INVITATION-ONLY WORKSHOP | GRAPHITE GRAND PRIX

High-Performance Procurement: Building Operational Speed

Like the best drivers, the best procurement teams don’t choose between speed and control. They master both.

One cohort of senior procurement leaders. One day, one question: what actually separates the operational elite from everyone else? 

You’ll work the problem with your peers, then feel it firsthand: hot laps around M1 Concourse with a professional driver at the wheel.

Wednesday, Nov 4^th
9:00 AM

M1 Concourse

Pontiac, MI

Request Your Seat

Seats are capped at 40 and filled by invitation. If you’re on this page, you were referred or invited directly.

THE TRACK EXPERIENCE

Ride With a Pro: Hot Laps at M1 Concourse

You won't want to watch from the grandstand. You'll be in the car. Midway through the day, you'll strap into the passenger seat of a professional race car and take M1's track at full speed with a pro driver at the wheel. Every attendee gets a lap. It's not a gimmick. It's the thesis of the day made physical: elite performance is control at velocity, never a trade between the two.

Included:

A high-speed hot lap with a professional driver
No driving experience required
A working cohort of senior peers for the full day
Trackside happy hour to close

Track and safety details follow upon confirmation.

Request Your Seat

A Different Kind of Working Session

Most procurement events aren’t built for people at your level. The keynotes are polished, the panels are safe, and you leave with a notebook full of ideas and zero time to act on them.

The Grand Prix format is built the opposite way. We keep the room to a single cohort so every conversation is worth having. Sessions are structured for peer-to-peer problem solving, not passive listening. ‍

‍No vendor pitches. No recycled talking points.

The Day's Agenda

9:00 AM

Registration & Networking

Welcome coffee, registration, and first-lap peer networking.

9:30 AM

Data Deep Dive: What Defines Procurement’s Operational Elite?

An exclusive look inside Graphite’s proprietary dataset. The specific operational benchmarks, cycle times, and structural traits that separate elite procurement teams from the rest of  the pack.

11:30 AM

Hot Laps: On the Track at M1

Strap in beside a professional driver for a high-speed lap. Every attendee rides.

12:15 PM

Lunch

Refuel and compare notes with the cohort.

1:00 PM

Panel: From Vendor to Partner — Up-leveling Supplier Collaboration

High velocity requires total alignment. Senior leaders unpack how they're modernizing supplier collaboration — turning unified data, shared demand signals, and collaborative governance into faster execution, less friction, and de-risked global operations.

2:00 PM

The Brain Trust: “What Now?” — Building Your Transformation Roadmap

The capstone. Leaders split into working groups to attack live bottlenecks and, using the day’s insights, draft and peer-review a customized action plan — the roadmap you take home and put to work Monday.

3:15 PM

Checkered Flag: Closing Remarks

The synthesis, resource distribution, and how to access follow-up benchmarking support.

3:30 PM

Trackside Happy Hour & Networking

Drinks and food at the track while the pros keep running laps. Keep the conversation and the connections going.

Our Workshop Facilitators

Conrad Smith

Founder & CEO

Graphite

Randy Pappal

VP, Purchasing & Supply Chain

Gentex

Theresa Randall

VP, Procurement Systems & Operations

Comerica Bank

Who Should Attend

Seats are limited and filled by direct invitation — we don’t run open registration. This room is built for the leaders who own operational performance: