Satya Mishra, Director, Product Management at Amazon Business, discusses how CPOs have become an important voice at the table to drive digital transformation and efficient collaboration.

Harnessing efficiency is at the heart of any digital transformation journey.

Digitalisation should revolve around driving efficiency and achieving cost savings. Otherwise, why do it?

Amazon is no stranger to simplifying shopping for its customers. It is why Amazon has become a global leader in e-commerce. But, business-to-business customers can have different needs than traditional consumers, which is what led to the birth of Amazon Business in 2015. Amazon Business simplifies procurement processes, and one of the key ways it does this is by integrating with third-party systems to drive efficiencies and quickly discover insights. 

Satya Mishra, Director, Product Management at Amazon Business, tells us all about how the organisation is helping procurement leaders to integrate their systems to lead to time and money savings.

Satya Mishra: “More than six million customers around the world tap Amazon Business to access business-only pricing and selection, purchasing system integrations, a curated site experience, Business Prime, single or multi-user business accounts, and dedicated customer support, among other benefits.

“I lead Amazon Business’ integrations tech team, which builds integrations with third-party e-procurement, expense management, e-sourcing and idP systems. We also build APIs for our customers that either they or the third-party system integrators can use to create solutions that meet customers’ procurement needs. Integrations can allow business buyers to create connected buying journeys, which we call smart business buying journeys. 

“If a customer does not have existing procurement systems they’d like to integrate, they can take advantage of other native tools, like a Business Analytics dashboard, in the Amazon Business store, so they can monitor their business spend. They can also discover and use some third-party integrated apps in the new Amazon Business App Center.”

Why would a customer choose to integrate their systems? Are CPOs leading the way?

Satya Mishra: “By integrating systems, customers can save time and money, drive compliance, spend visibility, and gain clearer insights. I talk to CPOs frequently to learn about their pain points. I often hear from these leaders that it can be tough for procurement teams to manage or create purchasing policies. This is especially if they have a high volume of purchases coming in from employees across their whole organisation, with a small group of employees, or even one employee, manually reviewing and reconciling. Integrations can automate these processes and help create a more intuitive buying experience across systems.

“Procurement is a strategic business function. It’s data-driven and measurable. CPOs manage the business buying, and the business buying can directly impact an organisation’s bottom line. If procurement tools don’t automatically connect to a source of supply, business buying decisions can become more complex. Properly integrated technology systems can help solve these issues for procurement leaders.”

Satya Mishra, Director, Product Management at Amazon Business

Beyond process complexity, what other challenges are procurement leaders facing?

Satya Mishra: “In the Amazon Business 2024 State of Procurement Report, other top challenges respondents reported were having access to a wide range of sellers and products that meet their needs, and ensuring compliance with spend policies. 

“The report also found that 52% of procurement decision-makers are responsible for making purchases for multiple locations. Of that group, 57% make purchases for multiple countries.

“During my conversations with CPOs, I hear them say that having access to millions of products across many categories through Amazon Business has allowed them to streamline their supplier quantity and reduced time spent going to physical stores or trying to find products they’re looking for from a range of online websites. They’ve also shared that the ability to ship purchases from Amazon Business to multiple addresses has been very helpful in reducing complexity for both spot-buy and planned or recurring purchases. Organisations may need to buy specific products, like copy paper or snacks, in a recurring way. They may need to buy something else, like desks, only once, and in bulk, at that. Amazon Business’ ordering capabilities are agile and can lessen the purchasing complexity.”

How should procurement leaders choose which integrations will help them the most? 

Satya Mishra: “At Amazon Business, we work backwards from customer problems to find solutions. I recommend CPOs think about what existing systems their employees may already use, the organisation’s buying needs, and their buyers’ typical purchasing behaviors. The buying experience should be intuitive and delightful. 

“Amazon Business integrates with more than 300 systems, like Coupa, SAP Ariba, Okta, Fairmarkit, and Intuit Quickbooks, to name just a handful. With e-procurement integrations like Punchout and Integrated Search, customers start their buying journey in their e-procurement system. With Punch-in, they start on the Amazon Business website, then punch into their e-procurement system. With SSO, customers can use their existing employee credentials. Our collection of APIs can help customers customise their procure-to-pay and source-to-settle operations. This includes automating receipts in expense management systems and track progress toward spending goals. 

