Education

Hello fellow Supply Chain Management professionals

I just wanted to take a minute of your time and invite you to join me at the Pacific Northwest Purchasing Conference in Spokane. I’m proud to be on the agenda with two former Presidents of NAPM, now the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), a current VP of ISM and also a former Executive of NAPM.

In addition to all of the other great events and programs being offered, I will be conducting workshops on several topics that I know concern many Supply Chain Professionals.

The first is a workshop directly aimed at our task of negotiating agreements on behalf of our companies. I’ll be reviewing ways to get started with the negotiating process along with some tips on reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

In the second workshop I’ll be teaming with former ISM President Elaine Whittington, C.P.M. to talk about keeping your computer safe. We’ll be explaining some of the terminology as well as recommending tools and actions that each computer user should be taking to protect their critical data.

If you haven’t already done so, please look at the conference brochure and make plans to participate. Invite your coworkers and professional network to join us so they can benefit from the educational activities and see why we all value membership in the ISM organization.

http://www.nwpurchasinged.org/conf/conf_brochure.pdf

Mike Taylor, C.P.M., http://www.mltweb.com/index.htm

P.S. While we are there, ask me about the new ISM certification program. I plan to bridge to the new certification and I’d welcome the chance to encourage/assist you in doing so as well. http://www.ism.ws/certification/content.cfm?ItemNumber=5722&navItemNumber=5618

Personal Development

Share a positive experience with positive feedback

Early in life we learn to reinforce good behavior among children, spouses, pets, etc. By reinforcing or praising the behavior we like, we have a better chance of experiencing more of it.

This principle applies to business life as well. In many places, there might be a person whom we like to do business with. Might be because of their attitude, friendly demeanor, personality, competency or expertise. By sharing our appreciation, we reinforce the person to continue to do the things we like. This can be with a simple thank you, cards, email notes even a simple smile sometimes is enough to brighten their day.

But don't stop there. Don't assume everyone else shares our opinion. The most helpful salesman, might be invisible to the sales manager. The thoughtful service worker might be out of view of the business owner. Appreciation and praise shared with managers, owners and even coworkers, might just make the difference in keeping our helpful friend employed and empowered.

Try these sentences on for size:

" I really appreciate your candor in discussing the problems and looking for mutually agreeable solutions."
" I really appreciate the extra time you take in making sure my order is correct."
" I'd like to tell you how impressed I am with your employee. His can-do attitude makes me happy to be a returning customer."
" In my opinion she is one of the most knowledgeable people you can assign to our problems."

Get in the habit of sharing a positive word when it is due and people will begin to think of you as a more positive person yourself.

ISM News

Keep Up With Certification Changes

Did you know that you can sign up to receive a free quarterly newsletter about ISM certification programs. Get the latest news about C.P.M. testing and training as well as keep up with the development of the new Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) program. Sign up on line at: http://www.ism.ws/certification/signup.cfm

Supply Management defined:

At their August 17 meeting the ISM Board of Directors approved a slight change to the definition of Supply Management. ISM will be updating references to the new definition; "the identification, acquisition, access, positioning, management of resources and related capabilities the organization needs or potentially needs in the attainment of its strategic objectives."

Writing a new process guide, or documenting a procedure? You can find a glossary of supply management definitions and terms on the ISM web site. www.ism.ws

Software Tips

View two Time Zones

Do you regularly communicate with people in another time zone? If so, and you use Microsoft Outlook, you can set you calendar to display both time zones side by side. Open the Outlook Calendar and set the view to one day. Your appointments for the day list along with a time line down the side. Right click the timeline and in the dialog box you can pick a different time interval. In this dialog box, you can also change the time zone. Open the time zone dialog and notice that you also have the option of showing an additional time zone. Check the box, pick the new zone, and select OK. Now both time zones will be listed side by side. Important note: If you change your primary time zone, the change gets pushed to all the rest of your time settings in the computer - so this would also be an easy place to adjust you system time when traveling to a new location.

Hotlinks

What is going on at Hanford?

Many of you know that I work at the Hanford site. If you've never been there in person, it's kind of hard to imagine what it looks like and what kinds of challenges delay the cleanup effort. You can get a better idea by taking a virtual tour of the site. Here's the link: http://www.hanford.gov/information/sitetours/index.cfm?tour=virtual (# 14 is where the sludge work is being done)

Institutions Offering Programs and Curriculum in Supply Management

2005 Supply Management Education This listing is comprised of institutions offering supply management related degree programs, certificate programs, C.P.M. Exam preparation courses, and distance learning opportunities. Courses may be in supply management, materials management, logistics, purchasing, operations management or related areas. Degrees may be a business degree with emphasis in one of these areas. Distance learning opportunities can include courses offered through the Internet, video, satellite or other means. This list is not all-inclusive but may serve as a starting point for identifying training and development opportunities. As a testament to the growth of the profession and its prominence in business, this list (first published by ISM in 1990) has continued to grow.

http://www.ism.ws/membership/content.cfm?ItemNumber=4742

Subject: New Fed web site

In an effort to support eRulemaking, one of the President's e-government initiatives, all public regulatory documents and comments will be posted to the website at http://www.regulations.gov In addition, any public comments will be received at this site. Regulatory documents are no longer accessible at http://www.acquisition.gov/far.

Having a Hard Time relating to the Geeky Computer terms being used by software application providers? Try my web page for some simple explanations for non-geeks.

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Provide Feedback and suggestions for future newsletters at any time. I'll try and use what I can.

I really do appreciate those of you who take the time to write and comment on this newsletter!

TTFN,

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	MLTWEB is assembled and maintained by Michael L. Taylor, C.P.M.
	Materials and articles prepared by Mike may be shared for purchasing education provided that this source is cited and no fee is charged. The rights for any other use are withheld.
	Copyright; Michael L. Taylor, C.P.M.
	Last Updated: 10/06/2006