With the rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Big Data analytics, new technologies continue to become ever-more prevalent in how we do business. While many of these advancements have positively impacted the world of procurement, decentralization—and how to overcome the existing challenges—is a persistent theme.
Decentralization in procurement can pose several risks: lack of efficiency, tracking fragmented buying processes, overall spend, and vendor management from a global level. When the question is, “how do we overcome these challenges?” -- consolidation and centralization could be the answer.
In Amplexor’s Table Talk, featuring guest speakers Ara Arslanian of OMNIA Partners and Doug Mueller of IBM, we will engage in a discussion about the current era of digitization, and how procurement professionals can harness the power of technology and automation to centralize procurement processes, ultimately realizing the benefits of cost and time savings, as well as increased efficiency and transparency.
By attending the Minneapolis Table Talk, participants will gain:
- Insights to harnessing the power of innovation in effective centralization processes
- Opportunities to hear from industry experts on improving processes
- Information about what to expect in 2020 and best practices on leveraging centralization across their business
Agenda
11:00 am - Registration and open networking
11:30 am - Lunch
12:00 pm - Introduction and Welcome
12:05 pm - Roundtable Discussion
- Ara Arslanian, Senior Vice President, Private Sector
- Doug Mueller, Program Director, IBM Worldwide Globalization and Translation
- Rob Bunch, Director, Amplexor
1:00 pm - Q&A
1:30 pm - Closing remarks
Event Details
27 February 2020
11:00 am-1:30 pm
The Marquette Hotel, 710 Marquette Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 USA
Speakers
Ara Arslanian is the Senior Vice President, Private Sector at OMNIA Partners. In this role, Mr. Arslanian is responsible for the strategic growth of the company's portfolio of leveraged agreements in the Fortune 1000 space. Throughout his 10 years with Corporate United, he has served in many leadership positions, which included having direct oversight of commercial corporate strategy and the establishment of a formal category management group. Mr. Arslanian regularly engages with both procurement and supplier executives across a variety of industries and his efforts have helped shape the concept of the modern GPO.
Prior to joining OMNIA Partners, Mr. Arslanian was the Senior Director at the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), where he was instrumental in establishing leveraged purchasing agreements and affinity programs for small and mid-size businesses. Before that, he served as both a sales and distribution leader for McMaster-Carr, a privately held industrial supply provider, specializing in the distribution of maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) products to a variety of industries. In his role, Mr. Arslanian led a technical sales team in the positioning of product offerings, while directing the inventory management and financial controlling of over a half million SKU.
Mr. Arslanian has extensive experience in the field of consultative selling, channel development and operations management. He has spoken at numerous industry events, authored MRO / distributed goods industry reports, and served on numerous panels outlining the trends in the supply chain space. He has been recognized as a five-time Supply & Demand Chain Executive “Pro to Know” in the years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.
Doug Mueller is the Program Director, IBM Worldwide Globalization and Translation. Doug is responsible for all of IBM’s worldwide hardware and software product translations. He also assists with IBM’s globalization strategy, shaping the overall strategy, software, and client experience.
Doug started his career with IBM and has over twenty years in the software field, holding numerous technical and management positions in software design, development, test, strategy, and portfolio management.
Amplexor Table Talks are a unique opportunity for industry peers to come together and gain insights into the various challenges faced within the industry today. We offer an open forum and exchange opinions and views in an informal setting.