Dear colleagues of IPSERA, dear friends,

the year 2020 has been very unusual to all of us. The outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus have completely changed our way of working. Importantly, IFPSM member associations did not close their operations, instead we all had to adjust to a new situation. We shared our experiences with each other, we shared best practices, new ways of working and new ways how to manage our associations in the “new normal”.

Since Madam President of IFPSM, Mrs Marina Lindic took over the presidency of IFPSM, we have been strongly focusing on the support to our members, on new strategy preparation for the next 3 years and on renewal of the Constitution and Regulations. We adjusted our Mission and Vision to suit better to our members. Today IFPSM’s vision is to be the global, leading platform in purchasing and supply chain management, which serves the development of the profession and member organisations. We have been also able to activate IFPSM members in all Regions: America, Africa, Asia/Pacific and Europe. The global coverage of the IFPSM network is our greatest strength!

IFPSM has currently 45 full members; 3 affiliates, and 1 associate member. The core initiatives of IFPSM during the year have been:

• The IFPSM Global standards (GS) new model and new promotional material (accessible here: IFPSM Global Standard 2020 A4_online.pdf)
• New global Verification System for IFPSM certificates via a web
• The new IFPSM strategy including Mission, Vision and updated Constitution and Regulations
• The Sharing of the best practices of the members through regional round table sessions.

Due to Covid-19, we needed to switch all our meetings to virtual mode. Unfortunately, we also had to reschedule the IFPSM World Summit to take place on October 12th to 15th 2021. The location is Bali, Indonesia and the event will be organized in a hybrid mode (physical & virtual). The theme of the Summit is “Leading Transformation Through Disruptive Innovations”.

IFPSM also decided to start the building up of the new IFPSM e-Services web platform, to deliver the different services to the member association and to their individual members. The target is to launch this new service in June 2021 and the service will also include a global news channel, IFPSM News. Information about the IPSERA networks´ research studies would be most welcome!

I am looking forward to the continuous collaboration between IPSERA and IFPSM networks of professionals. Let the year 2021 be prosperous for all of us! And please stay healthy!

Markku Henttinen (CEO of IFPSM)