Tag: Purchasing

Purchasing is the tactical part of Procurement and involves all of the transactional activities associated with buying goods and services.

Procurement Outsourcing – Keep your Integrity!

Why Get a Product Sourcing Agent?

Like so many professionals Procurement people are very proud.  They are proud of the job that they do and the contributions that they make.  And they are most always proud of their ability to negotiate and get the best deal!

But at some point in their careers, especially in the age of Outsourcing, they are likely to have to deal with potential suppliers who provide Procurement services.  Procurement typically negotiates deals for other functions like I/T, HR, Manufacturing and every other area in the company.

Now they are faced with dealing with companies who basically state that they can do a better job at negotiating and Procurement than they do.

In the face of such a perceived, direct challenge to your abilities how do you and your Procurement team deal with this professionally and with integrity?

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Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Jill Button, CEO of ProcurePro!

What is Virtual Procurement and Why Should You Care?

At Supply Chain Game Changer we believe in sharing experiences and expertise from people in every industry and from across the globe.  As such we have introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action” Interview series.  This interview is with Jill Button, President and CEO at ProcurePro.

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What is Virtual Procurement and Why Should You Care?

Outsourcing Sourcing! 5 Lessons from Around the Globe!

Any of this sound familiar?  Then you need Virtual Procurement!

“With recent minimum wage increases, I need to find better ways to control my costs and to stay profitable while still delivering the highest level of service to my customers.”

“We are too small and can’t afford to hire a full-time procurement person. We are busy and just don’t have the time to focus on procurement.”

“We hope for good prices, but we usually just accept what suppliers offer. We are leaving hard earned money on the table.”

“Contracts are stored in someone’s drawer or lost, never to be seen again. Contracts often expire leaving us scrambling.”

“Supplier relationships are too close. They don’t deliver on their promises. Communication is lacking or too casual.”

If any of these statements resonate with you, please keep reading.

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

The Supply Chain Detective ™! In Search of Broken Supply Chain Clues!

The CEO called.  “I need you to go down to Mexico right away.  They aren’t paying their invoices and suppliers are stopping shipments.  Our manufacturing lines are going to stop.  I need it fixed right away.  Get those bills paid now.”

What on earth was going on?  Why didn’t the site just pay their bills?  This shouldn’t be a big deal.  And this was their problem, and responsibility, not mine.  But as with any crisis situation it’s all hands on deck to get the problem fixed.

Little did I realize that while on the surface this seemed like a simple problem, and solution (ie. just pay the darn bills), the reality would prove to be much more complicated.  This would be a case for a Supply Chain Detective!

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Our 2018 Top 10 List (Part 2)!

As 2018 comes to a close we offer a list of the Top 10 most viewed articles that we have published over the last half of the year.

When you look at this list you will see that there is a common theme amongst most of the articles.  That theme is one of “Definitions”.

Based upon tremendous viewer interest this year we began our “What Exactly Is … ” article series to describe definitions and commentary on terms which we often see and hear but don’t always truly understand.

For instance, the term “Supply Chain Management” itself has innumerable definitions and our article What Exactly Is Supply Chain Management? 10 Different Definitions! proved to be one of our most popular articles ever.

So here it is, our Top 10 list for the second half of 2018!

Continue reading “Our 2018 Top 10 List (Part 2)!”

The Supply Chain Detective™ and the Mystery of the Rock Star Boss!

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

My plane had just landed.  I turned on my cell phone.  And almost immediately my CEO called to ask me about my recently hired “Rock Star” boss.

“Have you heard from Rick?  Nobody’s heard from him in several days.”

Rick was my new boss, the CPO, a guy that the CEO hired a couple of months before.

“No I haven’t heard from him either.  That is very unusual given the incredible pace he set for himself”, I said.

“Ok. Let me know if you hear from him and I’ll do the same.”

Where the heck was he?  He seemed to be working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.  All of his direct reports were getting dozens of emails from him at all hours of the day and night.  But lately there was nothing.  Complete radio silence.

What happened to my new boss? It was a case for the Supply Chain Detective™.

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Procurement Terminology is a Mess!

Featuring Our 12 Best Procurement Articles!

From one Procurement organization to the next, Procurement language and terminology differs.

Of course, it’s impossible to expect that every company would work within the exact same framework of understanding and messaging, but the lack of being able to communicate can sometimes be the difference between success and failure.

Procurement is a function, that is undergoing transformation; technologically and ideologically.

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What is Procurement’s Place in the Value Chain?

Could the CPO Be Replaced by the Chief Value Officer?

Where does Procurement stand in your organization’s Value Chain?

Hopefully, you’ll be able to formulate an answer to that question after reading this post.