“My team recently launched an App Center where customers can discover third-party apps spanning Accounting Management, Rewards & Recognition, Expense Management, Integrated Shopping and Inventory Management categories. We’ll continue to add more apps over time to help simplify the integrated app discovery process for customers.

“Some customers choose to stack their integrations, while others stick with one integration that serves their needs. There are many possibilities, and you don’t just have to choose one integration. You can start with Punchout and e-invoicing, for example, and then also integrate with Integrated Search, so your buyers can search the Amazon Business catalog within the e-procurement system your organisation uses.”

Are integrations tech projects?

Satya Mishra: “No, integrations should not be viewed as tech projects to be decided by only an IT team. Integrations open doors to greater data connectivity and business efficiencies across organisations. Instead of having disjointed data streams, you can connect those systems and centralise data, increasing spend visibility. You may be able to spot patterns and identify cost savings that may have gotten lost otherwise. 

“It’s not uncommon for me to hear that CPOs, CFOs and CIOs are collaborating on business decisions that will save them all time and meet shared goals, and integrations are in their mix of recommendations. 

“One of my team’s key goals has been to simplify integrations and bring in more self-service solutions. In terms of set-up, some integrations like SSO can be self-serviced by the customer. Amazon Business can help customers with the set-up process for integrations as well.”

How has procurement transformed in recent years?

Satya Mishra: “Procurement is no longer viewed as a back-office function. CPOs more commonly have a seat at the table for strategic cross-functional decisions with CFOs and CIOs.

“95% of Amazon Business 2024 State of Procurement Report respondents say the purchases they make mostly fall into managed spend. Managed spending is often planned for months or years ahead of time. This can create a great opportunity to recruit other stakeholders across departments versus outsourcing purchasing responsibilities. Equipping domain experts to support routine purchasing activities allows procurement to uplevel its focus and take on higher priorities across the organisation, while still maintaining oversight of overarching buying patterns. It’s also worth noting that by connecting to e-procurement and expense management systems, integrations provide easy and secure access to products on Amazon Business and help facilitate managed spend.”

What does the future of procurement look like?

Satya Mishra: “Bright! By embracing digital transformation and artificial intelligence to form more agile and strategic operations, CPOs can influence the ways their organisations innovate and adapt to change.”

Read the latest CPOstrategy here!

Anthony Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of HICX, tells us how working collaboratively with suppliers on sustainable procurement practices could act as an organisation’s competitive advantage.

Sustainability isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ anymore – businesses don’t have much of a choice in the world of 2024.

With ESG regulations now locked in place, organisations must comply or risk significant penalties. In order to achieve sustainability objectives more effectively and efficiently, collaborating with suppliers represents a real opportunity to get there faster.

When businesses work with suppliers to reach sustainability goals, they need access to the most accurate supplier data possible. However, obtaining this data isn’t necessarily straightforward. Ultimately, suppliers own it and need to provide it.

This means it is in a business’s interest to form and maintain a great working relationship with suppliers.

Anthony Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of HICX, the supplier experience platform, discusses the benefits of being supplier-centric and how giving brands a better experience adds value to organisations.

Anthony Payne: “There is a direct link. A good supplier experience makes it easier to communicate with suppliers because it allows for collaboration, whereas the opposite can harm communication efforts. For example, when businesses need ESG information, many will survey a broad group of suppliers even though the questions don’t apply to everyone. This is easier for the business. But it means every supplier who receives the survey must investigate whether it applies to them. The experience is more likely to frustrate suppliers than to help them offer the best information.

“Rather, we can help suppliers to help us by communicating better. The way forward is to segment suppliers into groups and send them only relevant requests. This creates a more positive experience in which suppliers are better able to provide helpful information.”

What about their motivation to help sustainability efforts – does this also rely on supplier experience?

Anthony Payne: “Yes, because if the culture of the business-supplier relationship is one in which each party looks out for themselves, then suppliers won’t be terribly motivated to offer the most helpful ESG information. It’s just human nature. Whereas if a business creates an environment in which suppliers can collaborate with them, then they’re more likely to become a customer-of-choice. This is a status worth having. A recent HICX survey showed that while 49% of suppliers would go the extra mile for their biggest customer, as many as 73% would make the effort if this was a customer-of-choice.

“Ultimately, if businesses give their suppliers a good experience, then more suppliers should be willing to provide helpful ESG information – even if it means spending a bit more effort.”

Anthony Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of HICX

What are some of your most effective strategies and best practices to building a future-proof ESG framework?

Anthony Payne: “Businesses can futureproof their ESG frameworks by viewing suppliers as value-adding partners. This principle suggests three ways to engage suppliers…

“First, have a corporate mindset in which every employee views every supplier as a valued partner. If COVID-19 taught us anything it’s how much we rely on suppliers. When the pandemic hit, non-strategic suppliers such as providers of IT equipment and protective personal equipment suddenly became as central to operations as those who supplied the main ingredients. If we take the view that ‘all suppliers matter’, then it becomes easier to treat them all as partners in the same eco-system and we can work together towards common goals.

“Then, through this lens, we can market to suppliers. In customer marketing, a business would require a certain action from customers – such as getting them to buy a product, read a newsletter or attend an event – and so would motivate this behaviour. Similarly, in procurement, we can appeal to suppliers in a way that encourages them to participate in ESG activities, for instance, by providing helpful carbon emission information. 

“One way to encourage the desired behaviour with suppliers is to segment them into the appropriate categories and send them only necessary messages. This is what a marketer would do with customers. By viewing suppliers as partners and introducing supplier marketing and segmentation, you can improve suppliers’ experience and get the most from them.”

What are the biggest barriers that organisations face to delivering more sustainable practices within their organisations?

Anthony Payne: “Once supplier data has been captured, however, the challenge continues because it must be maintained as a golden source of truth. Not having accurate supplier data is a major barrier to delivering sustainable practices because it means that businesses cannot see who all their suppliers are and what they’re doing. 

“Thankfully, with robust onboarding and data management in place, businesses can keep their supplier data up-to-date and accurate so that it can inform good sustainability decisions.”

What is the best way for procurement teams to assess and prioritise the suppliers they work with? How do you juggle environmental impact vs value to company?

Anthony Payne: “The best way to assess and prioritise suppliers is to have visibility. Businesses need to know who all their suppliers are and what they’re doing, at any given time. Only once leaders are informed, can they make the best environmental decisions.

“It’s imperative to manage environmental impact with suppliers, regardless of how much value they bring a company. Apart from the moral obligation to protect the environment, businesses also have their reputations to consider. An environmental infringement that gets exposed – no matter how deep in the supply chain it might occur – is very likely to cause reputational damage, which can have a knock-on effect on sales and share price. 

“In addition to brand reputation, businesses can also face expensive fines, if their suppliers are found to fall short of environmental regulations.”

Anthony Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of HICX

What are the challenges and opportunities when it comes to supplier diversity?

Anthony Payne: “The challenge is to source the right suppliers in the first instance and then be able to report on their activity. We know that finding diverse suppliers in the UK can be difficult. While the US market is more mature, supplier diversity is growing here. Considering this, many suppliers that could qualify as “diverse” are not yet certified. Additionally, when diverse suppliers are indeed certified, there is no guarantee that their skillsets will match your needs. 

“Thankfully there are ways in which businesses can proactively grow their networks of diverse suppliers. For starters, leaders can equip people within the organisation who work with suppliers, to find diverse suppliers by educating them and putting policies in place. Further, there are practical steps one can follow – such as defining the criteria for what qualifies a supplier as diverse in various territories and then finding the right businesses by searching online directories, desktop research and asking for recommendations.

“Once suppliers that are considered to be diverse are indeed found, they bring much value. Apart from being able to make a positive sustainability impact, the expectations of regulators, shareholders and consumers can be met. The by-product of this is a positive reputation which has economic benefits. 

“The opposite logic also applies, and failing to capture supplier diversity value becomes a missed opportunity. For instance, when third-party expectations to support supplier diversity are missed, this can damage brand reputation which hurts sales figures and share price. Also, the unique offerings that diverse suppliers can offer will be missed, and with it the chance to make an impact. Therefore, it’s sensible to make the most of the diverse suppliers that you worked so hard to find.”

Do you have any tips for readers who want to make the most of the diverse suppliers they have sourced?

Anthony Payne: “Yes, you can start by knowing that it’s possible to make the most of the diverse suppliers you find. You can do this by following a stepped approach. 

“Start by onboarding new suppliers who are considered ‘diverse’ with processes that reliably capture their information. This way, your diversity programmes can be well-informed. It’s hugely valuable to be able to tell, at the touch of a button, where a particular supplier might be based. Also, what qualifies them as ‘diverse’? And while they might hold diversity status today, how can we be sure it still applies tomorrow? 

“With all the right information collected at the start of each relationship, then it’s a good idea to instill processes that drive everyone who works with suppliers to spend more with those who are considered as diverse. As more diverse suppliers join the organisation, then you need to keep their data accurate. Do this by digitally transforming the procurement landscape to make master data a priority. With robust processes, it’s possible to maximise your relationships with all suppliers.”

How optimistic are you about the future of ESG within procurement?

Anthony Payne: “I am very optimistic about the future of ESG within procurement, because, we’re seeing the supplier experience movement grow in the UK and the US. For instance, we’re seeing new job roles come out in this area as the principle is popularised. And we know that having good Supplier Experience Management programmes in place sets up business to procure in the most ESG-friendly way possible. 

“And so, with Supplier Experience Management becoming increasingly popular, we believe that the future for sustainability is bright.”

Read the latest CPOstrategy here!

DHL Group’s Erik-Jan Ossewaarde discusses the power of partnerships in the transition towards a green supply base, and how proactively fostering supplier relationships contributes to a more sustainable ecosystem…

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the 50-issue landmark. It’s been such an incredible journey and thank you to every single person who has helped us along the way! And our 50th issue has a suitably fitting cover story with which to mark this moment.  

Read the latest issue here!

DHL: The power of sustainable partnerships 

DHL Group’s Erik-Jan Ossewaarde discusses the power of partnerships in the transition towards a green supply base. And how proactively fostering supplier relationships contributes to a more sustainable ecosystem 

Procurement has an important role to play in applying supplier sustainability initiatives in most organisations. We all know that. But, if you want to understand what that looks like in practice and how you transform the function to deliver on that promise, you could do a lot worse than spending time with Erik-Jan Ossewaarde and his strategy, sourcing, and procurement colleagues in his global cluster, as we were lucky enough to. Their job is to play a crucial role in delivering on the near-unmatched sustainability commitments set out by world-leading logistics company DHL Group to reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.  

DHL: how proactively fostering supplier relationships contributes to a more sustainable ecosystem 

Read the full story here!

Aquila Group: Purposeful procurement in mind 

We speak to Özer Ergül, Group Head of Procurement at Aquila Group, about the way the business is leveraging its position to influence suppliers and improve ESG across the board 

Investment and asset development company, Aquila Group, is one that takes sustainability seriously. It invests in and develops clean energy and sustainable infrastructure assets, meaning a focus on ESG is baked into the business with more than 15 years’ experience focused on climate change. And for Özer Ergül, Group Head of Procurement at Aquila Group, it’s the perfect canvas for his passions and expertise to come together. 

Ergül’s background is a mixture of aerospace, automotive, and for the last two decades, energy. He started off his career as an Air Force officer and moved into the automotive world in the 1990s, just as the sector was undergoing huge and exciting changes. “Those early roles shaped my way of working, my way of thinking,” Ergül explains. “They showed me how to solve problems collaboratively, and I still use those tools and that knowledge to this day.” 

Read the full story here!

Plus, we have fascinating exclusives with procurement leaders at Amazon Business Services, HICX and many, many more. Plus, all the latest news and events affecting procurement and its practitioners. 

Here’s to the next 50 issues! 

Tamra Pawloski, Head of Global Leveraged Procurement and Corporate Real Estate at Corteva Agriscience talks procurement excellence

Our CPOstrategy cover story this month is…

Corteva Agriscience: Driving digital transformation in procurement  

Tamra Pawloski, Head of Global Leveraged Procurement and Corporate Real Estate at Corteva Agriscience, talks process automation and talent development. Plus, she reveals how to drive continuous improvement while managing more than $3bn in spend…  

Procurement leaders in today’s procurement sector face an ever-shifting landscape fraught with new challenges and mounting responsibilities. In light of shifting geopolitical pressures, souring economic conditions, and the worsening effects of the climate crisis, staying competitive requires constant evolution and agility. The strategic value of procurement has gained greater attention too. And so the expectations placed upon the function have also increased.  

Tamra Pawloski, Head of Global Leveraged Procurement and Corporate Real Estate at Corteva

“When you get down to the root of it, the biggest challenge is that change is constant. If you stay still then you’re not going to be competitive,” reflects Tamra Pawloski.  

Read the full story here!

