SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE

The Pharmaceutical Forum continues to focus on advancing the procurement profession through a number of key initiatives including:

*Workshops highlighting latest supply management strategies, technologies and trends.

*Funding of educational grants to leading institutions with Supply Management curriculums.

*Promoting the growth of minority and women owned businesses by funding minority business executive training, conducting supplier workshops, and best practice sharing, facilitated by our Pharmaceutical Supplier Diversity Subcommittee.

*Fostering a strong collaboration with ISM and CAPS for focused benchmarking and sharing best practices.

Among our key accomplishments in 2006-2007 was increasing the endowment to $50,000 for the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Bowling Green. Over the past six years the Forum has donated over $150,000 in promoting supply management and minority business education. In addition, the forum board decided to provide a total of $13,000 in supplemental grants in 2007 to Bowling Green to ensure the scholarships have adequate funding for future awards.

Our website was recently upgraded to facilitate communication and benchmarking among forum members. The website address is www.ism.ws/sites/PharmForum. The website is currently being populated with updated information on Forum officers, members, and activities/events.

In December 2007, the Forum held their quarterly board meeting at ISM Headquarters in Tempe, Arizona. The 2-day meeting focused on benchmarking best practices, strategic initiatives, research priorities, globalization as well and networking with leaders of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
In 2007, the Pharmaceutical Forum plans to fund two Minority Business executive education programs and is developing plans for additional endowments at leading Universities with Supply Chain / Purchasing Programs. The Forum Board will continue to hold quarterly meetings, including the planned December meeting at ISM/CAPS Headquarters. Plans are to engage CAPS in additional benchmarking activities and work with ISM management more closely for educational opportunities. The Forum Board will continue to support the important work of the Supplier Diversity Subcommittee, which includes benchmarking, outreach, and business development for small minority and disadvantaged businesses. At the ISM International Conference in May, the Forum plans to participate in the Groups Forums networking event.

In November 2006, the forum joined DCAT and the ISM Chemical Group to hold a Strategic Sourcing Summit and Showcase at the Hilton in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Featured speakers included a number of Procurement CPOs and industry leaders from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Novartis, Amgen, and Watson Pharmaceuticals. Topics included Supplier Relationship Management, Business Process Outsourcing, Globalization, and a CPO panel discussion centering on maximizing value. The Summit was very well attended and the feedback was excellent.

The Supplier Diversity Pharmaceutical Forum Subcommittee activities in 2006-2007 included:

*Several key meetings were held with excellent participation for the purpose of sharing objectives, benchmarking, identifying metrics and providing capabilities presentations to potential suppliers.

*The website was updated to include key information about the Supplier Diversity Pharmaceutical Forum with key contact information and a listing of major meetings and events in the Activity calendar.

*In the area of executive sponsorship, JohnSons Press attended the Minority Business Executive Program offered by Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth.

*A cross industry benchmarking survey focusing on Supplier Diversity programs was distributed among 16 pharmaceutical companies by CAPS in September and the final report issued to all participants in mid November.

Among our key accomplishments in 2006-2007 was increasing our scholarship endowment to Arizona State and Bowling Green to $50,000 each. Over the past six years, the Pharmaceutical Forum has donated in excess of $200,000 in promoting both supply management and minority business education.

SUPPLIER DIVERSITY PHARMACEUTICAL FORUM

The primary focus of The Supplier Diversity Pharma Forum meetings is information sharing and benchmarking. Meetings are held three times per year.

In addition, The Supplier Diversity Pharmaceutical Forum develops small and diverse businesses via outreach activities.

Upcoming 2008 Supplier Diversity Pharmaceutical Forum planned events:

October 2008-Veterans Business Training & Outreach Conference, at The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley, 30 East Swedesford Road, Malvern PA 19355. For information and registration information, visit www-VeteransConference.com

July, 2008 - Meeting at Wyeth (July 23 & 24)

March, 2008 - Meeting at Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA. (March 19 & 20)

February, 2008 - Puerto Rico Supplier Development Council's Opportunity Fair, San Juan, PR

2007 Activities:

November, 2007 - Meeting at Sanofi-Aventis, (November 14 & 15).

July, 2007 - Meeting at Roche Pharmaceuticals in Nutley, NJ (July 25 & 26).

Sponsored Neta Scientific to the Kellogg Program.

Sponsored AECSoft to the Advanced Tuck Minority Business Education Program.

2006 Activities:

During the later part of 2006, The Supplier Diversity Pharmaceutical Forum supported the following events:

November, 2006-Sponsored Compas, Inc. for the Advanced Tuck Minority Business Education Program.

July, 2006-Sponsored York Telecom Corp for the Tuck Minority Business Education Program.

Write the Webmaster

© Copyright 2003 Institute for Supply Management; All Rights Reserved