Procurement Archives - Page 3 of 3

February 17, 2016February 12, 2016

News You Can Use: 2/17/2016

The Procurement Maturity Curve — savings at every stage

Fortunately, the high priority placed on savings doesn’t lock Procurement in a race to the lowest price where we must compromise quality or functionality to shave off a few pennies. As Procurement matures and enterprise spend becomes better managed, increasingly strategic approaches can be applied to continue generating comparable levels of savings: switching to more innovative supply partners, introducing alternative materials or adopting a more appropriate commercial model.

Truth be told, I shared the article for the image (I am sure it will find its way into a presentation at some point)

http://www.determine.com/blog/entry/the-procurement-maturity-curve-savings-at-every-stage
Are tablets dead?
Now that AI has mastered ‘Go,’ are all our jobs next?

Here’s an example: There are currently more than 230,000 taxi drivers in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — not counting Uber or other alternatives.

“Once driverless cars are mainstream, all those jobs are going to go away — those people are going to have to find something else to do to support their families,” Upadhyay pointed out. “That’s disruptive.”

Additionally…

“In a way, it’s looking through data from 20 million U.S. businesses — that’s something no sales rep can ever put in their head,” Upadhyay said.

The effect, though, isn’t that companies get rid of all their salespeople and replace them with predictive-marketing software. Rather, it’s changing the human focus from predicting who will buy to closing the deal, he pointed out.

“It’s moving from one skill that people were bad at anyway and shifting to what they’re good at,” Upadhyay explained. After all, marketers tend to be creative — “in cases like this, the machine is actually freeing people to do what they love.”

http://www.cio.com/article/3030672/now-that-ai-has-mastered-go-are-all-our-jobs-next.html#tk.rss_all
Supply Chain Priorities for 2016:

https://www.apqc.org/blog/supply-chain-management-priorities-2016

Photo: Łukasz Popardowski

December 2, 2015January 30, 2016

News You Can Use: 12/2/2015

Would 50% of all procurement professionals really choose a different career?

Once again, a certain level of job dissatisfaction within any sector is nothing new. However, the 50% number should be of concern to those occupying the executive suite both within, and external to the procurement industry. After all, it is hard to operate at maximum capacity when half your team is disenchanted and/or disengaged.

https://procureinsights.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/would-50-of-all-procurement-professionals-really-choose-a-different-career/
Your Company Was Acquired. Now What?

In my transition out of my company and my move into that of a board member, their team was pleased to see how well I had adapted from being the sole decision-maker into a role that was a bit more low-key, yet still highly influential. My philosophy is the same as when I ran my business. I listen more, speak less and let the team fail or succeed on their own merits. I have trust that they have the company’s best interests in mind and will succeed.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253177
Nestle admits to supply chain problems

The investigation began at the tail end of 2014, according to the source. Around the same time, reports from the AP “tied brutal and largely unregulated working conditions to their shrimp, prawn and Purina-brand pet foods.”

Apparently, many of the laborers come from poorer areas such as Myanmar and Cambodia, upon arrival they are charged a fee to work and then are trapped into working off unreasonable payments, explained the AP.

http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2015/11/nestle-admits-to-supply-chain-problems.html
7 Traits That Define Work Productivity Superstars

5. Builds a reservoir of goodwill without asking for anything in return
Good business and good working relationships must always be seen as unconditional, meaning not motivated by an expectation of future payback. The result will be people and organizations wanting to help you, rather than feeling an obligation to contribute.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253149
Do You Know the Rules for Ethical Supplier Interaction?

Donations for charitable organizations are less obvious because everyone just wants to help a good cause, and what does it hurt if a supplier makes a decision to support your favourite charity? Well, it depends. How much? Does the supplier expect favouritism for the donation? Will the donation unconsciously bias you toward the supplier? Will there be a perception of bias? It’s tough.

http://sourcinginnovation.com/wordpress/2015/11/27/do-you-know-the-rules-for-ethical-supplier-interaction/
Big Data: The Latest Rage in Supply Chain Management

We’ve found with our clients, again and again, that big data can have a measurable impact on driving greater accuracy in planning, ensuring that companies make the right amount of the right product. Advanced algorithms and machine learning can facilitate increased forecast accuracy across a company’s SKUs, which drives greater turns, less waste, less inventory, and fewer stock-outs, which leads to higher EBITDA, lower working capital, and greater competitiveness.

http://ww2.cfo.com/supply-chain/2015/11/big-data-latest-rage-supply-chain-management/

Photo: Adrianna Calvo

August 5, 2015August 1, 2015

News You Can Use: 8/5/2015

Gartner Announces Rankings of Its 2015 Supply Chain Top 25

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3053118
Detroit Is Cultivating Local Entrepreneurship to Secure It’s Future

What have I been saying about Detroit and Camden? It is going to happen…Detroit is also a city that is made of 82 percent African-American residents and 52 percent women residents, with an annual median household income of $26,000. When witnessing this new business growth we must ask ourselves, is everyone able to participate? Can all have the opportunity to start a business and grow? Nationally, according to our database, minority entrepreneurs make up 15 percent of businesses and contribute $591 billion in revenue to the economy. Will Detroit capture and foster this growth?

