Note: This post oritinally ran on the Procurement Insights blog.

“Without a good mental model you won’t survive in business for long.” – M. Hugos, SCM Globe

At the end of 2014, I came across an extremely interesting use of modern supply chain modeling. Michael Hugos, author of Essentials of Supply Chain Management and co-founder of SCM Globe, applied interactive supply chain modeling and simulation to the supply chains of ancient Rome – the olive oil supply chain to be specific.

I’m a history buff, so this was right up my alley, but trust me – it is worth your time to read the three part series. The case study is set in the Roman Empire in 300 A.D. Olive oil is in high demand because it can be used for cooking, light, cosmetics, and healthcare. Its value is second only to gold. Between demand and value, the conditions are right for exporters in the remote corners of the Empire to innovate, and they do not disappoint. Using the Romans’ expertise in water management, they alter the conditions of previously unfarmable terrain and make it both productive and profitable.

This post was originally run on Design News.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Mark Larson, the vice chairman of electronic component distributor Digi-Key Electronics. The company was founded in 1972, and Larson joined only four years later to what is now one of the largest such companies not only in North America but the world. He led the company as president for an astounding 39 years, just recently stepping down in July.

In the four decades during which Larson ran Digi-Key, there was considerable change -- in the electronics being sold, in whom the products were sold to, and in the supply chains the products traveled through. The other thing that has changed is the way Digi-Key interacts with different points of contact at each customer. Although it has always aimed its marketing efforts at design engineers -- and continues to do so -- it has had to adapt to the growing role of centralized procurement in managing purchases.

Since the interactions between engineering and procurement have not always been naturally easy, the insertion of a third party into the electronic component purchasing process has brought some benefits. When looked at from an outsider’s point of view, the two teams may have more in common than they realize.

This week’s webinar notes are actually on an event from a couple of weeks ago: “An Introduction to Supply Chain Response Management – driving supply chain performance through responsiveness to unexpected events release” presented by Kinaxis. I missed it that week, but really wanted to go. Now that I’ve gotten to hear it, I can share my notes with you.

In addition to the events listed below, the ISM-New York Report on Business will be released on May 4th at 9:45am ET. Watch the BMP blog or the ISM page for details.

If you are planning your schedule further ahead, I recommend “Key Takeaways from Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2020” from the team at Supply Chain Now and Mike Griswold, Vice President Analyst, Supply Chain Research at Gartner.

In addition to the events listed below, we also get one other fantastic gift this week – we FINALLY get to turn the calendar from April to May. I can’t think that I’m the only person that is past ready to bid farewell to April 2020 forever.

If you are planning your schedule further ahead, I recommend “Contract Management Tips to Prepare for the Next Global Pandemic!” from IACCM and ContractPodAI on May 5th.

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When life hands you lemons… right? On the one hand, we’re all trapped in our homes with spouses, kids, and pets, trying to make sense of this new reality. On the other hand, I’ve never had so many pleasant, optimistic calls with colleagues in my whole life. This is and amazing and resilient community! Oh, and there are 12 webinars this week – 6 of which I added to the calendar yesterday.

If you are planning your schedule further ahead, I’m going to go big picture this week… I recommend going back to the office and sending your kids back to the school. Go to a store, meet a friend for lunch, HUG… shake hands… date TBA.

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When we start to have spring weather, it can only mean one thing: the spring conference season is not far behind. This year ISM’s annual conference will be in Boston – my hometown – and so I’m looking forward to meeting many connections that have only been virtual until now. If you are going to ISM, you may want to check out the 2020 ExecIn, hosted by Corcentric. ExecIn is a private, invitation-only conference where supply management senior executive leaders gather for networking, panel discussions, strategic educational sessions on current hot topics and networking with fellow thought leaders.

If you are planning your webinar schedule further ahead, I recommend “How Best-in-Class Organizations Leverage Intelligent Automation” from Everest Group on March 12th at 10am ET.  

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Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian friends: Stephany Lapierre and the team at Tealbook, Rod Sherkin at the ProPurchaser team, Negotiations Ninja’s Mark Raffan and Procurement Insights' Jon Hansen!

If you are looking for a longer term recommendation, the next AOP Live session has just been scheduled: The Current State of Digital Readiness: Mastering the Supply Chain Data Challenge on October 29th at 11am ET. This 45-Minute Live Q&A with Philip Ideson and Joseph Yacura will interpret and comment on the results of the 3rd annual Data Quality and Governance Study. 

There are also two live events taking place this week, ProcureCon EU in Barcelona, Spain and the 7th Annual Procurement Strategy Summit in Dubai, UAE.

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This is one of those weeks – clearly everyone waited for the exact same week to set up events. There are two live events: ProcureCon IT Sourcing in Denver, CO Tuesday through Thursday and the inaugural Supply Chain, Innovation, Technology 2019 (SCIT19) event in New York City. In addition to that, we have 8 webinars.

