The sun shone on the 6th annual Sourcing & Innovation Days, held near Cannes in the south of France from 6th to 10th June.  Not only are the numbers impressive, 1253 one-to-one business meetings in just 2½ days, but in terms of quality, both event ‘veterans’ and newcomers alike had nothing but praise for the 2007 edition, some even calling it the best ever.

 

With each passing year, the Sourcing & Innovations Days organisers make improvements to the event, acting on the feedback received from past participants. 90% of this year’s attendees said that they were satisfied with the quality of the event, the mix of buyers and suppliers, and the organisation. “Our main role as a value added services provider is to give the participants at Sourcing & Innovation Days the best possible conditions for doing business,” states Managing Director of the event, Christophe Durrieu. “The more we, as an organising team, can stay in the background and let the buyers and suppliers develop their business relations and do business, the better. This year, experienced participants commented that the event almost seemed to run itself – and though this is far from true, it does mean that we must be doing something right!”

 

Business first

Praise for the organisation of the event was virtually unanimous. “The organisation has been fantastic as usual,” confirmed Stuart Seymour, European Sales Director of repositionable products manufacturer Hopax, who is also one of the members of the event’s Suppliers' Committee. Those who have never attended Sourcing & Innovation Days may be tempted to think that an event in the south of France in June is just an excuse to spend some time in the sunshine. Think again. New participants are often surprised by the hectic schedule of meetings and the attention to detail of the organisers in making sure that business comes first. “It’s been hard work, with 30 meetings in two days,” says Lars Jensen, Purchasing Manager of Danish Interaction member Moller & Landschultz.

Selection makes quality of buyers and suppliers

But good organisation can only count for so much. The quality of the participants has to be up to scratch and the 2007 event certainly exceeded expectations. 60 buyers were present from 26 countries, with volume buyers from major western European markets such as Otto Office, Interaction, Kingfield Heath, Majuscule, JPG, Unipapel, Gruppo in Ufficio, plus buyers from emerging markets in Eastern Europe, The Middle East and North Africa. One important aspect of the event is to refresh the list of buyers each year, and this year 56% of the buyers were attending the event for the first time.

The selection of the suppliers is also meticulous, to ensure that they meet the needs of the buyers and that a wide range of product types are represented. This year, 41 supplier companies have been selected, mainly from Europe, offering both high-volume commodity products and added value niche products. As buying organisations diversify their product ranges, the Sourcing & Innovation Days organisers ensured that a wider variety of products were on offer this year, including gifts, back to school, art products, luggage, computer accessories, as well as traditional stationery and office products. “This is the third time we have attended and we have been really pleased with the selection of the suppliers,” comments Gonzalo Mateo Sagasta, Marketing Director of Unipapel, Spain.

Innovations and Visions

This year’s event was also notable for the number of innovations that suppliers presented. “There were more innovative products this year,” notes Philippe Couineau, General Manager of French BPGI member, Intropa.
"In fact, the last year participants haved asked the organisation team to select more added-value products. So during the whole year, our people have travelled all around the world to find the better products possible for our buyers members. We must say that working in this industry for more than 50 years gives us a true expertise over the buyers' needs", stated Christophe Durrieu, the organiser president.

The right place for strategic discussions

The ability to share ideas and information and to discuss strategic issues has been formalised at the event by the introduction of the Visions round table sessions, which kicked of this year's Sourcing & Innovation Days. Buyers and suppliers are mixed together in small groups and have the chance to discuss a number of pre-selected strategic themes. This year, over 100 people took part and the themes included Creating Value,
Optimising The Supply Chain, Sustainable Development, Globalisation v Specialisation, and e-Commerce. "Visions is developing into a real added-value attraction to the event," says Christophe Durrieu. "We put buyers and suppliers together from different channels and markets, and it is a real opportunity for them to share ideas and experiences and to develop a strategic vision of how the industry will develop and what new opportunities may exist."

One of the attractions of Sourcing & Innovation Days is the ability to network and share ideas during the break and meal times. This is helped by a relaxed setting for the event which is conducive to developing long-lasting business relations. “Because of the atmosphere you are able to take more in than at a larger trade show and overall Sourcing Days is more informative,” confirms Gillian Coates of Irish retail group Bizmart.

Another added value of Sourcing & Innovation Days is the attendance of representatives of the international trade press. Industry resource platform is-guide.com sponsored the Visions round table sessions, and editors of international trade magazines from Italy, Poland, France, Switzerland, Mexico and Korea were also present. Suppliers were able to hold press conferences to launch their innovations to an international audience.