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President's Article "Lean is more than just a four letter word" By Chrys C. Varnes, C.P.M., President NAPM-Orange County, Inc. Affiliated with the Institute of Supply Management

Among the events at last month's meeting was a contest on why NAPM OC and APICS OC complement each other, a brief greeting from Bill Montgomery, the APICS OC President, and a call to all members to volunteer for committees or to run for the Board. I would like to talk a little bit about all three of these topics.

Each year NAPM OC has a joint meeting with APICS. Many of our members are also APICS members. Yet I was surprised how little we each know about each other. Or is it the fact that there is not a solid line that separates ISM and APICS?

I probably should not even bring this topic up because some people have passionate feelings about whether purchasing management is a distinctly separate profession from supply chain management. Personally I think that to be an effective purchasing manager you need to understand and play a significant role in managing the entire supply chain.

If any of you would like to share your feelings on this subject with me, please send me an e mail at chrysvarnes@earthlink.net. I would especially like to know how NAPM OC can help any members who would like to share with me how we can help educate our members in supply chain management.

At the last meeting we had a presentation about the Finance Committee and a call for volunteers for committees and the board of directors. The reason we have been having a committee spotlight is to share with you information about what a committee actually does so that you might find one that you would like to serve on.

If any of you are hesitant to volunteer because you feel you will not be mentored and taught how to do these jobs, I want to assure you that both from local and national there are support programs in place. Locally we have job descriptions for each position and a cadre of mentors who have served in the job previously who are anxious to help. Our policies and procedures are well documented and easy to follow.

Each year ISM holds a regional leadership conference for committee chairs and officers. ISM offsets the cost of attendance in the amount of $300 for up to five members and we budget some money locally to send others. This year I have decided that in lieu of representing our affiliate at the national conference in Philadelphia, I would recommend that those budgeted funds be allocated to the Leadership conference so we can send more participants.

At the Leadership conference there are seminars for officers. For example, the Treasurer's seminars go over all of the fiscal responsibilities including tax issues for non-profits. There are also round table sessions for various officers and committee chairs that have both structured exercises and information sharing.

The conference is planned and presented by a small committee that is headed up by ISM Vice President Jan Miller. This year's event will be at Bally's in Las Vegas on July 9 and 10th. So if you have thought about chairing a committee or running for the Board, rest assured that you will be supported by both our local affiliate and national.

In closing I would like to congratulate all of you for being part of the supply chain management profession in the month of March which is often referred to as "Supply Chain Management Month"! See you at our meeting!

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Have an idea for a Spotlight article you would like to
see published? Simply submit it to Chuck at the NAPM-OC
office, email info@napmoc.org, telephone (714) 524-6276 or
fax (714) 993-6276
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