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This week’s long term webinar recommendation is a special one – it comes with good news and it is the culmination of a lot of hard work. Readers of this blog know that I spend a lot of time working with Philip Ideson at Art of Procurement. Next week, we’re launching AOP Mastermind, a completely new way for procurement professionals at all levels to collaborate, network, benchmark and learn from peers and outside subject matter experts. AOP Mastermind will deliver an in-person experience through a virtual, facilitated environment.

We’re hosting four webinars on launch day: June 18th. Check out the registration page and select the one that works the best with your schedule.

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With the Memorial Day holiday on Monday in the US, this is typically a quiet week. I’m actually surprised at how many events are going on… There are already 10 webinars on the calendar for June and I added the first two to July this week, so maybe we’ll have an active summer this year!

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Socially Responsible Intelligent Automation (AI) thru AI-Payables’ from SIG and Global Sourcing Optimization Services (GSOS) on June 20th at 1pm ET.

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I went into my calendar work this week feeling a bit sad that there weren’t more choices. And then – just like that – I added a bunch to the remainder of May and early June and now you have 7 to consider. For non-US readers, don’t forget that this weekend is the official kick-off to summer in the States, so things will be very quiet Friday through Monday as people head off for the Memorial Day weekend.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Practical steps to embed Social Value into your procurement strategy’ (Proactis) on June 6th at 5am ET (10am BST).

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I’ve been watching this week shape up for a while: Thursday is absolutely crazy. There are 7 events all on the same day, 2 at 1:00pm ET and 3 at 2:00pm ET. Great minds think alike, as they say.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Achieving agile procurement in digital transformation’ from tealbook on May 2nd at 2pm ET. The event will feature an introductory presentation from A.T. Kearney Vice President Hugo Evans.

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After last week’s busy schedule – including a number of webinars and the ISM conference in Houston, this week falls back to a slower pace. I’m seeing a ‘clustering’ effect for the next two weeks, where a bunch of webinars are being offered, but they all seem to overlap. Even this week’s three recommended events all occur on Tuesday within a three-hour window.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Accelerating Supplier Enabled Innovation – Harnessing the True Power of Supplier Relationship Management’ from Zycus and Four Pillars’ David Atkinson on April 23rd at 11am ET.

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In addition to the virtual events recommended below, this week also brings us ISM’s annual conference in Houston, TX. If you are going, make sure to go see my good friend Rod Sherkin (President of ProPurchaser). He’s presenting in the Challenges track on Tuesday morning at 10am: Cost Transparency– Catalyst for Achieving Negotiating Goals.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend either ‘Supply Chain Tech Update: Drones & IoT’ from Supply Chain Now Radio, Talent Stream, and APICS Atlanta on April 26th at 12n ET or the next session of AoP Live: Automate Procurement Without Spending a Dime: Harness the Power of Group Purchasing on April 25th at 2pm ET from Art of Procurement and UNA GPO.

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I added nine new events to the calendar this week, and they are all taking place in the next three weeks – concentrated around just four dates. When you look at the full calendar, check out March 19, 26 and 28 and April 4.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘How to Tie Wellness Into Strategy’ from C-suite Network and Rx2Live on March 26th at 2pm ET. I don’t know much about either of the organizations associated with this event, and I honestly don’t know how I got on their mailing list, but the topic is refreshingly new. I know AI and transformation and machine learning are important, but its nice to have an alternative. As we turn the page to spring, we could all probably use a new bounce in our step by balancing our strategic performance with our holistic well-being.

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This week presented me with a challenge on two levels – it was hard to select just three of the nine fantastic webinars taking place in the next few days, but it was just as difficult to decide which longer term event to suggest. At the end of the day, I compromised on a tie; both of the following events look amazing:

• The Future of Procurement: Why is Technology Lagging Behind? (ATK, IACCM, SirionLabs, Forbes) on September 25th at 11am ET
• The HFS Super Machine Learning Debate (HfS Research) on October 5th at 11am ET

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As we officially enter spring, my recommended webinar topics are taking a fresh new focus. The birds are signing, plants are pushing their way into the sun, and procurement is thinking big – digital transformation, the financial supply chain, and innovation. If you like to plan further ahead, I recommend “How Artificial Intelligence will (and won’t) change Procurement and Contracting” from Determine and Forrester on March 27th. Click on the title of each recommended webinar below to view the full description and register.

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In addition to this week’s webinars - and it is a busy week with 10 to choose from! - Odesma is hosting GDPR ‘Open Houses’ on Feb. 6th and 8th at their offices in London. If you are interested in a ‘long shot’ event worth considering, I recommend ‘What is Intelligent Automation and Why Should You Care?’ from IRPA on February 20th. Click on the title of each recommended webinar below to view the full description and register.

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After a quiet week last week, we’re ramping back up to a full schedule with 9 events taking place. And if you’re thinking a little further out, I’m presenting a webinar with Jaggaer and WNS Denali on October 26^th: How can you control rogue marketing spend? Click on the title of each recommended webinar below to view the full description and register.

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