored by Tradeshift, Concord Contracts, Jaggaer, Scout RFP, Guidant Global, SAP Ariba, scoutbee, Sievo, and SpendHQ. For more information on the CPO Rising 2019 Summit, please visit events.cporising.com.

About Ardent Partners:

Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the supply management strategies, processes, and technologies that drive business value and accelerate organizational transformation within the enterprise. The Ardent team has decades of experience publishing primary research that help business leaders in procurement, supply management, and financial operations make smarter decisions and improve their performance. To learn more about the company, visit www.ardentpartners.com.

David Kern

Andrew Bartolini: How did you get into procurement and how did you move up into your current position today?

David Kern: I fell into procurement when I worked at Staples. I was at a point in my career where I had to decide if I wanted to work in public service (police and or fire department), or if I wanted to stay in corporate America.  While working in Staples internal audit, I had an opportunity to take on an audit of our transportation division; and at the same time I was on a path to explore becoming a police officer. I quickly found in my audit that a transportation division at Staples really needed someone to manage the transportation portfolio for its final-mile delivery, which at the time was roughly thirty million dollars in annual spend. Staples leadership offered me this unique advancement position but I turned it down and chose to stay on the path of exploring becoming a police officer.

After successfully completing the Police Academy, I was once again approached and re-offered by Staples to take over the final-mile delivery supplier oversight function.  Feeling as though I had accomplished a personal goal and could remain semi-active in helping the local community; I accepted the Staples offer and continued to volunteer as a Police officer.  Over the next nine years, I led efforts to help grow the transportation portfolio to a half a billion dollars.  It was during that course of time that I was able to recognize my own personal talents in driving value – whether it be through collaboration with vendors, or through identifying synergies to yield better service, expense, and overall healthiness for the space that I was overseeing.

AB: That’s awesome. So, it sounds like even though you were within a fairly well-established business, you really got great experience in managing a high growth business?

DK: In the span of nine years, I was able to see something later commonly known as transformation; and not even really see it – I actually lived in the middle of it.   Staples has a well-defined North American final-mile delivery footprint; as that business started to grow within North America as one of the few next-day service providers, it was critical they continuously build out network capabilities.  This included adding fleets and couriers on top of increasing the reliance on UPS/FedEx/USPS; along with other non-traditional modes of transportation. During that course of time, it was important to focus not only on domestic transportation growth, but expand into Canada and other international locations.

When you take all that explosive growth and scale into consideration, and you then layer in the purchase of Corporate Express, a large next day office supply corporate retailer, my role within transportation and transformation became instrumental overnight.  I found my passion as a change agent focused on transforming different business operations and value add services.  My mission was clear, to focus on driving a common service offering that provided the highest level of service at the lowest sustainable price. So when I hear about transformation as the new buzz word in today’s boardrooms, I quickly smile as I had an opportunity to experience transformation very early in my career – and for that I am extremely grateful.

AB: You’ve hit upon two great things: dealing with a fast-growth environment and merging organizations.  What are some of the takeaways you have in bringing two organizations together and managing that change?

DK: When two companies merge, sometimes the assumption is that the acquired company doesn’t have the best processes; and so the acquirer may assume that what they’re doing is best in class.  Taking this mindset can be a real disadvantage. Rather, taking time to seek to understand and brainstorm as a collective group, open and honestly, will often find that you both have solid best practices and process.  It’s a matter of augmentation and tweaking to get to the best process for the combined entity going forward.

In addition to just seeking common ground and best way forward, it is critical that you approach opportunities by “looking underneath the hood with a trust-but-verify” mindset.  This applies daily to procurement as we are constantly being pitched from a variety of sales folks. Information provided needs to be validated for accuracy of what is being sold and to confirm what is being purchased solves the business requirements.   So when you start to look at bringing operations of like-minded intent and structure, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t overlook what you think or what you’re accustomed to thinking is the best process – everything we touch has opportunity for improvement.

AB: So talk about your current role and what’s happening at TripAdvisor.