Orange County: Procurement is all about relationships 

Maria Agrusa, Chief Procurement Officer at Orange County, California, emphasises the invaluable contribution of her staff, whom she regards as the cornerstone of her organisation’s success

Maria Agrusa, Chief Procurement Officer at Orange County

Innovative strategies. Smart technology. Solid contracts. Every procurement manager knows these too well. “However, without  inspired and motivated procurement professionals, the procurement buzzwords are meaningless.” Maria Agrusa, the Chief Procurement Officer at Orange County, emphasises the invaluable contribution of her staff, whom she regards as the cornerstone of her organisation’s success. “Quality and engaged staff are indispensable for accomplishing our tasks”, Maria asserts. With over 25 years of experience in government contracting, Maria brings a wealth of knowledge and a strong commitment to elevating the procurement profession. Indeed, she was awarded Procurement Officer of the Year in 2020 and 2023 by the California State Association of Counties. Her diverse background spans various government procurement sectors, including healthcare and military. It’s a career that provides her with a breadth of experience that she aims to continue sharing with her procurement agents…

Read the full story here!

Focal Point: Empowering procurement to optimise  

Focal Point’s Anders Lillevik and Alice Gumo discuss procurement in the digital age. And how their end-to-end solution enables the function to modernise, optimise, and drive value

How do you run a successful procurement department on Excel and email, or on legacy infrastructure that makes the job more challenging than it needs be? The short answer, as Anders Lillevik and Alice Gumo can unsurprisingly attest to, is you can’t. At all. And that’s truer today than ever, with procurement professionals facing increased pressure and complexity. The need to add value beyond savings, for one, and a greater need for visibility and transparency across an increasingly broad remit of activities. Activities such as ESG, diversity and inclusion, and risk mitigation.

Read the full story here!

Sanofi: Clinical supply chain innovation  

Landry Giardina, Sanofi’s Global Head of Clinical Supply Chain Operations Innovation & Technology talks data-driven performance, resilience, agility and operational excellence within the clinical supply chain area… 

Landry Giardina, Sanofi’s Global Head of Clinical Supply Chain Operations Innovation & Technology

Sanofi has a mission: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives, and sometimes that means starting over with Plan B, Plan C, or even Plan Z. Because to do so means to work across the most complex disciplines to solve problems, to push the boundaries and not be afraid to take smart risks. To dedicate everything to making life better for people everywhere. None of that happens without continuous and groundbreaking R&D and clinical trials to prove the medicines and vaccines it creates are safe and efficient for millions of people around the world. Which makes Landry Giardina and his colleagues’ jobs absolutely essential…

Read the full story here!

SourceDay: Delivering a higher level of performance and visibility in your supply chain  

Tom Kieley, CEO and co-founder at SourceDay, discusses his company’s secret sauce and how it has risen to the top of the pile, delivering unified supplier collaboration for manufacturing customers.  

Some of the best innovation is born through frustration with existing offerings.  

Tom Kieley, CEO and co-founder at SourceDay

Having built their careers in manufacturing, SourceDay’s founders grew tired of unnecessary costs, increased risk, and wasted time and productivity caused by ineffective supplier communication and incorrect ERP data. This led them to create a solution that would prevent direct materials inventory surprises and unnecessary costs. While also rebuilding trust between manufacturers, distributors, and their suppliers.  

Today, SourceDay is a bi-directionally integrated platform for any ERP where the purchase order (PO) demand is generated. The company delivers 100% of purchase order demand to suppliers through the lifecycle of a PO. This is to ensure suppliers have no surprises and always have the most real-time, accurate source of truth. An ERP streamlines many of a company’s internal processes, but when it comes to keeping track of critical PO changes in a timely manner, procurement teams are still stuck in manual work. Spreadsheets, emails, and post-it notes…

Read the full story here!

Werfen: Procurement and supply chain excellence through teamwork  

Don Perigny, Director Supply Chain, at Werfen, a Specialised Diagnostics developer, manufacturer and distributor, reveals how a strong work culture can achieve incredible success during challenging times…  

It takes a village to raise a child,’ purports a famous African saying. It’s certainly a phrase that has struck a note with Don Perigny, Director Supply Chain at Werfen. For Perigny, the ‘village’ is Werfen’s supply-chain and procurement team, although he does extend the sentiment to Werfen’s wider network. It’s Werfen’s suppliers and partners who have kept the former professional sportsman busy at the company for over 21 years.  

