PROCON/POLZAK 2020 – virtual debut, real success

Our prestigious procurement conference has moved to the online world to become the major platform for the exchange of procurement experience and best practices in the country once again, like every year. The need to organize the event in such uncertain times was confirmed by almost 300 representatives of the procurement industry.

Technology and people in business

The potential and possibilities that technology gives us – from simple applications that make our life easier through sophisticated neural networks of artificial intelligence – were actually brought up in every conference presentation. In between terms and tools as if taken live from a science-fiction movie, a key element of every business ecosystem emerged, which properly supported with technology can allow us to build not only strategic security but also a competitive edge. This element is suppliers and relations with procurement departments – especially in the face of the global epidemic crisis. 

 
Our guest speakers touched on the issues of new duties and challenges generated by the changeable environment. Effective cooperation within organizations or supply chains must be based on the leader role and tools they have to fight the crisis.

 
A relationship built on feedback, two-way information exchange, close and transparent cooperation, and trust allows building, helping, and generating benefits for both parties.

 
Sustainable, responsible, effective

Procurement department initiatives concentrated on corporate responsibility turned out to be one of the factors helping companies to maintain the continuity of supplies.

CSR activities, in particular ensuring business sustainability, will certainly be included in numerous risk management strategies of organizations along with business continuity plans.

Elements comprising such plans were discussed, based on the experience of their own organizations and market observations, by the international keynote speakers – Christian Voland (Bunge) and Philip Fritzsche (Polpharma Group). They indicated key lessons to be drawn by buyers from the current events, which can be safely treated as a mandatory to-do list for procurement departments.

Among the remaining speakers were: Piotr Mieczkowski (CEO at Digital Poland), Michał Wolszlegier (CEO at Automade), Bartłomiej Zagrodnik (Managing Partner and CEO at Walter Herz), Łukasz Węgrzyn from SSW Pragmatic Solutions. 
 
 
Business crisis? Personal crisis?

Equally practical and motivational in their tone were presentations by Special Guests — an ultramarathoner and world champion in long-distance running, Patrycja Bereznowska, who successfully runs 250-kilometre routes, one after the other. She told us how to deal with extreme challenges and reach for success. On the other hand, Professor Maciej Błaszak, Ph.D. at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the highest-rated speaker by the participants of the previous PROCON/POLZAK, aka “Dr. Brain”, indicated and analyzed changes that the pandemic has caused in our thinking processes, providing hints on how to be more productive when working from home, release additional energy, and get through the crisis – both the personal and professional one.

Procurement Leader 2020 selected

The representatives of the Polish Supply Management Leaders (PSML) Association gave awards and distinctions as part of the Procurement Leader Competition organized annually by PSML.
Procurement Leaders 2020 were Aneta Samul and Małgorzata Mączka from BNP Paribas for carrying out the project: EVA – a new employee at a procurement department – implementation of the chatbot service supporting the procurement processes. The Competition Jury also gave distinctions.
Due to the current situation, the Supplier of the Year 2020 in the second competition, PROCON Awards, organized traditionally as part of the conference, will be revealed one year from now.

The PROCON/POLZAK conference was held on 19-20 October 2020. The presentations were transmitted from Marriott Hotel in Warsaw.

The event partners were: Allegro Agency, XBS Group, Mercateo, Walter Herz, NextBuy, Automade, Hotailors, and Ivalua.

Content support was provided by Kozminski University in Warsaw.

Media sponsors were — Eurologistics, Log24, e-biznes.pl, zrobotyzowany.pl, staleo.pl, MeetingPlanner.pl, Finanse i Controlling, Logistyka a Jakość, and Nowoczesny Magazyn.