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248844?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
Big Data and Risk are a Match Made in Heaven

Tier one automotive supplier Borg Warner, for instance has developed a Supplier Performance Monitor using huge amounts of readily available data from its own SAP system plus third party data all fed through an artificial intelligence algorithm similar to Google’s search engine to stay ahead of problems. Rather than periodically assessing risk and paying for protection with working capital, Borg Warner constantly listens for tremors and responds before the problem gets out of hand.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinomarah/2015/07/30/big-data-and-risk-are-a-match-made-in-heaven/
Amazon CTO: ‘We Still Consider Ourselves a Startup’

It’s very important to realize today that with minimal investment you can start building applications. Five, ten years ago you would need millions [of dollars] in investment. It allows entrepreneurs to truly focus on new products without having to worry about the infrastructure, without having to get additional investment to buy hardware. And if you look at the big household names these days, Airbnb, Spotify, Instagram, Pinterest – all of these are born in the cloud. Without cloud, if you asked them, they would probably say they would not have been able to reach this scale at the speed they did, without it.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248884?ctp=BizDev&src=Syndication&msc=Feedly
Summer Break: Procurement’s Day in the Sun

Added Miller, “the demand for supplier transparency and high-quality, responsibly-sourced offerings has never been higher. Cost containment will always remain a key sourcing objective, but today, it’s equally important that a company can find and retain reliable and reputable sources of supply. How and where a product gets made can have far-reaching implications on an organization’s sales effectiveness and brand reputation.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulmartyn/2015/07/28/summer-break-procurements-day-in-the-sun/
Exploring Investment Drivers for Global Supply Chain Risk Management

a new concept is emerging: global supply chain risk management (SCRM).  Quite often, the decisions to invest in SCRM are often driven more by the fear of negative press – and of course regulatory penalties – than the opportunity to make the supply chain more resilient and maintain top-line revenue and market share, even in the case of a supply chain upset.

http://spendmatters.com/2015/07/31/global-supply-chain-risk-management-investment-drivers/

Photo: Christian Joudrey

March 4, 2015January 30, 2016

The Supply Chain: 3/4/2015

The Western procurement issue in China (Yes, the US did have some kind of back-door spying equipment installed in American-branded equipment but China isn’t an innocent party – they have been ripping off US patents and designs for years to get their manufacturers competitive. )

Yes, the US did have some kind of back-door spying equipment installed in American-branded equipment but China isn’t an innocent party – they have been ripping off US patents and designs for years to get their manufacturers competitive.

http://www.techworm.net/2015/02/leading-western-technology-brands-like-apple-intelmcafee-shunned-from-chinas-approved-tech-listing.html
SAP: Welcome to the new era of procurement:

Procurement can and will play an increasingly strategic role in managing this virtual enterprise, leveraging technology to simplify the way complex business gets done and manage their operations in a new and dynamic way that keeps their companies ahead of the competition. Procurement is evolving from service to a function. And with increasing frequency, it is focused on business value and enabling supplier innovations as opposed to just driving procurement savings through cost reductions.

http://www.news-sap.com/procurement-2015-evolution-continues/
Four ways to access the strength of suppliers:

A company with a high proportion of long-term contract agreements in its order book is likely to be more secure than a firm completing work on a shorter term basis. However, a retained contract should not prompt reckless overconfidence; it is often a good idea to look over notice periods and analyse the probability of changes in market conditions or demand which could reduce a client’s requirement for the business’ goods or services.

http://www.supplymanagement.com/blog/2015/02/four-ways-to-assess-the-strength-of-suppliers
Failure to Work With Minority Owned Businesses a Challenge in the Private and Public Sector

Last month, the NAACP Florida State Conference led by President Adora Obi Nweze released an Economic Development Report Card on the records of targeted cities, counties, school districts and private corporations in the State of Florida. What stood out amidst all of the findings were the poor minority procurement practices that were consistent through the public and private sector. In summary, most local governments spent less than two percent with veteran, minority and women -owned businesses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dedrick-muhammad/failure-to-work-with-mino_b_6736984.html

February 4, 2015January 30, 2016

The Supply Chain: 2/4/2015

Time for CPOs to Focus More on Organizational Costs and Efficiencies Rather than Just Contracted Costs

He adds that “If we can start eliminating work – by eliminating sacred documents such as the purchase order – as procurement leaders we can move to the forefront of innovation. By cutting costs in administration we can shift our time and talents toward strategic matters, which drive our companies forward.”

http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/15-01-27-3.php?cid=8924
Story about a retail company deploying DiCentral’s EDI procurement solution:
Just interesting to read about alternative deployments
http://www.just-style.com/news/genesco-to-streamline-supply-chain-with-edi_id124219.aspx
Procurement increasingly takes a back seat in BCO-carrier negotiations

Major companies are realizing that their logistics teams bring in-depth transportation knowledge and long-term ocean carrier relationships, across a multitude of cultures, to the negotiating table. Those relationships can have an almost magical effect on the final freight dollar amount and resultant service level,” said Chas Deller, who retired in September as head of global ocean freight procurement for UTi Worldwide and is now a partner in 10XOCEANSOLUTIONS Inc. which advises shippers in contract negotiations.

http://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/procurement-increasingly-takes-back-seat-bco-carrier-negotiations_20150126.html
Three tips for better IT Procurement

1) Learn to navigate a three-tiered global supply chain
2) Keep up with advances in technology
3) Use impartial and reliable information to beat a volatile market

http://www.supplymanagement.com/blog/2015/01/three-tips-to-better-it-procurement
The best supply chain CEOS
I am not picking #1 (so you read the article) – here is #3:

Frederick Smith
Modern-day legend and proof of the American dream, Smith is the founder of one of the biggest companies in the world. Now a $45 billion interest, the idea for it began during Smith’s three-year stint, 1966-69, as a US Marine, where he observed closely the logistics and procurement of the armed forces and was inspired to start up an overnight delivery service for civilians. He founded Federal Express with his $4 million inheritance (modern equivalent $23 million) and raised $91 million ($525 million) in venture capital in 1970.

http://www.supplychaindigital.com/top10/3800/TOP-10-SUPPLY-CHAIN-CEOs-2015