Summary of the values offered by the association to its members
1. The main objective of the association is to develop the professionals in the purchasing and supply chains management and thereby increase the competitive strength of the Estonian economy.
2. The membership of the association forms an aggregate of purchasing and supply chains management competencies unique in Estonia. Membership in the association comprises a status symbol for the businesses and people engaged in purchasing and supply chains management.
3. The association represents the common interests of its members.
4. The association provides access to its members to the global purchasing and supply chains management networks.
5. The association is the marketer of the business opportunities of the area of Estonian purchasing and supply chains management and of its members.
6. A serious resource centre has been created for the members of the association on its homepage.
7. The association is the organisation conferring the profession of supply chains management in Estonia.
Detailed list of the values provided by the association to its members
1. The main objective of the association is to develop the professionals in the purchasing and supply chains management and thereby increase the competitive strength of the Estonian economy.
Free training events to the members of the association (business breakfasts, evening seminars “Teel töölt koju” [On the way home from work], etc., which always have a specific subject and speaker(s));
The members of the association have the opportunity to participate in interesting free of charge monthly visits to various businesses in Estonia. Study tours and visits to exhibitions and fairs are also organised to the members based on the need and the participation fee for the members is 50% lower than the actual costs (using the study trips and exhibition and fairs programme of Enterprise Estonia, etc.).
The members have the opportunity to participate in the trainings, seminars and conferences organised by the association and its partners on the terms and conditions that are always more favourable than those for ordinary participants. The advantages are achieved as a result of negotiations with those organising the events and through consolidation of the participants, who are members of the association (in case volume benefits can be used);
The members of the association are offered the opportunity to participate in trainings organised abroad on favourable terms and conditions.
Applying to Enterprise Estonia for consolidated training support and organising joint training procurements for the members of the association.
The association maps the trainings of the area, which take place both in Estonia as well as abroad, and assists its members in preparing development plans for purchasing and supply chains managers.
Professional free advisory services for the members of the association (for the others for pay). The issue requiring a solution is sent to the association that will forward it in a neutral form (without any references to the person who sent the inquiry) to the members of the association competent in the given area. The response is sent by the association back to the person who asked it and a neutral discussion of the problem ->solution shall be uploaded in the “Members only” section of the homepage;
Development of the appraisal system for the workers in the area of purchasing and supply chains management, which objective is the performance appraisal of the workers engaged in purchasing (e.g. based on the rate of assets turnover, comparison with the mean of the market/industry, comparison with the performance of the respective specialists of other businesses, so-called benchmarking data).
Integration of students into practical management of professional purchasing, logistics and supply chains.
2. The membership of the association forms an aggregate of purchasing and supply chains management competencies unique in Estonia. Membership in the association comprises a status symbol for the businesses and people engaged in purchasing and supply chains management.
3. Representation of the common interests of the members of the association.
Acting as a joint pressure group and constructive partner while communicating with the representatives of the legislative and executive power.
Increasing the purchasing power of the members of the association on global and local markets as a result of consolidation. E.g., joint purchases, sharing of cargo space, negotiations of volume agreements with suppliers, etc.
Common interests imply overlapping interests of at least three members of the association.
4. The association provides access to its members to the global purchasing and supply chains management networks.
The association creates access to its members to the network of professionals in the global purchasing area through the IFPSM (International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management). This in its turn enables to participate in the unique events meant for only the members of the IFPSM, e.g. the IFPSM Summer University in Salzburg each summer, etc.;
The association creates access to its members to the SCOR model resource base administered and developed by the Supply Chain Council.
5. The association is the marketer of the business opportunities of the area of Estonian purchasing and supply chains management and of its members.
Consistent explanation of the importance of the purchasing and supply chains management area to the leaders of both the private as well as public sector in order to show them the value created by these areas both to any individual organisation, supply chains as well as the whole economic system.
Business missions are organised to strategically important target countries, sector information and members of the association are introduced using for this purpose brochures published both by the association as well as Enterprise Estonia, Tallinn Enterprise Department and other organisations, presentations, seminars and exhibitions.
For better representation of the commercial interests of our members, the association has established and continues to expand the network of its representatives in strategically important countries with the aim of promptly intermediating information and inquiries.
6. Resource centre for members on the homepage
The resource centre provides links to important professional sources of information, research reports, articles, partner networks, etc..
Inquiries among the members of the association and using the global network. Members of the association have an opportunity to search for required workers, employers, customers, suppliers and cooperation partners through the network of its members.
Detail database of purchasing and supply chains management area workers (members of the association), which can be used only but the members of the association. It contains contact data, information about education and career development (CV), portrait photo, specific professional skills and experiences, interests. Inquiries to the database can be made based on all parameters.
Making the standard methods and tools for assessing suppliers available to the members;
Making the methods of conducting supply and logistics system audits available to the members;
Survey of the salary levels of the workers in the area of purchasing and supply chains management;
Recommendations of best purchasing and supply chains management practices (e.g. translations of summaries made of the researches of Aberdeen Research);
There are references in the “Members only” section of the homepage to the sources of conducting comparative analyses (Benchmarking);
The “Members only” section of the homepage includes recommended models of supply chain processes. E.g., instructions for preparing and conducting a procurement, instructions for purchase negotiations, instructions for choosing and evaluating suppliers, model contracts, recommended delivery terms, instructions for planning and conducting transport and storage and control, etc. The homepage lists the more important trainings in the area, which take place both in Estonia as well as abroad.
7. The association is the organisation conferring the profession of supply chains management in Estonia.
The association is the organisation conferring profession in Estonia (KOO), which means that the association is competent to assess the compliance of workers with the professional requirements and standards of managing purchasing and supply chains.
The professional standards of logistics and supply chain management specialties is consistently developed and updated. The same applies to the certification of workers.
The purchasing management standard, which was only recommended at first (direct translation from the European Purchasing Management Standard), but under the leadership of the association will be approved as a national standard. The professional standards of the workers in the purchasing area proceeding from the purchasing management standard based on the system of qualifications of the Estonian Qualification Authority (www.kutsekoda.ee)