HPMF celebrates 6th Anniversary, Annual Convention & Awards at Mayfair Lagoon, Bhubaneswar

HPMF celebrates 6th Anniversary, Annual Convention & Awards at Mayfair Lagoon, Bhubaneswar

It was an event to remember for the record breaking congregation of hospitality purchasing heads, of nearly 250 professionals who networked and attended interactive knowledge based sessions, B2B Meetings and witnessed the HPMF Procurement Excellence Awards

The entire delegation of over 250 hospitality purchasing managers from across India, along with dignitaries, vendors and consultants, gathered at the verdant luxurious property of Hotel Mayfair Lagoon and Convention Center, a ‘museum, jungle and hotel rolled into one’ located in the midst of Bhubaneswar city, Odisha.

Delegates from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar and Puri, were overwhelmed with the programme put together by Nitin Nagrale, General Secretary & Founder of HPMF and the core committee including Chairman Mohan Deshpande, General Manager Materials Hotel Aureole; Teckbahadur Sarke, Manager Hotel Sahara Star – Mumbai & Aamby Valley City – Lonavala (Pune); Harvey Rodrigues Director Procurement – Hotel Meluha The Fern and Hotel Rodas An Ecotel Hotel; Mahendra Shinde, Materials Manager – The Resort Mumbai; Ganpat Dalvi – Director Procurement Four Seasons Mumbai, Jaideep Gupta, Operations, Procurement and Pre-opening professional; and Gary Coutinho, Supply Chain Manager Devyani Airport Services.

Inaugurated by Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Government of Odisha, the occasion was also graced by His Highness Giriraj Singh Lotwara, President of Shree Rajput Sabha, Jaipur; Dilip Ray, CMD of Mayfair Hotels; Debasis Pattnaik, Director, Crown Hotels; Lion Pankaj Mehta; and Souvagya Mohapatra, Executive Director, Mayfair Hotels among others.

The role of a Purchase Manager in the Hospitality industry has gone through several fundamental changes in the last few years. Many companies have shifted from a Regional unit Procurement approach to a Center-led Global Procurement strategy. The Purchase department has become a valued partner & a recognized asset who collaborates effectively across the Organization driving procurement excellence.

India’s leading Hospitality Purchasing Managers’ Forum (HPMF) In an unprecedented style organized a three-day convention for successful purchasing professionals, marking its sixth anniversary with lots of Learning and Leisure, Awards and undying Memories.

One of the key objectives was to meet, discuss & find solutions to the challenging issues faced when it comes to Procurement, Supplier Relationship Management, and strategies revolving around it, as well as to network under one roof. The highlight of the forum was also to bring industry though leaders to deliberate on the challenges faced on the talent and skill development initiatives and how to bridge the gaps in the same. Another objective is to equip the hospitality purchase professionals with the latest trends and tools so as to better manage and excel in their current functional roles. Key benefits for people participating will be to nurture existing relationships and foster new business partnerships via One to One Networking Opportunity during the entire 3 days of the event.

Highlighting the importance of purchasing managers, who are more a background artist, Mohapatra said, “From every tile in the floor to the entire structure, purchase is involved. They play an important role in material, marketing and money management.”

Debasis Pattnaik added, “Purchase managers are not visible on the foreground but they are like platelets in the blood.”

The need for HPMF is in bringing together the purchase heads of hotels on one platform to network, explore new aspects of purchasing and gather knowledge of the advantages of technology in purchase. “I am elated to host HPMF in Bhubaneswar,” said Nitin Nagrale, thanking Mayfair Hotels and the supporting vendors for successfully organizing the convention.

In continuation, Mohan Deshpande said, “Purchasing Managers are an integral part of the industry and they need to understand & showcase their own value”

Some of the Networking Professionals had this to say. “It is hard to find words to match the efforts put in by the HPMF team, in the spotless execution of this wonderful programme.” – Shiv Menon. According to Santosh Bhame, “It was very well planned, organized and executed, bundles of surprises, so many new friends, so much knowledge sharing… this is very good memory for a life time.” “Congratulations to the entire HPMF family for a very successful event. Everything was just perfect. You have raised the bar for all.” said Jairaj Singh echoing the sentiments of many of the professionals.

