(BME; Association Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (AMMPL)

Opening Remarks

Ladies and Gentlemen,

it is a great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the BME, the German Association Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics to our European CPO-Summit here in Frankfurt.

This is the first international event of its kind to be hosted and organized by the BME and specifically targeted at key decision-makers within the field of Supply Management. Let me first briefly introduce our organization to those of you who are not yet familiar with what we do:

The BME is the leading community within Europe for Purchasing and Logistics:

The association consists of 6000 corporate and private members, representing 80 percent of the entire industrial procurement volume in Germany.
 
We are open to all branches of business and industry, as well as to essentially all types of respectable companies and sectors.

We look back to more than 50 years of existence and are members of the "European Council of Purchasing and Supply (ECPS)" as well as the "International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management" (IFPSM), which counts 42 national purchasing associations among its members.

The various activities that we offer include:

• Training and qualification opportunities
• Forums for professional discussion and exchange
• Support in the use of new methods and tools
• Member support in new global markets.

With regard to this last aspect, we are currently working together with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to set up a BME liaison office in Shanghai. This office will serve as an information platform for purchasing representatives/managers of German companies to come together and exchange experiences and ideas about topical issues relating to the purchasing market in China.

Around two months ago (March 17, 2006), we signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai International Merchandising Center here in Frankfurt in the presence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Wei Jian Guo. Included in the memorandum were a number of specific working packages. Among other things, we will be supporting the Shanghai IMC at the Reverse Sourcing Fair to be held in September in Shanghai and actively encouraging German SMEs in particular to take part in this event. I'd like to emphasize that this Sourcing Fair is not targeted primarily at German companies; it is an international event where the organizers will be actively helping the participating international companies to find suitable suppliers for consumer goods and industrial parts in China. If you would like to find out more about this event, we will be happy to give you more details.

Let's return to the subject of the CPO-Summit: What prompted our decision last year to stage this, our first conference with a wide-ranging, top-level international audience, in addition to the national events we run in Germany?

Ladies and Gentlemen,
the CPO of a large automotive group recently declared, and I quote:

In a world where trade barriers are down,
where inflation is low or nonexistent,
where new manufacturing capacity is constantly added in EM,
the companies that will survive are the ones that have made the effort to implement a best practice purchasing organization."

Only the most cost-effective and efficiently run companies will reap the benefits of the globalization process. Excellent strategies, structures and processes throughout all business areas and functions are crucial, and this is especially true for Supply Management.

Over the past few years, leading European companies have come a long way towards recognizing that Supply Management and Procurement are instrumental in increasing a company's value and have a significant influence on a company's result:   

How do professionally run purchasing organizations create synergies within international groups? What is the best way to go about building up and optimizing global supplier networks? What factors should be considered when commissioning and using suppliers in emerging markets? What should be borne in mind when integrating purchasing organizations during international merger projects?

What form should collaboration with suppliers and partners take? Which metrics and tools are needed to enhance performance in Supply Management? How can we develop the skills that are key to a high-performing purchasing organization?

Ladies and Gentlemen,
these and other questions will be presented and discussed over the course of this two-day conference. Alongside the key notes in the plenary session, we have organized three parallel conferences on specific core topics for this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I am delighted to confirm that a number of prestigious experts from leading multinational companies have accepted our invitation to speak at this event. I would like to take this opportunity to offer them our thanks to share their knowledge and experience with us.

A further highlight of the conference program will be a special round table discussion on the subject of "The Status Quo of Data Standardization in Europe", which is scheduled to take place immediately after this afternoon's parallel conferences. As part of the EPE panel discussion tomorrow afternoon, we will be conducting a TED-survey entitled "Quo Vadis Procurement and Supply Management?" Let me take this opportunity to invite you to actively participate in this survey. The results of the real-time survey will be revealed here within minutes after closing the survey.

Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to the business partners and sponsors of this event and the BME Program Committee which, under the leadership of Dr. Robert Fieten, has been responsible for putting together what I consider an extremely appealing and varied schedule.

About 200 participants from more than a dozen countries are best evidence of an existing demand conference like this.

I hope you find the next two days both interesting and informative. Please use the time to network with experts and colleagues from other companies; it is an ideal opportunity to share experiences and ideas to take back to your own company.

I'd now like to welcome Mr. Wim Kok, our first speaker. You will all know him as the former Prime Minister and the Minister of General Affairs of the Netherlands. Mr. Kok will be speaking on the strengths and weaknesses of the European market and highlighting areas where there is a need for political and corporate action. Welcome, Mr. Kok.

www.bme.de www.ammmpl.org