Tag: Procurement

Procurement involves the tactical and strategic procurement of all goods and services required for the operation of any single business or organization.

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?

Continue reading “Supply Chain Investment Challenges – Real and Imagined!”

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.

Continue reading “Outsourcing Sourcing! 5 Lessons from Around the Globe!”

What Exactly Is Procurement? And What is Purchasing?

Featuring Our 12 Best Procurement Articles!

For his entire career my Father worked in the field of Procurement.  But the job titles that he had during his career alternatively included either the word Procurement or the word Purchasing.  I seem to recall that one of his business cards included both words.

When I was young I thought I had a somewhat clearer understanding of what my Dad’s Purchasing job was.  His job involved buying, negotiating, contracts, overseas travel, sourcing, suppliers, parts, services, managing, supplier qualification, product qualification, terms and conditions, quality issues and delivery problems.

But was that Procurement or was it Purchasing?  Procurement sounded like a somewhat loftier and more sophisticated word than Purchasing but by the same token it also seemed like they were synonymous and interchangeable terms.

What exactly is Procurement?  And what is Purchasing?

Continue reading “What Exactly Is Procurement? And What is Purchasing?”

What’s the Difference Between Commodity Management and Category Management?

Commodity (or Category) Management – What is your Buying Strategy?

For a considerable portion of my career I have worked in the Manufacturing and Logistics/Distribution Industries. In these industries a segment of the Procurement organization is called Commodity Management, not Category Management.

However when I entered the Retail industry the group largely responsible for Procurement, amongst other things, was called Category Management.

At its core each group was procuring goods. But while there were shared responsibilities there were also key differences.

So what is the difference between Commodity Management and Category Management?

Continue reading “What’s the Difference Between Commodity Management and Category Management?”