Procurement Archives - Page 13 of 14 - Supply Chain Game Changer™

The Future of Procurement!

The Future of the Chief Procurement Officer … Is Already Here!

There has been transformation in the Procurement function over the past decade. From the starting point of the traditional buy-sell, transaction-based purchasing, the practice has moved through stages of change that redefines most aspects of the business and the future of Procurement.

A typical Purchasing Function is limited to the transactional job of collecting information about the requirements of user departments and carrying out commercial checks and balances to finally procure the product & service based on cost reduction only and focused on supply continuity.

Seasoned Leadership in Action ™ – Our 2018 All Star Leaders!

In 2018 Supply Chain Game Changer introduced our Seasoned Leadership in Action ™ interview series.

There are so many fantastic people leading in Business and in Supply Chain. We thought that it would be great to learn a little more about what makes these people tick, what is important to them, and what we can all learn from them.

The Interview series has proven to be phenomenally popular with our readers with many of these Interviews being amongst our most viewed articles of all time. So we thought that it would be great to recap all of the Interviews we published in 2018.

Finally we extend our thanks to all of those who participated in our Seasoned Leadership in Action™ Interview series. You were quite simply great for which we are truly grateful!

Will Supply Chain Improve in the Near Future?

The Supply Chain Renaissance Has Begun!

We’ve been through a lot these past few years. After thinking we had operations under control with just-in-time supply chains, leaning out our processes and modernizing our IT systems, we got hit with geo-political tariffs, then shut-downs due to the Covid pandemic, shortages and backlogs, a fast shift to online commerce, omni-channel selling, and remote working just to survive.

Some industries were pummeled, and others never had it so good.

So, what have we learned from all of this, and what is our prognosis? Will Supply Chain improve? We’re still left with a mixed bag of options. Let’s look at where we are.

Featuring Our 12 Best Procurement Articles!

Featuring Our 10 Best Inventory Management Articles!

Procurement is a core function in every single company. Whether purchasing goods or services to support the company’s product offering or purchasing goods or services to support the infrastructure and operation of the company, Procurement is key and featuring our best Procurement articles is more than appropriate.

Depending on the type of industry you are in the Procurement of goods and or services can be the largest, or one of the largest, expense areas. As such the ability to efficiently procure goods to meet all objectives of cost, delivery, quality, and more is essential for not only success, but for survival.

In this “Featuring” series article we are putting the spotlight on Procurement and Purchasing. We are presenting our Top 12 best Procurement articles with information, techniques and approaches which will have something for everyone to learn from and apply in their own situation.

What Exactly Is Supply Chain Management? 10 Different Definitions!

What Exactly Is Procurement? And What is Purchasing?

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When I began my career there was no such thing as “Supply Chain Management“. Supply Chain was not a title to be found anywhere on any organization chart.

Yet all of the functions that we now associate with Supply Chain have been around for a very long time: Planning, Inventory Management, Logistics, Procurement and Purchasing, Warehousing and many more.

So what exactly is the definition of “Supply Chain Management”? Interestingly there are many views on how to define Supply Chain.

What Vendor Centric and Customer Centric Would Look Like on a Date!

7 Ways to Create a Great Customer Experience!

Last week I wrote about how my client was reverting back to a vendor-centric approach to drive increased adoption and usage of their products, instead of a customer centric approach.

As we looked to develop the playbook to support their channel partners in the integration of the products, as well as enabling them to sell, train, deploy and support their customers in the usage of the solutions, we fell upon an unlikely analogy; a first date.

What would a vendor-centric versus a customer-centric approach look like on a first date between the vendor and the customer?

Manage Procurement Spend Like It’s Your Own Business!

Procurement and Procurement Spend. Purchasing. Commodity Management. Category Management.

They are all running their own businesses within their companies, or at least they should be, whether they realize it or not.

Goods and services spend in many companies is the largest, or one of the largest, expenses. And all of this is managed by Procurement personnel.

But do they manage this spend like it is their own business or do they manage it like it is just a functional job with transactional activities to be performed?

The Hottest Supply Chain Jobs! (Infographic)

Supply Chain Compensation is on the Rise!

It’s an exciting time to be involved in the Supply Chain and for Supply Chain jobs. Across every industry, every geography and every country there are advances in Technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and more.

But none of this can function without Supply Chain professionals. Your expertise and experience are the backbone of developing the strategies and action plans for making these evolutionary and revolutionary improvements .

Farmville – It’s Really a Supply Chain Game!

The Supply Chain Detective™: The Case of the Unpaid Invoices!

Several years ago my Granddaughter asked me to load FarmVille 2 – Country Escape on my iPad. She was playing it and she wanted me to be able to play it together with her. I eagerly obliged!

I don’t really play any other video games but Farmville caught my attention. First and foremost was my Granddaughter’s desire to do this with me. But I also found that the ability to grow your Farm by adding capabilities and features, by controlling the way in which you buy and sell things, and managing your inventory levels of all of the materials was both fun and interesting.

And then I realized it. In playing FarmVille I was really just managing a digital Supply Chain!

Farmville was a Supply Chain game!!!

Spend Aggregation Obstacle Course for Procurement!

Enable Spend Aggregation in Procurement!

The theory is simple! If you can increase spend levels through centralized spend aggregation across entities then you increase your leverage in negotiations. This leverage should translate to lower costs and better terms and conditions. But there is a spend aggregation obstacle course to be overcome first.

These entities may be different departments or facilities within your own company. They may be different companies under common ownership. They may be disparate companies within an industry. Or they may be unrelated companies spanning many industries.

The benefits seem clear. So why is there so much resistance when it comes to trying to aggregate spend across these entities?

5 Keys to Building a Long Term Freight Partnership!

Featuring Our Top 16 Articles on Freight and Logistics!

In shipping and logistics, building strong relationships with your freight or carrier company is often underestimated. Whether you have a small or big contract, a long-lasting freight partnership with a company you trust is critical, especially when your business’s logistics is on the line.

Moreover, finding a reputable freight company that ticks all the boxes of what you’re looking for can often be a considerable challenge.

Two Types of Procurement: Project Based and Operational!

Featuring Our 12 Best Procurement Articles!

Procurement operations are the backbone of every company’s supply chain. Fundamental to procurement is the acquisition of goods and services from a party that’s further up the supply chain.

However, there are two different types of procurement: project-based procurement and operational procurement.

Indirect Procurement – It’s Time to Rise and Shine!

What’s the Difference between Procurement and Purchasing? (Infographic)

Indirect procurement of goods and services can be one of the largest areas of expenditure in any company. And the operational impact that the provision of Indirect goods and services can have on a company can be significant, either positively or negatively.

Yet the lack of attention and focus that Indirect Procurement is often given is inconsistent with the true importance of this area. Indirect Procurement takes a back seat to Direct Procurement unfortunately.

But it is time for Indirect Procurement to stand up and be counted!

Supply Chain Investment Challenges – Real and Imagined!

The Digital Supply Chain Road is Full of Potholes, Construction and Accidents!

Everywhere you turn there is talk of a lot of very exciting technologies requiring Supply Chain investment. The Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Drones and Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Analytics are front and centre.

And all of these technologies have applicability for the Supply Chain in every business and in every industry around the world. The Digital Supply Chain vision is within our line of sight.

But most companies are still working with the same, manual, non-automated Supply Chains that they have had for at least the last decade. And they will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. They are faced with challenges which are going to impede technology investments to advance their Supply Chains going forward.

What are these Supply Chain challenges?

Outsourcing Sourcing! 5 Lessons from Around the Globe!

What is Virtual Procurement and Why Should You Care?

Doing business with suppliers located overseas or in another country can be an overwhelming and daunting task even for expert Sourcing professionals. But what if you considered Outsourcing Sourcing?

Recently a friend of mine asked me to have lunch with him and one of his associates. The other gentleman had invented a new product. He had a marketing plan. He knew what his cost point had to be on the product which meant that he had to have the product manufactured overseas.

But beyond that he had no idea on where to start to source his product.