OPI European Forum

OPI European Forum 2011

Start date: 11 May 2011

End date: 13 May 2011


OPI European Forum
11-13 May 2011, Kempinski Bristol Hotel, Berlin, Germany

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View photographs from the European Forum 2011‘’In upheaval times it is in our industry crucial to be informed, inspired and networked . Thanks to OPI for the first “European Forum”. Is was a great pleasure to join this trendsetting kind of a conference and the personal outcome exceeded by far all my expectations.’’  Christian Langvad, OTTO Office

 

OPI Forums

As a leader you need to navigate through this period of economic difficulty and ensure the survival and success of your company. No one can do this alone and yet the opportunities where you can meet with your industry peers are rare - the people who understand the uniqueness of your sector and who recognise the importance of working together as an industry.

OPI European Forum

To help the OP sector in these challenging times OPI hosts CEO Forums in both Europe and the US for senior executives and leaders within the business products industry. The European Forum focuses more directly on the uniquness and the challenges of the European market. This is one of those rare opportunities to discuss the state of our industry and to examine together our universal challenges.

 

"I was exceptionally pleased to have been invited to attend the OPI Global Forum. The open and collaborative nature of the group talking about the industry and how we all grow and prosper was very pleasing. The forum also gave me some very valuable insights and ideas about how Officeworks can serve customers better and develop stronger partnerships with suppliers"
Mark Ward, Managing Director, Officeworks

 

Invitation-only
This is not a large conference but a small, closed forum with invitations sent strictly to CEO/Chairman-level executives at leading resellers, manufacturers and wholesalers of office products, including "non-traditional" retailers and vendors from the increasingly important EOS and consumer electronics categories.

Not just talking heads
We will provide a number of speakers and moderators of an extremely high quality to stimulate thought and debate.

Networking
We understand that networking and free time is important, enabling you to spend quality time with fellow office products leaders from all over the world. There will be both structured groups, to give you an opportunity to meet new people and discuss ideas, and plenty of more informal time for more private discussions. To ensure this can be accomplished in an appropriate environment, the European Forum will be a private meeting operating under Chatham House rules. 

Guests
We have invited key leaders with business interests in Europe, including senior executives from leading office products companies in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia and North America. 

We are always keen to hear your feedback. If you have any comments then do let me know. If you would like to be considered for an invitation please email me.

Steve Hilleard
CEO
OPI Ltd

Email  steve.hilleard@opi.net

 

Download the full conference programme

Programme

The programme is aimed at CEOs in the office products market. The content will consist of industry experts and relevant contributions from outside the sector. With a professional moderator we will be aiming to bring a high level of interaction and debate.

Wednesday 11 May

Arrival in the afternoon
Registration
Welcome cocktails and dinner
Drinks in the bar

Thursday 12 May

Keynote business speakers
Round tables and panel discussions
Plenty of networking time
Networking dinner

Friday 13 May

Final conference sessions
Departure after lunch

 

Itinerary

This is a draft programme that is still evolving. It is based on our research with our intended audience and aims to reflect the critical issues faced by the industry and explore the trends that will shape its future.  This is not the final programme and is subject to change however we hope it will offer you a guide at this stage as to the content we are aiming for. If you have any comments or would like to contribute then please contact janet.bell@opi.net

 

Wednesday 11 May

18.45     Drinks Reception, Kempinski Hotel Bristol
19.45     Dinner, Kempinski Hotel Bristol
22.00     Informal networking in the bar


Thursday 12 May

08.15       Registration and refreshments

08.45       Welcome address
                Steve Hilleard, CEO, OPI

08.50       Opening remarks from the chair
                Juan Señor, Broadcaster & Journalist  

 

09.00       KEYNOTE

Technology and innovation – is the industry stationeary?

The next decade promises to be one of the most challenging ever for the industry. Massive changes in transparency, mobility and working practice will mean traditional methods of gaining customers will become redundant.  Big shifts in customer behaviour mean immediacy and expectation are becoming the key drivers in the burgeoning expectation economy.  The industry needs to stop standing still on yesterday’s business model, get real, get relevant and start participating. Describing his vision for the emerging digital marketplace and how to take taking advantage of it, Phil is an entertaining speaker and a popular industry figure.