DK: Awesome stuff; I started at TripAdvisor just under four years ago. It was a new role – they didn’t have a procurement team. It’s been an amazing journey, both professionally and personally, being part of such a great organization. What I probably learned the most is that companies like Trip have highly talented people who are willing to just roll up their sleeves and help do whatever they can whenever they can.  It’s just fascinating to see how quickly things evolve, and how every day there’s something new to learn. Any day you’re not learning doesn’t put you behind, but it sure makes you have to catch up the next couple of days because the world is moving fast. There’s so much to learn and plenty ways to grow professionally – I truly feel very lucky to be part of the TripAdvisor team!

AB: As you look at the industry and the profession going forward, what are some of the things you see that are emerging and interesting, or some of the things that get you excited about working in the profession?

DK:  I’m excited about the profession because it seems like it’s more of a new / growth area than an established defined function.  What I mean by that is when you hear the word “procurement,” not everyone knows what it means; and for those that think they know I often get asked “what does TripAdvisor procure?” In my opinion, Procurement is simply explained as a core group of skills and experiences for which someone leverages and represent opportunities as an agent working on your behalf.  The core focus is to secure an outcome that provide sustainable value for shareholders and or customers.

Independent of the basic efforts outlined above, Procurement is becoming not only a trusted partner but gaining valuable insights into operational aspects that not everyone within an organization can see or synergizes.  Procurement professionals have a huge opportunity to acquire operational exposure and insights.  Providing such insights to other business units that may not know internal opportunities/solutions exist can be ten times more valuable than saving a few points on a contract.  I’m super excited about what procurement is becoming and will be in the future – value creation through process improvement, operational enhancements, and supplier value creation; combined driving meaningful shareholder and customer value.

AB: As an industry leader, what is some advice you can give to other professionals.

DK: One thing I love most about Trip Advisor is that we have a great culture, and a core focus on “acting like an owner.”   This allows my team to talk with people about how procurement can drive variety of benefits and solutions.  We see the operational enhancements that people don’t necessarily know exist because they either don’t know who to talk to, internally, or they don’t necessarily know where to start. Procurement can be that gateway into some really impactful things that will be meaningful to all folks – customers, shareholders, and employees.

AB: Thank you so much David!

DK: My pleasure, Andrew. I’m passionate for this space and I appreciate the opportunity to help others find Procurement and grow within their personal journey.

Post Script: Catch David’s keynote presentation, “GIG, Liquid, Agile Employee Procurement Opportunities,” on Day 1 at CPO Rising 2019 — next week!

At the dinner reception, Ardent Partners will present awards for outstanding performance and execution in the last year – “The CPO Honors” – to a variety of high achievers including Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement leaders, procurement teams, and new this year: procurement solution providers and/or other experts. A new class of CPOs (two names will be announced next week) will also be inducted into the CPO Rising Hall of Fame based upon career achievements.

With a record number of nominations this year, the competition for the CPO Honors 2019 awards was extremely competitive. Making it to this far should be considered a huge achievement, in and of itself.

So, without further ado…

The CPO HONORS 2019 Finalists are:

The Innovation Award Finalists: This award is presented to the CPO and team that have used new and innovative strategies and approaches to overcome significant hurdles.

• Anu Saxena, Senior Vice President and Global Head for Hilton Supply Management (HSM) and the HSM Team
• Sprint’s Procurement Team

The Technology Excellence Award Finalists: This award is presented to the CPO and team that have leveraged technology solutions to impact procurement operations and performance.

• Andrea Greco, Chief Procurement Officer, CBRE
• Jorge Martín Torres Pérez, Strategic Procurement Director, Coca-Cola FEMSA

Best Team Performance Award Finalists: This award is presented to the procurement department that has excelled across the full scope of procurement operations to make a significant impact on overall enterprise results.

• Highmark Health Global Procurement & Payables Team
• Endurance’s Procurement Operations and Business Intelligence Team

The Leadership Award (CPO of the Year) Finalists: This award is presented to the CPO who has driven new performance heights as a result of their direct involvement and leadership and overall exceptional executive management.

• Kai Nowosel, Chief Procurement Officer, Accenture
• Greg Tennyson, Head of Global Corporate Services,  VSP Global
• Mike Morsch, Vice President Global Procurement & Supply Chain, CDK Global

Innovative Solution of the Year Finalists: Presented to the solution provider who most significantly impacted the market with innovative solutions.

• BuyerQuest
• Fairmarkit

Best Technology Partnership Finalists: Presented to the best partnership between a solution provider and their procurement team customer on to a technology deployment.

• ScoutRFP and Biogen
• Ivalua and Whirlpool

Our congratulations to all of the finalists!  We will see you soon!

Two weeks ago, 120 global procurement executives descended on Boston for our Annual CPO Rising Summit. I’ve been organizing Chief Procurement Officer (CPO)-focused events since 2006 and I still find the entire process to be equal parts exhilarating, stressful, educational, empowering and highly-rewarding. I’ll share some of my thoughts with you here in today’s article. I plan to write a few more articles about the event over the final weeks of 2018 as does each analyst on our team. (Later today, I will also be co-presenting the “Voice of the CPO” webinar with fellow Ardent analysts, Matt York & Chris Dwyer that shares the key highlights and takeaways from the event).

The Age of Intelligence

In the “Age of Intelligence,” the procurement function is positioned to leverage its position at the hub of business operations to become a more productive, agile, and intelligent operation and use data analytics to drive better business outcomes. Each year, our Summit has an overarching theme we try to weave through. This year, I couldn’t think of a better topic for the leading minds and global experts working in and around procurement to tackle than operating a procurement function in the age of intelligence. Developing a new type of intelligence that will redefine the procurement function is an idea that emerged in both our annual state of procurement/CPO studies and in keynote presentations delivered at the Summit over the past three years.

With the rise of business process automation tools, cloud-based applications, mobile solutions, and connected devices the world has become increasingly data-driven, and procurement teams around the globe have an extraordinary opportunity to capitalize on it. Over the next few years, Ardent Partners predicts that a new type of intelligence is going to enable CPOs to view their operations differently and, by doing so, it is going to force these same CPOs to manage them differently. Chief Procurement Officers must hire new talent while developing their existing roster; institute new processes while refining existing ones; and invest in new technologies while enhancing existing tools.

Leading the Dialogue: 20 Global CPOs and Procurement Experts

At our 2018 Summit, we were excited and honored to have another world-class roster of 20 CPOs and procurement experts discuss how procurement can become more intelligent and transform operations and capitalize on the most significant opportunities in this new age. This year’s roster was more diverse and considerably younger than any previous Summit roster, and I have to say that the overall quality of the presentations, panels, and breakouts was as strong, if not stronger than what we’d seen previously (this is really saying something because we’ve had some amazing presentations). In particular, the main-stage keynotes on both Day 1 and Day 2 were outstanding from top to bottom.

These keynote presentations were delivered by a group of global CPOs including

• Steve Listzwan, the Head of Procurement (CPO) of Shire Pharmaceuticals and Ardent Partners’ 2017 “CPO of the Year.” His presentation, “Faster, Higher, Stronger: Building the Data-Driven Procurement Athlete,” was designed to help CPOs and Procurement Leadership Teams use internal data to get more from their staffs and ultimately build an elite team of high-performers. Steve’s innovative and thoroughly unique approach to staff development is to leverage different sources of data to both evaluate and improve staff performance and discuss the strategies that enable the best use of that data to build a better Procurement athlete and team.
• Chris Shanahan, VP of Global Procurement & Global Real Estate, Thermo Fisher Scientific, whose presentation, “0 to 60: Driving a High Velocity Procurement Transformation,” shared the key strategies and approaches that he has used to successfully drive procurement transformations at the “speed of business.”
• Meghan Truchan, Head of Procurement, Bain Capital, LP, whose presentation, “Procurement Transformation: One Size Does Not Fit All,” took a consultative approach to assessing and contrasting different procurement transformation scenarios and the approaches that make the most sense to take in each situation.
• Dan Warn, Director of Strategic Procurement (CPO), Wayfair, whose presentation, “Spend Therapy: Transforming Procurement In a High Growth Company,” looked at a new procurement delivery model that is many ways more representative of today’s business environment than the classic approaches.

I could go on and on — and my team and I will — but not today. We will continue to discuss and review this year’s CPO Rising Summit in a series of articles publishing over the next few weeks. So, stay tuned!

Summary

Procurement’s “Age of Intelligence” demands powerful analytics and deep insights. It demands agility. The ability to make better-informed decisions across an organization can and will be game-changing; I believe that this new intelligence coupled with agility are going to be the fundamental drivers that push procurement to the next level. But this all starts with the CPO and his or her mindset. If you are a CPO or report to one, please mark your calendars for October 29 and 30, 2019 for the CPO Rising 2019 Summit.

When I started working in this industry 18 years ago, there was a tremendous opportunity sitting in front of most procurement departments around the world. Fast forward to today, December 6, 2017, and the exact same thing can be said. I’d like you to think about that for a minute…. and, seriously reflect on what that means.

Over the years, my team and I have chronicled the progression (or rise) of the procurement profession. And, in many ways the role of the CPO has been a great proxy for the profession. It is fair to say that a majority of procurement organizations have successfully advanced their operations over the last 20 years, particularly in the last decade. Consider:

• In 2007, 54% of enterprises had a Chief Procurement Officer (by role or by title) in place.
• In 2017, that number is 91%.
• In 2007, only 37% of procurement departments were operating under a multi-year strategic plan.
• In 2017, that number is 87%.

These are strong and impressive trends and a clear indication that the profession has been moving in the right direction for a long time. Transformational is a word that we frequently use when talking about the type of change and impact that we’ve witnessed in procurement. Few would argue that procurement’s transformation has not been very broad-based nor increasingly visible within the enterprise and across supply chains. That said, there is much more still to be done. Consider:

Organizational alignment with executive priorities will also help strengthen the CPO’s bond to executives and earn confidence. More importantly, it helps increase the impact that procurement can make on what is most important to the business. Unfortunately, 62% of procurement organizations lack tight alignment between what they are working on and the overall objectives of the business. This is highly problematic because, as one Global CPO speaker said, “It does no good to be great at unimportant things.” And, it does no good to be focused on the wrong things. Just like your car, a procurement organization with poor alignment creates bigger internal problems by damaging other parts over time.

It becomes pretty clear that procurement is operating on a continuum. To bear this out, I went back and looked at the first CPO event that Chris Dwyer and I planned and hosted (in 2006). At the time, this was a preeminent event (it was held just before the industry event boom that now pervades seemingly every profession/industry today) with marquee CPOs presenting Best-in-Class case studies and bleeding-edge topics. I couldn’t find the agenda but I did have copies of all of the presentations. Here are a few of the titles (verbatim):

• Running a Global Sourcing Organization
• Contract Lifecycle Management: System Implementation in a Global Environment
• Procurement: A Critical Business Process in a Globally Integrated Enterprise
• Supply Goes Global…
• Direct Materials Sourcing

My presentation focused on defining and then making the case for the use of “spend under management” as an important procurement metric. I also moderated a panel discussion called “The Importance of Spend Analysis.” I think you get the point I am making: yesterday’s cutting edge ideas are today’s table stakes. Said another way, today’s CPO innovators are discussing tomorrow’s “low hanging fruit.” Globalization was huge in 2006 and it certainly helped the CPO rise in stature within the enterprise, but today globalization is taken for granted, even on the indirect side.

In ten years or maybe even five, will CPO Rising Hall of Famer, Tom Linton’s idea that “operating in real time is a strategic imperative for procurement and supply chains” be taken for granted and easily accomplished? Will David Natoff’s sophisticated approach to where and how procurement can move its “sphere of influence” to maximize its impact be “CPO 101?” Walt Charles and his team are doing things with Big Data that very few other procurement teams are doing but he also said, “What we’re doing may sound impressive, but it is within the reach of everyone in this room.”

