I recently attended the ‘Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Forum 2009’, in Tianjin on 21-22 November, a forum was organised by the China Federation of Logistic and Purchasing (CFLP) and the Institute of Supply Management. The conference drew in around 200 people, including purchasing managers from MNCs, representatives of companies both state and privately owned, logistics company managers, government officials, as well as scholars in the field of supply chain management.

Besides a discussion on the macro economy, the two main topics from the forum were:

• Supply chain management in the environment of economic recession; and

• Supply chain management contributions to company value

Since the value enhancing role of supply chain management is a common topic discussed at a majority of procurement forums, I was more interested in the first topic. While exchanging ideas about supply management under economic recession with other purchasing managers, I received many useful tips—including those from the speakers. One speaker was Mr. Dai Dingyi, Vice Chairman of CFLP, who introduced the status and trends of purchasing and supply management in China. He indicated that supply management in the state-owned companies remains weak and that government purchasing is marred with problems.

Mr. Johnson Xiao, Global Sourcing Director of TRW Automotive Inc, was another speaker. Mr. Xiao shared his personal experiences in service sourcing. Attendees also learned a lot from Mr. Zhang Jiamin, Director of Li & Fung Group, who gave an insightful speech on how China’s manufacturers have survived the global financial crisis and advised ways for companies to adjust their sourcing strategies.

These speeches were very insightful about the current state of supply chain management in China and about its future outlook. Although most procurement managers remained stressed by the cost reduction target now, we were encouraged and inspired by this get-together; as long as a business can survive the crisis and remain innovative, there is a bright future ahead.