Phil Jones, Sales & Marketing Director, Brother UK

 

09.45   European OP industry health check

  • The economic outlook. How safe is the EURO?
  • Key OP trends from a capital markets and shareholder value perspective - innovation, shifting customer needs, products vs. solutions
  • Value chain shifts - advantages and pitfalls of moving into non-office channels, and low cost business models
  • Market consolidation - approaching the end game?
    Harald Strom, Director, Nordea

10.30      Morning break for refreshments

 

11.00      Successful brand-building in European office products

12.00    PANEL

Exploring alternative distribution and channel strategies

  • Channel consolidation – how the trend in favour of this is picking up speed….
  • Examining the benefits and risks of the direct to consumer approach (disruptive players in the market)
  • Market factors - Basing channel strategies on buyer behaviour.  What do we know or understand about buyer preferences for purchasing office products?
  • Producer factors – Does the producer have the resources to perform the functions of the channel?
  • Evolving into technology products: What are the challenges of marketing tech products?  How can OP manufacturers compete with established players (FNAC, Missco etc)?
  • Considering the role of channel intermediaries:
     - intermediary cost
  •  - the relationship of intermediaries with the customer
  • Price control – to what extent do you wish to maintain control over how, to whom, and what price a product is sold?
  • Distribution intensity within the European region
     - intensive distribution to achieve saturation coverage of the market using all available outlets
     - selective distribution where a limited number of outlets in a geographical region sell your product
     - exclusive distribution where only one wholesaler or retailer or distributor is used in a specific geographical area
    Panellists:
    Robert Baldrey, CEO, Vasanta Group
    Peter Basci, Chairman, EOSA
    Mark Austen,  CEO, Office Club

12.45       Lunch 

14.00       ROUNDTABLES

Delegates can choose to join one of the following expert-led roundtable discussion sessions:

15.00       ROUNDTABLES: Options as above

16.00       Afternoon break for refreshments & networking 

16.30       Implementing proactive solutions to greater corporate security

  • Fraud in your organisation?  White collar crime and how to spot it
  • Practical steps you can take to make fraudulent behaviour less attractive and less easy for the potential fraudster
  • Examining some real-life examples of corporate fraud, and learning the lessons
    Chris Brogan, Managing Director, Security International

17.15      THE BIG INTERVIEW

Steve Hilleard, CEO, OPI will interview Philippe Martinez the new CEO of Lyreco. The interview will focus on Philippe’s view of the OP sector, the challenges it faces, its strengths and weaknesses, and perspectives on how the sector can ramp up innovation and the adoption of new technology. What does Philippe (with his long years at Xerox) bring to the leadership of Lyreco?

17.45       End of day one conference programme 

19.30       Group Dinner

 

Friday 13 May
 

08.30       Registration and refreshments

09.05       Opening remarks from the chair

09.15       PANEL

‘Super strategies’ for manufacturing in Europe

10.00    Managed print - opportunity or threat?

In this high impact session, Jean-Louis will discuss the managed print services trend and how it will affect your business.  He will take a frank look at the opportunities and threats, and what it will take for you to be successful in this lucrative, but rapidly changing market.

  • How big is the MPS opportunity and why is it important?
  • Is MPS really any different than a CPC contract, and if so, how?
  • What does it take to be successful with MPS?
  • Where do I go for help with MPS?
    Jean-Louis de la Salle, Senior Consultant, Photizo Group

10.45       Morning break for refreshments 

11.15       PANEL

Optimising category management to deliver benefits across the sector

  • Collaboration between retailer and supplier: Optimising the exchange of information, the sharing of data and collaborative business building
  • Understanding and profiling the category buyer
  • Ensuring the emphasis of supplier negotiations is on total category performance
  • Aligning new product introductions with the category strategy
    - planogram design
    - promotional activity eg. PoS
  • Developing more effective cross-functional approaches to marketing
    Panellists:
    Ronny Van Rossem, VP Merchandising Europe, Staples
    Simon Tempest, SVP International Marketing, ACCO
    Maurizio Beolchi, European Business Unit Manager, 3M
    Christian Langvad, Director - Purchasing/Merchandising & Business Development, OTTO Office

12.00       PANEL
Future of the industry: Where does the digitisation of business and the slow decline in paper usage leave the OP sector?
As we enter an era of iPads and e-books many experts predict a distinct move towards a less-paper society. So what, therefore, is the value proposition of the traditional office products sector?  How should resellers and vendors reposition themselves to survive in this brave new world?  Corporate strategies and product offerings must be realigned to ensure that the sector innovates more rapidly and adjusts to the needs of the modern consumer, but how can this be achieved in practice?
Panellists:
Andrea Davis, President, Fellowes Europe 

Andrew Mawson, Managing Director, Advanced Workplace Associates

Doug Ramsdale, OP Resource

David Langdown, Managing Director, XPD

Phil Jones, Sales & Marketing Director, Brother UK

 

12.45       Lunch 

14.00       Close of the OPI European Forum 20

Speakers

This is not a talking heads event so there will be a limited number of very high quality speakers from both inside and outside the industry. To ensure that the event is a lively, interactive and well focused we are currently sourcing a high quality and experienced professional moderator.

