16 February 2012 | Paul Snell
It’s that time of year again – the CIPS SM Awards are now open for entries. Deadline: Friday 13 April 2012.
A CIPS Supply Management Award is the most prestigious recognition a company or individual in the procurement and supply chain profession can receive.
And the opportunity for you or one of your team to step on stage at the ceremony to accept a prize this September is at hand, as this year’s Awards are now open for entries.
There is no charge to enter any of the nine team and two individual categories that celebrate and reward excellence in the purchasing and supply profession.
This year’s chair of judges is Paula Gildert, head of development, strategic sourcing at Novartis Pharma and current CIPS vice-president. She will be joined by John Fernau, head of procurement at last year’s overall winner the Olympic Delivery Authority, and a selected panel of other senior purchasing professionals.
BravoSolution is the headline sponsor of the event. MasterCard and Hays Procurement are also sponsors. And QinetiQ Commerce Decisions is the official technology provider for the judging.
The shortlist will be revealed in the summer and the winners will be announced at the black-tie gala at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 12 September.
Comedian Miranda Hart was the presenter at last year’s ceremony, attended by more than 1,200 people.
This year’s high-profile compère of the evening will be revealed at a later date, but in the meantime, read on to find out more about the categories, how to enter and tips for success.
☛ To book your table for this year’s Awards, call +44 (0)207 324 2764.
Team categories
Best Contribution to Corporate Responsibility
This category encompasses externally focused social, ethical and environmental, sustainability and community initiatives. The judges will look at the role a procurement or supply chain management function has played in safeguarding or enhancing an organisation’s reputation and brand values.
Best Cross Functional Teamwork Project
Entries in this category should demonstrate how a procurement or supply chain management team has worked effectively with another team from the same organisation to achieve a mutual goal.
Best People Development Initiative
This category rewards training or development programmes that have substantially raised the understanding and/or skills of the procurement or supply chain management team and helped to deliver real improvements in performance.
Best Supplier Relationship Management
This requires a joint entry by the purchaser and the supplier. The entry should explain how the two organisations have worked together and what the benefits have been for both parties, for example capturing innovations, new product development and so on, for mutual benefit.
Best Public Procurement Project
This category is open to all public sector bodies covered by the European Union procurement directives (or similar regulations). However, projects do not need to have exceeded the thresholds at which tenders must be advertised to qualify for entry.
Most Improved Purchasing Operation – Start Up
Judges will be looking for evidence of success from a procurement and supply chain management function that was established after January 2010. This should be an entirely new department,where no professional purchasing has previously existed. The entry should demonstrate how thenew function has benefited the organisation as a whole through effective management and innovation, thereby raising the profile of the profession.
Most Improved Purchasing Operation – Step Change
In this category, judges will consider changes that have been made within a more mature procurement or supply chain management function – one established prior to January 2010 and operating at a higher level of effectiveness.
International Purchasing Project of the Year
The judges will be looking for evidence of a successful project that involved sourcing activities and/or teamwork stretching beyond the country in which the organisation is headquartered.
Best Contribution to the Reputation of the Procurement Profession
This award is open to individuals, teams or organisations who, through procurement operations, have demonstrated activities that contribute to the public good, by ethical behaviour, philanthropic activity, or enhancing the profession’s reputation.
Overall winner
An award will also be presented to the overall winner from the team categories.
Individual categories
CIPS Procurement and Supply Chain Management Professional of the Year
This is open to all CIPS members, regardless of membership grade, except affiliates. The entry should demonstrate how the individual has made a significant contribution, in terms of thinking and implementing a key strategic procurement or supply chain management initiative, within their organisation. The entry should also demonstrate how the entrant has raised the profile of the profession.
CIPS Young Procurement and Supply Chain Management Professional of the Year
This award is presented to the profession’s ‘one to watch’. Open to all CIPS members aged 30 or under, regardless of membership grade, except affiliates. The judges will look for evidence of achievement that is significant and beyond what is normally expected from managers of this age and experience. The entry should demonstrate how the entrant has proved themselves to be innovative and adaptable. The impact upon the organisation is more likely to be at an operational or functional rather than strategic level.
Your written submission
Your written submission must be no more than three single-sided sheets of A4 (plus up to three single-sided sheets of supporting material), which you upload directly to the entry site. It must include a summary of no more than 100 words.
Template for your three-page written submission
Your written entry is the basis on which the judges will vote for and shortlist entries. The main criteria used by the judges to select winners will be the magnitude, importance and clarity of the benefit(s) to the organisation arising from the project or initiative.
The three pages should show how you meet all criteria in your chosen category. At the beginning of your three pages, the following information must be listed:
- Category name
- Project title
- Organisation name.
Your submission should also include the following headings:
- Aims and objectives
- Planning and execution
- Innovation and creativity
- Best practice
- Organisational benefits achieved (this section is allocated the highest percentage of marks).
Benefits may be ‘hard’ (for example, cost savings or reduced lead times) or ‘soft’ (for example, improved supplier relations or better-trained staff). But it is important that every entry relates in some way to organisational benefits achieved.
