By Scott Oldendorph C.P.M.

Well it is that time of year again that everyone in the United States does not look forward to and it sometimes takes months to prepare for but most certainly we are paying into it all year long. What else could it be but our beloved federal and state income tax returns due on 4-15-99. Some of us do what is required by reading all the tax information and becoming educated so correct honest choices can be decided on to report. Others of us take our taxes to specialists to figure everything out for us and find every loophole and legal way not to pay as much tax. But when it is all done it makes us look good like we had honestly done it ourselves.

How are you coming along on your purchasing career field taxes? You may be asking yourself, what taxes could there be in my purchasing career field? Like anything in life including your purchasing career, you want to improve and get better at what you do. So it takes effort to educate yourself by going to college, taking purchasing seminars and workshops, reading purchasing magazines or watching purchasing videos, studying to take the C.P.M. Certified Purchasing Manager exams and getting involved and active with your NAPM-SA affiliate. Some of us try to take the easier route by just attending the workshops, seminars, dinner meetings just to look good by having someone else do the teaching instead of really listening to the instructor or speaker and learning the subject. We all have to pay our career field taxes. Some pay a lot of taxes in their career by getting a big return for their effort. Others pay as little as possible in taxes or effort, but it usually yields a stalled or slow moving career.

You may not have an official mandatory deadline to get it done by, but try to set a personal deadline for yourself to start, continue or complete your purchasing career taxes. We all have to pay our taxes. You should at least try to get a good return on your purchasing investment. Contact an NAPM-SA officer or director and say, "I want to learn and get involved". The first step is always the hardest.

By Scott Oldendorph, C.P.M.

With all of the business periodicals, newscasts, E-mails and the internet advise business people are exposed to now, it's no wonder that people in our organizations cringe with apprehension every time the Boss returns from a trip and starts the staff meeting with, "I read this great article on business strategy ......". As well meaning as the authors of each of these "latest & greatest" ideas are, the reader's rush to implement another "management tool" in the organization can be disastrous. By organizing and running a business from a "holistic" perspective we can avoid a series of well intentioned but short lived programs.

Bill Follette, founder and president of Follette & Associates in Scottsdale, Arizona will be talking to NAPM-SA about the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award and it's business management model. This award has proven itself as an extremely effective "umbrella" model that is flexible enough to allow use of various tools and techniques. It's success comes from the mandate that the entire organization, from the CEO to the third shift janitor, has a comprehensive understanding of why time and resources are being expended on any activity and how every effort integrates into the total business model. Bill Follette will cover the Baldridge core values and concepts, the business model itself, the benefits of the process and the assessment and feedback processes.

Bill recently retired as worldwide director of corporate quality at Honeywell where he was responsible for the design and implementation of the successful strategic quality management and assessment process of Honeywell's three businesses: Space and Aviation Controls, and Industrial Controls in Phoenix, and Home and Building Controls in Minneapolis, as well as Honeywell's organizations in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia's Pacific Rim. Bill has held senior level positions in various Honeywell businesses over 22 years in the areas of business planning, strategic management, total quality and performance excellence. Bill Follette has been a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award from 1993-1995. He served as a judge for the President's Quality Award Program recognizing federal government organizations and served as Senior Examiner for Arizona's Governor Award for Quality.

NAPM-SA looks forward to you joining us for this quality speech on April 14 at 7:00 PM at the Doubletree Hotel and meeting your fellow NAPM-SA members.

Name _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Company _______________________________________________________ # Attending________________________

Phone #___________________________________________________________________________________________

Preferred

Entree(s) _________________________________________________________________________________________

By Ralph L. Long, C.P.M

Lute Olsen has taken the past 15 basketball teams to the NCAA tournament and most agree its not only the players but the effort and teaching style of Coach Olsen that makes the difference between a good team and a top team. How many athletic teams do you know that succeed without putting in the effort to practice and learn their game? How many bowlers or golfers become really good without practice and studying the techniques.

Each one of us must continue to take every opportunity to practice and learn the skills we use every day in our profession. It's not like riding a bike where once learned, you always know how.

One of the important opportunities NAPM-SA can provide is a leadership position with the affiliate. Board members learn the skills of management, negotiations, financial, interpersonal relationship and leadership, among others. Better yet it costs only a few hours a month, probably less than you spend watching your favorite TV show.

Remember... you get what you put into it.

What's more important than your professional skills. The better skills you have, the better work you do or the better work you do or the better job you can get or the quicker that promotion will come to reality.

Contact one of the Board members and tell them you would be interested in becoming a Board member, Committee chair or any of the other leadership positions in the NAPM-SA.