Confirmed speakers

We are currently working on the programme.  The list of confirmed speakers to date includes:

Conference Chairman
Juan Senor
Broadcaster & Journalist


Speakers

Mark Austen
CEO
Office Club

Robert Baldrey
CEO
Vasanta Group

Peter Basci
Chairman
EOSA

Maurizio Beolchi
European Business Unit Manager
3M

Chris Brogan
Managing Director
Security International

Andrea Davis
President
Fellowes Europe

Jean-Louis De La Salle
Senior Consultant
Photizo Group

Dietmar Dengler
Managing Director
HSM

Simon Drakeford
CEO
Euroffice

Marcel Jacobs
Senior Manager Environmental Strategy, Quality & Social Compliance - Europe
Office Depot

Phil Jones
Sales and Marketing Director
Brother UK

Hans-Gunther Klenk
VP & General Manager, Office Products Europe
Avery Dennison

David Langdown
Managing Director
XPD

Christian Langvad
Director - Purchasing/Merchandising & Business Development
OTTO Office

Charles LeCompte
President
Lyra Research

Rita Lübbe
Partner
SPPC Group

Philippe Martinez
CEO
Lyreco

Andrew Mawson
Managing Director
Advanced Workplace Associates

Simon Middleton
Founder & Principal
Brand Strategy Guru

Andrew Morgan
President
Red Cheetah

Mike Pickles
Managing Director
Really Useful Products

Doug Ramsdale
OP Resource

Harald Ström
Director
Nordea

Simon Tempest
SVP International Marketing
ACCO
 
Ronny Van Rossem
VP Merchandising Europe
Staples

Testimonials

Testimonials

The first OPI CEO only European Forum was launched in December 2009 in London. This was an international meeting with representatives from across the globe. This focused, invitation only event enabled the delegates present to dicuss some indepth issues and offered an unpresidented opportunity to meet with their peers in a relaxed and constructive way. The success of this event led to many requests to host another forum in Europe.

Please find some of the feedback from the last OPI European Forum:

OPI European Forum 2009
Testimonials

 

It was my first attendance to an OPI event and a real positive surprise.  The event provided me not just the opportunity to learn about the sector and to network with CEOs from leading European companies, but also the exceptional opportunity to widen my mind with presentations from visionary leaders in business management and future technology and macroeconomic trends.

Two very well organised days, packed with round tables, presentations and social events that made the trip to London very much worthwhile.

Millán Álvarez-Miranda Navarro, CEO, Unipapel

I truly enjoyed the European Forum. The best outcome of my participation was the high-level networking opportunity. I established several interesting new contacts.

Jes Lyngsø Jessen, Managing Director, Office Supplies Denmark A/S

I found your conference to be a great experience: you put together a creative agenda with very interesting speakers and attracted high-caliber senior management attendees who made for great conversation throughout the event. Better yet, you managed to get the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson to join us for dinner.

Charles Lecompte, President, Lyra

The OPI forum serves as a platform for the leaders of our industry to discuss and understand the challenges all of us encounter on a daily basis. It affords us an opportunity to highlight and debate common themes, while providing ample time to network.  To bring our industry leaders together once a year is an initiative that I greatly appreciate. Meeting face to face, sharing thoughts, and exploring opportunities are all keys to our mutual success.

Dirk Collins, EVP & MD Europe, Office Deport

Claude Ackermann appraises the OPI Forum as well organized, very interesting with
perfect networking opportunities and good presentations. A must for office products leaders.

Claude Ackermann, Chairman Board of Managers, PEG

The OPI London Forum was a great event iin every sense - great location, great attendance, great organisation, great social/networking time, and great business sessions - well, most of them !
Looking forward to the next one.

Jonathan Smith, Vice President - Sales, Avery Dennison

The European forum stimulated thought provoking debate which spanned not only areas within the OPI industry but also factors which affect the challenges ahead within technology, global funding and the environment. Probably the best forum I have attended with a quality audience which surpassed expectations and a terrific introduction to the industry

Alan Ball, Managing Director UK & Ireland, Spicers

Varied and interesting agenda containing some real Gems like Phil Jones presentation. Also the opportunity to network was first class.

Mike Pickles, Managing Director, Really Useful Products

The OPI European Forum certainly exceeded my expectations for quality. It was the perfect venue to discuss the critical issues effecting the EOS channel with industry peers.’’