I speak with Procurement, Sourcing and Purchasing professionals every day, from various globally functioning organizations, and there’s a resounding similarity in every one of those conversations…

Procurement is — still — largely viewed as a secondary activity in most organizations’ value chains.

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Our 2019 Top 10 List!

Here at Supply Chain Game Changer our fundamental mission has been to share experiences and expertise in the areas of Supply Chain, Logistics, Distribution, Procurement, Business, Human Resources and more. We now present our 2019 Top 10 list.

In our 3rd year at Supply Chain Game Changer we have had the tremendous opportunity to share more content created by ourselves and a growing number of Guest contributors.

With new articles provided to us every week our audience is allowing us to share ever more engaging content and their incredible intelligence for the benefit of all. We extend our thanks to all and invite everyone to submit articles for our consideration.

Here at the midpoint of 2019 we would like to share the 2019 Top 10 List of our most viewed articles of 2019!

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Suppliers are Friends, not Food!

Strategic Supplier Relationship Management – Do’s and Don’ts

“Fish are friends, not food.” Similarly Suppliers are friends and not food.


Bruce, a great white shark, and his two shark friends gather alongside Dory and Marlin, taking a sacred oath, swearing off eating fish. This scene became an instant classic in the homes of the hundreds of millions that have seen Pixar’s mega-success, Finding Nemo.


If you’ve never seen the film, treat yourself by watching this clip below, and directly after you finish this blog, do yourself a favor and stream the entire film.

Now…
Is there something to be learned from this quote in Finding Nemo, that we can apply to procurement and sourcing? As buyer and suppliers aren’t we all living in the same ocean, existing in the same ecosystem, and working towards the same value creation?

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Procurement Powerplay: The Winning Formula for Seamless Success in Purchasing!

Featuring Our 12 Best Procurement Articles!

In a realm known as the bustling world of business, procurement holds the key to unlocking the secrets of wise purchases and seamless operations. Today, we embark on an epic adventure to discover the winning formula and untapped potential of the Procurement Powerplay Quest, where you will learn the secrets of success in purchasing.

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Strategic Supplier Relationship Management – Do’s and Don’ts

Procurement Don’t go to the Dark Side!

Shortly after I joined the Commodity/Category Management Procurement organization I was invited to attend the annual Strategic Supplier Awards event. It was all about Strategic Supplier Relationship management.

There were Executives from dozens of Suppliers in attendance. The event concluded with award recognition given to Suppliers based on their scoring and standing as being of Strategic value to the company.

Prior to joining the Procurement team I had neither understood nor appreciated the importance of Supplier Relationship management. But having seen how motivated and inspired these Suppliers were I started to understand.

But in the weeks, months and years to come I also became much more informed about the good and bad aspects of Supplier Relationship Management.

From company to company I came to develop a list of Strategic Supplier Relationship Management “Do’s” and “Don’ts”.

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Enable Spend Aggregation in Procurement!

Spend Aggregation Obstacle Course for Procurement!

Aggregating your procurement spend for the purpose of delivering greater value is a sound objective.  Theoretically you should be able to generate better service, better terms and conditions, and better cost.  Therefore you should enable spend aggregation.

Yet there can be many obstacles in your way to achieving this seemingly simple goal.  Loss of control, fear of job loss, questionable benefits, and a perceived loss of margin are some of the obstacles you may run across.  We discussed these in greater detail in our post Procurement (Part 1!) – The Spend Aggregation Obstacle Course!

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Differentiate With Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)!

Strategic Supplier Relationship Management – Do’s and Don’ts

Democratic institutions around the world promote the core doctrine that all people are created equally. This is clearly not the case in the world of supplier management. All suppliers are not created equally and they should all be managed with this distinction in mind. As such you can differentiate with Supplier Relationship Management.

This article on how to differentiate with Supplier Relationship Management will look at a model for stratifying and segmenting your supply base within the confines of a structured and formal supplier relationship program (SRP).

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Digital Procurement Ecosystem Creation in 8 Minutes!

What is the Digital Supply Chain?

I was in Paris last week, touring around as people do in Paris, and visited Fondation Louis Vuitton. What does that have to do with a Digital Procurement ecosystem?

If you’ve never been before and are a fan of art, architecture, and culture, I can highly recommend adding it to any future itineraries.

The museum’s collections are magnificent, and the building itself is a true masterpiece. Beyond the artwork, Fondation Louis Vuitton offers an experience to tour the multiple levels of decks that interweave themselves between the inside and the outside of the building’s structure.

On one of the decks sits a piece of artwork named “Where the Slaves Live”. It is a living organism, composed of inorganic and organic materials, forming a ‘living sculpture’ that is a small scale ecosystem- an ever-changing work of art.

Continue reading “Digital Procurement Ecosystem Creation in 8 Minutes!”