Claimed benefits should be supported by facts and figures, and entrants are strongly advised to include validation of these from stakeholders outside the procurement and supply chain function – internal customers, suppliers, and so on.
Your supporting materials
You may, if you wish, upload additional supporting material with your entry. However, this must be limited to three single-sided sheets of A4 and should not comprise information that is central to your case – the judges will expect to see this in your main submission.
Your supporting materials can include:
- Testimonials
- Endorsements from colleagues or suppliers, FD or CEO
- Press clippings
- Performance figures.
If you do submit supporting material, it must be in Word (.doc), Excel (.xls), PowerPoint (.ppt) or PDF (.pdf) formats only. Please upload your logo and a team photo, min. 300dpi in jpeg format, to be used in the awards supplement and for the evening’s on-screen graphics should your entry make the final shortlist.
For more information, visit www.cipssmawards.com.
Who can enter
Entries should be submitted by a member of the purchasing organisation, and their contact details should appear on the entry form. Service providers – consultants, software companies, public relations agencies, and so on – may assist in compiling entries, but they CANNOT submit these on behalf of clients. Projects or initiatives need NOT have started and finished in 2011-2012. However, judges will expect entries to be contemporary and to demonstrate business benefits already achieved. For more information visit www.cipssmawards.com or call the awards team on +44 (0) 20 7324 2764.
☛ The deadline for entries is Friday 13 April 2012.
Tips on entering
1. Start your entry process early
The standards improve every year so you need to give yourself plenty of time to prepare your best entry. You should also allow time to have someone outside your team read the entry and feed back any comments to you.
2. Nominate a leader for your bid team
Give the leader accountability for getting the entry in on time, with a team to share the responsibility of producing it. Plan your bid process, with clear deliverables and due dates for actions allocated among the team.
3. Sell your success to the judges
Treat your entry as if it is a business proposal. Keep it focused and logical – make sure everything in it is relevant in helping the judges appreciate your achievement. Be clear about your objectives for your entry and give some brief background on your company as context. Include an outline of how you achieved your project including, most importantly, the business benefits you have delivered. At the end, summarise the key points of your entry.
4. Where is the business value?
Do not submit entries where the results have not yet really materialised or cannot be quantified yet. Such submissions would be better deferred until next year. On the other hand, your organisation may have submitted an entry last year that was unsuccessful – perhaps it should now be re-submitted, with better evidence of the benefits achieved.
5. Keep it real
Use supporting data from other departments and key stakeholders. Testimonials from senior company personnel are beneficial, as are relevant external references. Stick to the facts and do not exaggerate. If you’ve had external help (for example, from consultants) tell us about it and explain briefly how you’ve used them.
6. Answer the question
If you cannot get your submission into three pages then reconsider the structure and focus on the main points. On the other hand, do make use of all the space. Our experience is that you won’t be able to convey sufficient detail about your project in less space. We accept appendices (of up to three single-sided A4 pages), but use these for extra information, such as supplier testimonials or further detail of savings calculations. These won’t be marked, but they may help the judges to get a better feel for your organisation.
7. Do yourselves proud
Help the judges understand your organisation’s culture, your personality and the personality of your team. Be innovative and creative, make it easy for your entry to be reproduced and circulated among the judging panel. Remember there is a panel of judges, so make sure your entry is a compelling read for all of them.
The judges
This year’s chair of judges is Paula Gildert, head of development, strategic sourcing at Novartis Pharma and CIPS vice-president.
Gildert has worked for Novartis, where she is responsible for driving value in all external spend in the development of new medicines, since 2010 and was previously head of research and development procurement at AstraZeneca. In addition to being a CIPS Fellow, she is a chartered control and electrical engineer and qualified physicist. She was also part of the AstraZeneca team that triumphed twice at the 2009 CIPS SM Awards, in the International Purchasing Project of the Year and Best Purchaser-Supplier Collaboration (now the Best SRM) categories.
“I am honoured to be working with the team of judges in this year’s CIPS Supply Management Awards,” she says. “I am excited about this high-profile and prestigious opportunity to recognise and celebrate results that make us proud to be supply chain professionals and what makes us a critical partner to our businesses, suppliers and teams.”
Other judges confirmed on the panel include John Fernau, head of procurement at the Olympic Delivery Authority – last year’s overall winner; Amanda Earnshaw, sourcing group manager at JP Morgan Chase; Andrew Quincey, commercial director at Transport for London; Marc Lange, vice-president strategic sourcing and procurement – international at The Walt Disney Company; Rachel Lee, procurement director at Norland Managed Services; Rebecca Ellinor, managing editor of Supply Management; and Steve Johnson, head of global procurement and supply chain management at Prosafe Offshore.
How to enter
1. Choose which categories you want to enter
2. Carefully read the category criteria
3. Write your submission following the guidelines
4. Collate up to three pages of supporting material for your entry following the guidelines
5. Prepare a high-resolution version of your company logo and a team photo
6. Register and upload your submission online at www.cipssmawards.com
7. Ensure you leave enough time to complete the process by the deadline of Friday 13 April 2012.
