- Category: General
Disruptive talent shortages are being experienced by a number of industries. We often think of data sciences and healthcare as prime examples. However, procurement is an industry that is already seeing a noticeable shortage of skilled and experienced talent.
- Category: General
The procurement industry is in a constant state of flux. Since the Financial Crisis of 2008, changes have occurred at an unprecedented rate. With an ever-increasing adoption of technology into the industry, the changes have accelerated and Chief procurement officers are most affected with these new challenges.
- Category: General
Blockchain as a potentially paradigm-shifting concept has been investigated and debated for a number of years, but only recently are we seeing this concept being put into action. When procurement and supply chain management are concerned, this year has already been eventful.
- Category: General
Almost all procurement done by an organization happens in stages that make up the procurement lifecycle. Identifying these stages is an important step as it provides a formalized way to analyze the procurement process, discover any weaknesses in it and help formulate ways in which those weaknesses can be addressed in the future. The segmentation of the procurement lifecycle also enables a more precisely targeted approach to managing the entire process which saves time and resources if any issues should arise which jeopardize the effectiveness of the entire process.
- Category: General
Procurement Outsourcing, the process of outsourcing a company’s procurement processes to an outside partner, is a US$2.4 billion dollar market. According to Everest Group’s 2017 Procurement Outsourcing Annual report, the growth of the procurement outsourcing market in the United States slowed down somewhat in 2016, but it still showed a nine percent growth.
- Category: General
Chief procurement officers will agree on very little. Their individual experiences in the industry have influenced their opinions and they all have their own ways of doing things.
That being said, there is one thing they will all agree on – the main goal of a CPO is to slash procurement costs. Deloitte’s recent 2016 Global Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Study confirms this, stating that reducing costs is the main challenge for a whopping 74% of CPOs interviewed. If it is possible to do so quickly, all the better.
- Category: General
Procurement was once considered an operational function for just executing orders. However, in the previous few years it has finally been awarded the top strategic role that it deserves. This has come with a handful of great responsibilities and, unfortunately, lots of pressure. Nowadays the procurement department is responsible for so many additional achievements within the company, from risk management to sustainability impact, surpassing its cost-cutter legacy by far.
- Category: General
Exporting jobs overseas is now being looked at with increasing scrutiny. Companies in the USA are more than ever looking to see how they can keep jobs remaining in the USA. However the trend in business process outsourcing in the past 20 years has been going in the opposite direction. More than 6 million jobs are currently outsourced out of the US with an estimated 300,000 jobs outsourced out of the US every year. This trend has recently received more criticism.
- Category: General
Are your current vendors not achieving service levels or cost saving levels that meet your expectations?
Frustrated that your current vendors take a reactive and not proactive approach to solving critical procurement problems? You are simply not getting answers on time.
- Category: General
Choosing the right supplier may be one of the hardest decisions a procurement department has to make and 31% of procurers stated this as the hardest part of their job.
The right supplier means that your products and services are delivered on time, that you are receiving the optimal price to meet your needs and that the quality is in compliance with your standards.
- Category: General
Procurement outsourcing is on the rise mostly due to its large cost saving potential (Central Trading Agency, Inc or CTA, Inc. provides to its clients up to 30% savings on their procurement expenses), but also due to ability to provide first class procurement service to companies. Most companies are unable to manage a large number of suppliers, especially when it comes to non-core spending, or don’t have the sufficient time or money to invest in their procurement department staff.
- Category: General
The long time elephant in the room of every big business – a tail-end spend management is finally becoming a procurement priority. Usually, procurement organizations have been focused on managing their strategic spend and that means 80% of total spend. The tail-end of a procurement department’s spend refers to the 20% of non core transactions that are left unmanaged, usually due to a high volume of suppliers and limited in-house resources.
- Category: General
I have been a small procurement owner for years now and I’ve seen it all in this business. However, I still learn every day and I believe I will never stop because I always strive to be better at what I do. One thing that never seizes to amaze me is the importance and capabilities of small companies.
- Category: General
If the time has come for your company to outsource its Procurement process, how do you go about choosing a good outsourcing partner? You should look for a company that offers a broad range of quality materials and products, timely deliveries and quick lead times, and that can help you reduce costs.
- Category: General
Speed should be the focus and the forte of a good Procurement process. Why? Because timing is everything, especially for Procurement in Manufacturing. Timely deliveries of raw materials and other goods have an immediate impact on reducing companies’ costs and increasing their revenue. Here is how