Award-winning conference brings together supply chain thought leaders to explore cost savings, create collaborative relationships and share best practices

Prime Advantage, the leading group purchasing organization for midsized manufacturers, hosted more than 200 procurement, engineering, operations, executive, and sales professionals at its 37th conference in Orlando, FL. The semi-annual event, which took place April 19-21, brought together manufacturers from more than 30 industries, including: commercial foodservice equipment, packaging, truck and trailer equipment, material handling, food processing, HVAC, and construction.

Highlights from the Supply Chain Conference
Prime Advantage Members and Endorsed Suppliers gathered for one-on-one meetings and attended seminars to share best practices for supply chain management, growth, and profitability. Prime Advantage's Spring Conference kicked off with a keynote address from renowned customer service expert Dennis Snow, of Snow & Associates. Snow outlined three principles that need to be at the heart of any organization with aspirations of providing elite customer service: looking at everything through the lens of the customer, paying attention to the details, and adding value to the experience. Snow explained how consumers seemingly have an unlimited amount of choices of where to spend their dollars; and which companies win them over ultimately comes down to who can deliver the best experiences.
The Engineering Focus Sessions held at the conference were also a huge success. Engineers worked together to share ideas around design, compliance, technology, and communication. The meetings featured presentations entitled, "The Changing Face of Regulatory: Risk Management", "Connectivity & IoT: What Is It and How Do I Implement It?","3D Printing: History, Hype, Impact", "Using Hard Data to Validate Product Development", and "Galvanizing Breakthrough Performance: 7 Roles of a Highly Effective Manager."
Each Prime Advantage Conference provides attendees with access to industry experts who lead conversations around topics crucial to manufacturing professionals. The Spring Conference featured Keith Launchbury, President of Keith Launchbury & Associates, who hosted round-table discussions around the topic of, "How Accurate is Your Forecast?" Mr. Launchbury explained how today's planning systems are fundamentally broken, and shared the benefits of Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP), a formal planning and execution method based upon the connection between the creation, protection, and acceleration of the flow of relevant materials, and information and ROI. Launchbury showed how DDMRP is employed by companies to tackle three pervasive problems: unacceptable inventory performance, inadequate service level performance, and large expedited-related expenses and waste.
Prime Advantage also presented awards to Members and Endorsed Suppliers that exhibited an exemplary performance at the conference. Fastenal won "Best Supplier Booth Presentation"; Kloeckner Metals won "Most Prepared Endorsed Supplier;" and Hunter Manufacturing landed "Most Prepared Member."
"Our immensely talented and innovative group of Members and Endorsed Suppliers truly made magic happen once again at our Spring Conference," said Louise O'Sullivan, CEO/Founder of Prime Advantage. "At each conference, our group continues to raise the bar even higher, solving more challenges, developing stronger partnerships and creating an even brighter future for manufacturing. We couldnt prouder, or more thrilled about what our group has accomplished, and know we will be delighted with what comes next."
Prime Advantage concludes each conference by distributing rebates earned by Prime Advantage Member Companies based on negotiated programs with its Endorsed Suppliers. Over the past 18 years, Prime Advantage has paid more than $191.2 million in rebates and discounts to its Members.
The success of Prime Advantage has been continuously recognized throughout the industry. Prime Advantage was a finalist at the Expo EXCITE Awards in the category of Best Buyer-Seller Event in 2014, and won the award in 2013.
About Prime Advantage: Founded in 1997, Prime Advantage is group purchasing organization with more than 750 Members and 125 Endorsed Suppliers. For more about Prime Advantage and its cost savings programs, solutions and services, visit PrimeAdvantage.com.