New board members at the procure.ch trade association
At the spring conference of the procure.ch trade association on May 19, 2015, at the Bellevue Palace Hotel in Bern, around 200 participants - the majority of them purchasing professionals - took advantage of the opportunity to broaden their horizons and exchange ideas. On the occasion of the 55th anniversary, the audience was treated to presentations on supplier management and evolutionary topics such as opportunity intelligence and digitalization. The last third of the event was the General Assembly and the most important item on the agenda was the partial replacement of the Board of Directors.
The speakers Hermann Scherer, Anitra Eggler and Søren Vammen with moderator Mascha Santschi (2nd from right) and Rudolf Strahm (also with Mascha Santschi).
In his welcome address, former National Councilor Rudolf Strahm congratulated the procure.ch professional association on 55 years of successful maneuvering in a constantly changing educational landscape. The long-standing price supervisor pointed out the importance of procurement in the process efficiency of companies and described higher vocational education as a key point for the diffusion of new technologies.
Stimulating presentations
Hermann Scherer captivated the audience with his plea to seize all opportunities that present themselves. For the German management coach, so-called opportunity intelligence forms the basis for conquering people and markets with courage, motivation and passion through targeted networking. Søren Vammen, CEO of the Danish Purchasing Association, attaches great importance to the relationship of trust between client and supplier. Provided that one wants to enter into a long-term, mutually satisfying business relationship. Value-based procurement is only possible with the right, balanced partners, he says. "Goldfish have a longer attention span than many digital workers" threw Anitra Eggler into the room. The addiction to the constant release of dopamine degrades people into constantly accessible slaves who lose themselves in the abysses of the worldwide web instead of realizing their own potential. The "digital therapist" held up a mirror to the audience and quantified how much of our lives we waste as a result.
Annual General Meeting with replacement of the Board of Directors
At the subsequent General Meeting, the Board of Directors was partially replaced. Adrian Jungo, Swisscom's top procurement manager, was elected as the new president. Not only the previous president, Andreas Kilchenmann, made his office available due to term limits. Board members Jörg Bortoluzzi and Peter Emch also did likewise. All three were duly bade farewell. They were succeeded by Martin Aschwanden, CPO of HG Commerciale and new Chairman of the Regional Managers' Conference, and Gian-Marco Caggia, who heads Procurement at SBB.
Adrian Jungo has been Head of Supply Chain Management and Real Estate at Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd. since 2012 and is responsible for the personnel and technical management of the Purchasing, Logistics and Real Estate divisions of Swisscom AG. Prior to this, he held various management positions at Swisscom. After training as a business economist HF, he continued his education at the University of St. Gallen (purchasing manager and executive MBA). He already knows the procure.ch trade association very well through his work on the advisory board and his one year as a member of the board.
Martin Aschwanden has been responsible for materials management, logistics, real estate maintenance, construction projects, security and production of own exhibitions at HG Commerciale since 2011 as Head of Materials Management/Logistics and Deputy Head of Profit Center. Procurement and logistics characterized his career as core tasks, in which he held various management positions. He is a federally certified purchaser and holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Business Process and International Supply Management from the FHNW. Martin Aschwanden has been associated with the procure.ch association for many years as head of the Zurich region.
Gian-Marco Caggia has been Head of Infrastructure Purchasing at Swiss Federal Railways SBB since April 2012. He started his career at UPS United Parcel Service and held various positions at Swiss Post, SBB and BLS, where he was responsible for purchasing and logistics. At the University of Bern, Caggia most recently earned a DAS in Business Law, he also completed the SKU course in Strategy & General Management and holds a Federal Diploma as Logistics Manager.