We are gearing up for the next program in the 1998-99 NAPM Satellite Seminar Series - "Strategic Cost Management: Understanding Cost and Price Analysis Tools" - which will be broadcast Thursday, April 8, 1999.

Stategic Cost Management: Understanding Cost and Price Analysis Tools

Understanding critical cost and price decisions is one of the keys to the future of supply professionals. Cost reduction strategies will span the entire supply chain, and will play an important role in supply management. Can your purchasing and supply team develop a cost-savings approach using cost and price analyses? How will supply management professionals strengthen their value by adapting an action plan to impact the bottomline? Join us for this satellite seminar and discover the intricacies of analysis. Topics include:

For further information or to RSVP contact Pete Petersen @ 648-8802 or Ralph Long @ 206-4759.

Joe G. Herber Cyprus Sierrita
Warehouse Technician

Jeffrey L. Fjelseth Cyprus Sierrita
Purchasing Supervisor

Daniel T. Kelly Peoples Choice TV
Purchasing Manager

Terry O. Larson Cyprus Sierrita
Sourcing Manager

Louise C. Leeper

Rosenda A. Medina Cyprus Sierrita
Warehouse Technician

Tom Rogers Jr. Cyprus Sierrita
Warehouse Technician

By Elliott Chaitt, Global Resources Chairman

Now that NAFTA has been with us for five years it still remains one of the big controversies in the political arena. Some say it has resulted in massive loss of jobs to south of the border while others claim that the improvement in the Mexican economy resulting from NAFTA has meant more export of U.S. goods. Mexico is now the second largest U.S. trading partner whose imports from the U.S. are exceeded only by Canada. In fact, Mexican trade with the U.S. in September 1`998 was $15.2 billion.

Japan has traditionally been the United States second largest trading partner but as a result of the economic problems in Asia Japan's imports from the U.S. have declined dramatically and in last September for the first time they were exceeded by Mexico. While the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico is about $11 billion this figure is misleading as it includes the shipments into the U.S. by American owned maquiladoras of assembled goods made largely from materials shipped to Mexico from the U.S. Mexico is the fastest growing U.S. export market with a totaling of $58.2 billion in the first nine months of 1998.

There will certainly be opposing views on how well NAFTA has worked for U.S. interests after five years. If your organization is involved in trade with Mexico you will undoubtedly have your opinions on this subject.

We are reminded almost daily of what we may expect when the new millennium arrives.

How ever disruptive this event may be in the United States it is fair to assume that it will be substantially worse overseas. Six months ago it was predicted that two-thirds of the worldwide food processing, farming government education and other high-risk industries are expected to experience at least one mission-critical system failure due to Y2K. Additionally, some 30 to 50 percent of companies in all industries worldwide will experience similar Y2K failures. The semi-conductor industry outside of the U.S. is poorly prepared for the impacts of the "Millennium Bug" as are many foreign governments. As of September 1998 about 23 percent of these governments had not started to evaluate the business impacts of Y2K and it may require thirty months or early in the year 2001 to correct problems. In September 1998 British Prime Minister announced a plan to hire and train 20,000 employees to fix the Y2K problem. These "bugbusters" are expected to accomplish with a few days or weeks of training what highly trained and experienced specialists can barely cope with in the U.S.

Advice given to businesses include surveying key suppliers or materials and services to establish their readiness for the year 2000 and closely question the nature of the testing they have done. Work out a test plan between vendors and your organization to validate that systems will work after the computer clocks pass midnight on December 31, 1999.

Employers Rate Communication Skills Number One

It's not enough for college graduates to have good grades and a degree in a "hot" field like engineering, accounting, supply chain management, or computer science. According to Job Outlook '99, a national forecast of employers' hiring intentions published by National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), new graduates also need good communication skills-the top personal quality sought by employers evaluating a job candidate. "Employers must look beyond good grades and the right technical skills to judge the potential success and effectiveness of a job candidate within their organizations," says Camille Luckenbaugh, NACE manager of employment information.

Joseph Yacura, senior vice president, worldwide procurement, for American Express in New York City concurs with the study results. "We're looking for people with not only communication ability but good listening skills. As we take the procurement profession  from a transaction function to a more strategic role as a consultant that provides knowledge and expertise, communication is absolutely critical in order to satisfy the customer. As a result, we're looking for graduates who can help us improve the process; people who can bring a fresh approach to it." Yacura, a serious recruiter of aggressive, young purchasing and supply graduates, also looks for a candidate to have a global perspective and places great importance on language skills, and especially values bilingual applicants. (Excerpt from Purchasing Today March 99)