Peter Mayhew MCIM, Director, Lyra Research Europe

This was my first OPI Forum and I have enjoyed being there as one of the key-note speakers. I have been able to meet so many wonderful inspiring people in the OP Industry sharing how sustainability can add value. Especially when we involve all key stakeholders upstream and downstream in our supply chain OP industry will become a leading and responsible industry again.
The diverse program combining presentations with small workshops was first of all an excellent choice. Especially your idea of workshops to get together in smaller group of executives while having open discussions on different key topics was an opportunity to have good dialogues. Apart from the concrete presentations various workshops and opportunities to have open discussions which have given a lot of new insights to me, it was very valuable to build up new relationships. I am looking forward to join your next event.

Marcel Jacobs, Senior Manager Environment, Quality & Social Compliance, Office Depot Europe BV

In upheaval times it is in our industry crucial to be informed, inspired and networked . Thanks to OPI for the first “European Forum”. Is was a great pleasure to join this trendsetting kind of a conference and the personal outcome exceeded by far all my expectations.

Christian Langvad, Director Purchasing/Merchandising and Business Development, OTTO Office

The forum was well organised and an extremely good networking event. Just as the last forum I came away with some new fresh ideas on leadership and social networking to be tested in my own business. We always can learn as the speakers have shown.
We heard in Chicago and London concerns about the threat of the internet direct industry like Amazon and the global supermarket retailers entering the OP industry as well as the jan san companies. I guess in the same way they noticed the OP companies selling their traditional products. (we even had a debate on the highprice of coffee though the wholesale OP channel from a delegate)
With all this channel merging going on maybe we should invite some major players from these new routes to market to the next conference.

Doug Skeggs, Division Sales & Marketing Manager, SystemCare Products

I attended the OPI European Forum just 5 months after starting as CEO of Spicers Europe.
It has been invaluable. It gave me the chance to meet nearly all the CEOs of customers, suppliers & competitors in a neutral setting - great networking. And also to participate in stimulating round table discussion and keep abreast of the industry though the main presentations.

Normally I give such forums a miss - but I will book out my diary for the next one without hesitation.

George Adams, CEO, Spicers

I really enjoyed the high level of quality of presentations, venue and participants.

Arno Alberty, Executive Vice President, Pelikan Europe

The Forum was another excellent event organised by OPI! The format with a smaller number of delegates, only from the highest levels of decision making, fostered an open dialogue and provided a platform for shared initiatives which will shape the industry going forward. The networking opportunities go well beyond what you normally expect at a conference. Put simply, this is the Davos equivalent for the OP professional!

Harald Strom, Director, HSBC

I found the event well organized with a good combination of structured events and free networking time. The interview sessions were particularly interesting and some amusing. Well worth the time away from the office!

Mark Perry, Managing Director, Clover Technologies Group

In fact I found the forum really useful both in terms of networking and on the presentations and panel discussions. The networking on that level allowed to have more in-depth and constructive dialogues with industry partners which created a few new approaches. The presentations and panels help to inspire thinking and to develop new/modified inroads to strategies and tactics.

Hans-Guenther Klenk, Vice President & General Manager Office Products Europe, Avery Dennison

The calibre of CEOs and senior directors attending the OPI European Forum was outstanding, with visitors travelling from as far away as Australia.  The presentations were superb and the event organised in such a way that it presented many informal networking opportunities.  The team at OPI shared their superlative contacts and expertise with key individuals in the industry, to the benefit of everyone who was lucky enough to attend.  Steve Hilleard ‘thinks big’ and sets a brilliant example by encouraging everyone else to do the same.

Tina Fotherby, Director of Public Relations, Ryman Stationery

Many thanks for a really informative and productive conference. The program was excellent and the attendees of a really high caliber. I enjoyed every minute.

Geoffrey Betts, Managing Director, Stewart Superior


The Forum was a very well organized event and I'm happy and honored that I could attend. It helped me to improve and increase my network, meet people again and also meet new interesting people from the industry.

Reiner Eckhardt, Managing Director, Atlanta Office Products

Great mix: interesting and relevant people combined with a divers program.

Daniel Zeller, General Manager, Waser

Great event , Great city , Great people . I truely enjoyed the dialogue both at and during the entire event.
Fantastic venue to meet with real decision makers who collectively recognize the need for a more robust business model.

Ralph Bianculli, President/CEO at The Paradigm Group


Whilst I was only there for a short time, I was really impressed by the quality of the attendees and the quality of the content. A truly international event with "C" level leaders.

Phil Jones, Board Director at Brother UK Ltd, Vice-President - Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, MioD