Sanjay Goyal said, “We had a wonderful three days of knowledge sharing, networking and fun. Thank you for executing a convention of this quality, scale, excellence in terms of content, right mix of knowledge and fun. We raise a toast and salute our soldier Nitin Nagrale for the true dedication and our solidarity.”

The Indian hospitality industry has been rapidly evolving since last two decades and has witnessed a spurt in the number of domestic and international players entering the market with ambitious and world class projects. This has resulted in quantitative and qualitative needs which are far more complex than before. Today, the hospitality procurement industry is pegged at an annual figure of US $10 billion dollar. But considering the sustained economic development and an impressive GDP ratio of India, the hospitality procurement needs are expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years. The hospitality procurement is not only scattered but needed some reference body to assist them at every stage. There were no formal education institutes or bodies to assist. And also every one working in their organizations were working in isolation.

Touching upon the most important topics, experts from the hospitality industry discussed ‘Importance of Value Engineering and Life Cycle Analysis in Procurement’; ‘Work Life Balance, Vendor Relationship & Strategic Sourcing’; ‘Creative Strategies & Future of Procurement’ besides other presentations and highly inspiring motivational talks by Lion Pankaj Mehta and Pradip Almadi.

B2B Meetings

The entire buyer delegation was divided into groups of 6 members and an excellent B2B meeting schedule was organized so that all the partners could meet the buyers on one on one basis. It was a super hit session on both days as all partners not just met every attending delegate but created bond between them.

Entertainment was also an integral part of the three day event. Exhibiting their talents, purchasing managers took stage on fire with hit Bollywood old songs on the saxophone; puppet show, comedy besides multiple bands rocking on the latest numbers.

“We thank all the delegates for taking time out to be present in such large numbers, our vendors who have supported us whole heartedly and experts who have made the sessions a big success. I also take this opportunity to thank LG for once again partnering with us and making this wonderful event possible,” concluded Nitin Nagrale.

BOX

2nd HPMF Procurement Excellence Awards

This year’s Living Legend Award was conferred on Sundaram RM, Vasantabhavan Hotels India Pvt Ltd and Basil Christopher Massey, Duet India Hotels. The Life Time Achievement Award was given to Narinder Kapoor, The EIH Ltd.

There was stiff competition in the other categories and the panel of jury had to rework to emerge with the most deserving winner. “While we started planning and preparing this event more than six months back, the awards were put together in 45 days,” said Nitin Nagrale. The winners in the other categories are:

Most Innovative Procurement Person of the Year: Parag Pawar, Purchase Manager, Royal Orchid Central, Pune

Most Innovative Procurement Person of the Year: Hara Prasad Balliarsingh, Senior Manager, Mayfair Lagoon and Convention, Bhubaneswar

Best Cross Functional Procurement Leader of the Year: Mahendra Shinde, Materials Manager, Hotel The Resort, Mumbai

Best Procurement Person of the Year – Male: Boominathan Panchanathan, Commercial Manager, Fortune Select Grand, Chennai

Best Procurement Person of the Year – Female: Shikha Sharma, Retreat Hotel and Convention Centre, Mumbai

Best Use of Innovative Technology for Procurement: Ram Vriksh Dwivedi, Assistant Materials Manager, The Lalit, Mumbai

Special Jury Award: Vijayanand Thantri, Head Procurement – Intellistay Hotels, Mumbai

Superman of the Year Award: Abdul Kareem, Purchase Manager, The Leela, Chennai

Best Use of Green Initiative as a Team: C. Rajendiran and team, Novotel Ibis Sipkot, Chennai

Change Maker Award: Teckbahadur Sarke, Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai

Change Maker Award: Gary Coutinho, Devyani International, Mumbai