ISM Names Bradley Holcomb 2015 Shipman Award Winner

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May 05, 2015, 05:00 ET

A 38-year veteran of supply management industry, Holcomb currently chairs ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee

PHOENIX, May 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bradley Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, former senior vice president and senior procurement officer for Dean Foods and current chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, has been named the 2015 Shipman Gold Medal Award recipient.

The J. Shipman Gold Medal Award, ISM's most esteemed award, was created in 1931, and is awarded annually to an individual who has performed distinguished service for the cause and advancement of the supply management profession. Holcomb received the Shipman Award at ISM2015, the 100^th Annual International Supply Management Conference in Phoenix during a special Awards Luncheon on May 5, 2015.

As chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, Holcomb is responsible for compiling, writing and releasing the ISM Manufacturing Report On Business®, based on the survey results of approximately 350 supply management professionals across 18 different industry sectors.

Prior to his role with ISM, Holcomb was Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer at Dean Foods, Dallas, Texas, where he executed a broad strategic sourcing program, drove simplification and standardization, and streamlined the supply base resulting in a measurable competitive cost advantage.

He also has held executive-level procurement and supply management positions at Royal Group Technologies, Waste Management, American Precision Industries and Praxair. His mission has been to build high-performance teams and broaden the role of procurement to substantially reduce costs and create a competitive advantage. Holcomb's earlier career was with Eastman Kodak Company, where he held technical and leadership positions in a wide variety of disciplines including manufacturing, marketing, sales and procurement.

"While Brad has made significant contributions to the procurement and supply chain profession in terms of best practice and forward thinking, his greatest contribution to-date has been his unwavering and relentless mentoring of future supply chain leaders. Brad's mentorship and guidance are evident in the status of some of his mentees and where they sit in the profession today," said Hether Benjamin Brown, Jami Bliss and Mandy Masters Clairfield, who nominated Holcomb for the award.

"Any success that I have enjoyed is entirely due to surrounding myself with a diverse group of very capable and passionate professionals, and forming them into a true collaborative team. We made each other better every day we came to work," Holcomb said.

He holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering Science and a master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University, and a master of science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester. He is a member of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), and is a Certified Professional in Supply Management® (CPSM®) and a Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity® (CPSD™). He has served on the Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council, and is Past Chairman of the Houston Minority Business Council.

Holcomb has authored numerous articles on procurement trends and leadership opportunities, and has lectured at Arizona State University, Michigan State University and Rochester Institute of Technology.

About the J. Shipman Gold Medal Award

Johnson Shipman was a pioneer member of the New York affiliate of the National Association of Purchasing Agents, now Institute for Supply Management^®, well-known for giving liberally of his time and counsel. The J. Shipman Gold Medal Award was created in 1931, and is presented to those individuals whose modest, unselfish, sincere, and persistent efforts have aided the advancement of the procurement and supply chain management field. Those chosen for the award have also assisted and guided members of the profession in their endeavors.

About Institute for Supply Management®

Founded in 1915 as the first supply management institute in the world, Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) is committed to advancing the practice of supply management to drive value and competitive advantage for its members, contributing to a prosperous and sustainable world. This year, ISM celebrates 100 years of leading, innovating and guiding the profession through the renowned ISM Report On Business®, highly regarded certification programs, and the newly launched ISM Mastery Model™. This personalized learning program encourages professionals to become experts in their field by addressing knowledge gaps in areas of supply management through competency-based training. ISM is a not-for-profit organization with global influence, serving supply management professionals in more than 90 countries. For more information, please visit: www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org.

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SOURCE Institute for Supply Management