- Interesting podcast from the former Chief Procurement Officer of the department for Homeland Security (Nick Nayak). Interesting to hear about their procurement cycles:
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/473/3772691/Nick-Nayak-Former-Chief-Procurement-Officer-DHS
- Three steps on buying an analytics solution:
http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/01/3-steps-to-buying-analytics-solution.html - Helping Supply Chain become more strategic:
Procurement, in contrast, has not completely shifted to the cloud yet and has a much broader landscape to cover. Depending on the organisation, procurement activity could be undertaken by individuals in the Procurement, Finance, HR, Operations, Shared Services, Supply Chain and Accounts Payable functions. While all functions will share the same overall business goals, they are unlikely to share the same approach to managing spend. This fragmentation has historically meant that getting all spend under management has been very difficult.
- Can your supply chain survive a cyber-attack?
1. Update your supplier vetting checklist
2. Look for potential “weak links
3. Redundancy is key
4. Test, test, test
5. Develop internal partnerships
http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2014/12/would-your-supply-chain-survive-cyber.html
The Supply Chain: 12/29/2014
- How Pratt & Whitney selects suppliers in their supply chain:
A prospective supplier needs to know two things to be considered as a P&W supplier, Albertelli says. First, she advises that manufacturing processes would-be suppliers have traditionally done by hand – welding, for example – need to be automated as much as possible. Second, a company should have the flexibility to understand that it might not be the only provider of a part, which can be important if a company needs to invest in new equipment, such as robots.
http://www.onlineamd.com/becoming-tier-supplier-pratt-whitney-122614.aspx
- Why BI is key for (manufacturing) supply chain during the holidays:
Clearly applicable to our own usage as well…
http://smartdatacollective.com/sian-davies/287241/why-manufacturing-industry-needs-business-intelligence-badly-christmas-story - The top IT Health Mergers of 2014:
This post can fit in a few places, but it showed up in my procurement feed, so it will go on this post. Lots of familiar names on the list…
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/Top-2014-Health-IT-Mergers-and-Acquisitions-49497-1.html - Companies not auditing their suppliers for corruption and ethics violations (61% surveyed):
businesses need to dive deeper than their first tier of suppliers, to make sure their suppliers’ suppliers are driving through their systems the desired ethical and social policies, he said. “It is more difficult to get information on the second line because companies concentrate on that first line” of suppliers, said Mr. Chamberlain. “They’ve got to get first tier to do it.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2014/12/23/companies-turning-a-blind-eye-to-supply-chains/
The Supply Chain: 12/22/2014
I am introducing a new feature on the blog – The Supply Chain. This post will have information about what is happening in the world of SCM to help us get better ideas and confirm paths we are already walking down.
- Should Chief Procurement Officers (CPO) morph into Chief Metrics Officers (C#O)?
The IBM study found that most CPOs are gunning to develop a 360-degree global, integrated view of sourcing, which will by definition include assessing both inputs and outputs. They’re also focused on enabling innovation, primarily by finding ways to get projects launched faster, but with manageable metrics attached.
- TCS Recognized as a Leader in Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Outsourcing
http://www.itbusinessnet.com/article/TCS-Recognized-as-a-Leader-in-Procure-to-Pay-(P2P)-Outsourcing-by-Everest-Group-3668835 - Supply Chain Experts Take a Cue from Fruit Fly Research
VANs pull data from different areas of a company’s supply chain to analyze trends and provide early detection of possible issues. They also help companies remain a step ahead through the use of predictive analytics, which can recognize possible demand signals before they happen and ensure their products are being procured and distributed in sufficient quantity. Thanks to this approach, companies have the ability to avoid stock outs. A VAN can also be used to identify districts that may be in danger of running out of key commodities as well as those that may have excess stock, which could be transferred elsewhere as emergency supplies.
http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2014/12/Supply-Chain-Experts-Take-a-Cue-from-Fruit-Fly-Research
Note on the term VANs: supply chain control towers—or visibility and analytics networks - Supply Chain Transparency: The Key Challenge In 2015?
In 2015, we need to see a greater understanding of how, where and why savings (or indeed discounts, kickbacks and rebates) are made, giving procurement and finance teams better toolsets to automate the measurement, reporting and validation of savings. Systems that are able to manage, accurately apply, record and provide awareness of contractual terms will aid the procurement function in delivering against governance targets, which inevitably will follow.
- Federal government struggles in IT procurement:
More than $1 out of every $6 in the federal government goes to contractors through a procurement vehicle, yet agencies continually struggle to get it right. That was apparent in 2014, a year marked by governmentwide efforts to reform acquisition, especially in IT.
- JP Morgan’s CPO (Richard Buccarelli) recently left the company
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/12/15/j-p-morgans-chief-procurement-officer-leaves-bank/