The importance of understanding the industry’s latest trends and the ideas and strategies that today’s Best-in-Class CPOs are using to create a competitive advantage cannot be understated. Even CPOs in the greenest of greenfield opportunities need new and higher targets. CPOs must collectively examine industry best practices, discuss innovation and the latest technology trends, network with peers, and challenge the status quo. Our goal for this year’s CPO Rising Summit was for every attendee to leave engaged and empowered with new strategies and approaches that can begin to make a difference not only within their procurement department, but also within their enterprise.

Procurement’s future is exciting, and I daresay, the attendees of The CPO Rising 2017 Summit got a glimpse of it.

1. The unparalleled lineup of top speakers…from Carbonite, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, TripAdvisor, United Technologies, and more, you won’t find a better agenda than the one Ardent has designed with some of the world’s top procurement professionals and executives.
2. The ability to network with like-minded peers. Procurement professionals are often very busy and don’t have the opportunity to connect with colleagues in the industry. Why not take a couple of days and converse with like-minded executives?
3. Procurement is evolving…learn how to approach the future. Every speaker at CPO Rising 2019 brings something different to the event. Learn how the industry is evolving, and what it means for your organization.
4. Historic Boston is a lovely place to visit in the fall. As the weather gets cooler and the leaves begin to turn, Boston just feels like “home,” even to those who visit. Whether it’s the chill in the air, or the smell of fresh apple cider donuts, or the Fenway Faithful cheering on another Banner Red Sox Year, you’ll fall in love with the City…and maybe our accents, too.
5. Learn the best practices that will help your procurement team be more successful. There are many strategies and approaches that you may not be aware of that will come to light at CPO Rising 2019. Make your team be more successful in the year ahead by learning from the very best.
6. The ability to engage with the solution providers that are providing innovation to the procurement market. Technology is a critical component in driving value from the procurement function. The CPO Rising 2019 event will feature a variety of technology solutions from which to learn how innovation is paving a new path for the procurement industry.
7. You will connect with Ardent’s expert analyst team on the issues you want to discuss. Ardent’s analyst team is well-versed in the supply management industry, and its entire lineup of thought leaders will be in attendance throughout the event. Utilize their knowledge!
8. Learn about the “State of the Chief Procurement Officer.” One of the many highlights of the event will be a “State of the Union”-type address on where the modern-day procurement professional sits today and where it can go in the near future.
9. Free, new research from Ardent Partners ($499 value). Every attendee of CPO Rising 2019 will be provided with a complimentary edition of new Ardent research focused on the big trends (and the team’s predictions) in procurement for 2019.
10. It’ll be THE procurement event of 2019. No other procurement or supply management conference will offer the same level of expertise, thought leadership, and network impact that CPO Rising 2019 will provide.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to attend this year’s landmark procurement symposium: register now (click here), and we look forward to seeing you in just a few weeks!

Ardent Partners will present awards for outstanding performance and execution in the last year – “The CPO Honors” – to a variety of high achievers including CPOs and other procurement leaders, procurement teams, and new this year: procurement solution providers and/or other experts. The deadline to submit nominations is September 15th, so if you and your team would like to be recognized for Best-in-Class procurement achievement over the last year, make your nomination today!

The categories for nomination are:

The Innovation Award: Presented to the CPO and team that have used new and innovative strategies and approaches to overcome significant hurdles.

The Technology Excellence Award: Presented to the CPO and team that have leveraged technology solutions to impact procurement operations and performance.

Best Team Performance Award: Presented to the procurement department that has excelled across the full scope of procurement operations to make a significant impact on overall enterprise results.

The Leadership Award (CPO of the Year): Presented to the CPO who has driven new performance heights as a result of their direct involvement and leadership and overall exceptional executive management.

**NEW

Innovative Solution of the Year: Presented to the solution provider who most significantly impacted the market with innovative solutions.

Best Technology Partnership: Presented to the best partnership between a solution provider and their procurement team customer on to a technology deployment.

To make a nomination, visit the event site:

https://events.cporising.com/cpohonors/