Don Perigny, Director Supply Chain, at Werfen

Werfen is a worldwide leader in the area Specialised Diagnostics for Hemostasis, Acute Care, Transfusion, Autoimmunity and Transplant. The Company also has an OEM division, focused on customised diagnostics. Werfen’s annual revenue exceeds $2bn with a worldwide workforce of 7,000, operating in approx. 35 countries and more than 100 territories through its network of distributors.  

We join Perigny at his office in Bedford, Massachusetts. He’s just back from a week at Werfen’s San Diego offices, where he spent some quality time with his extended (work) family. And it’s soon clear that the people, the culture and what Werfen does for the world is crucial to Perigny and the wider workforce at the company…

Read the full story here!

Procurement leaders have an outsized role to play in reducing Scope 3 emissions on the road to net zero.

Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) have been noticeably elevated within the business structure over the past few years — rising from pen-pushing back office functionaries to “orchestrators of value”

CPOs are expected to deliver on more than just cost; supply chain resilience, agility, process innovation and, of course, ESG targets all increasingly fall within the realm of procurement, as company leadership increasingly looks to the function as a source of innovation, efficiency, and risk-avoidance. And, there’s no mistaking the risk that lies in failing to adequately address ESG targets. As Matthias Gutzmann, founder of DPW, wrote in a recent article for Fast Company, it’s “no secret that consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of not only what they’re buying, but who they’re buying it from, and how ethical those companies are.”

Unrelated to sustainability targets, but widespread boycotts levelled against Starbucks for their association with the Israeli government’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians, union busting practices across the US, and also anti-union practices as a direct result of pro-palestinian sentiment expressed by the SWU, have been a not so insignificant part of the coffee giant’s losing billions of dollars as its share price lurched downwards throughout December. Starbucks isn’t even on the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) list, and still shed 7.4% of its share price in December. 

It’s a high profile example, and not a typical example of a failure to comply with ESG goals (although “don’t be associated with a right wing government’s efforts to ethnically cleanse over 30,000 people” feels like it should probably make it onto most organisations’ to-do list) but the consequences are a clear reminder of the changing landscape that awaits organisations that fail (or just don’t want) to act ethically. 

Gutzmann also notes that, in addition to hurting revenues, “These preferences also trickle down into employee attraction and retention, as Gen Z workers stepping into the workforce actively seek out organisations that share their values.” The result is the public actively favouring what he calls “purpose-driven” organisations. 

However, there’s a significant challenge inherent in behaving with more ethical integrity and purpose as an organisation: while promoting ethical practices and environmentally friendly operations within your organisation is challenging enough, it pales in comparison to the task of ensuring such standards are adhered to throughout the entire sour-to-pay process. 

For many companies, fixing their supply chain—whether that means tracking and curtailing Scope 3 emissions or distancing themselves from suppliers associated with deforestation or human atrocities like modern slavery—falls firmly at the feet of the CPO. Gutzmann notes that “While the transition to becoming a purpose-driven company requires buy-in from everyone within an organisation, perhaps no executive has had to take on more new responsibilities than the [CPO].” 

If 90% of an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions, for example, originate in its supply chain—along with other sources of environmental impact like resource and water consumption, human impact, land use, and more—then understanding and taking steps to curtail the negative impact of that supply chain is an essential part of a CPO’s role. 

Gutzmann argues that CPOs will need to become “ethical sourcing enforcers”, adding that the benefits will often outweigh the cost. Not only will CPOs driving genuine ESG reform in their operations avoid potential risks from an alienated customer base but, he adds, “when asked if they would be willing to pay more for a product they could be sure was ethically sourced, more than 83% of consumers said yes. And we’ve seen that companies who prioritise ethical sourcing (ranging from outdoor clothing brand Patagonia to the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s) are rewarded with massive praise from consumers while also boasting impressive bottom lines.”

Landry Giardina, Sanofi’s Global Head of Clinical Supply Chain Operations Innovation & Technology talks data-driven performance, resilience, agility and operational excellence within the clinical supply chain area…

It’s a packed issue this month. Here’s a roll call of just some of this month’s exclusive content…

Read the latest issue here!

Sanofi: Clinical supply chain innovation

Landry Giardina, Sanofi’s Global Head of Clinical Supply Chain Operations Innovation & Technology talks data-driven performance, resilience, agility and operational excellence within the clinical supply chain area

Sanofi has a mission: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives, and sometimes that means starting over with Plan B, Plan C, or even Plan Z. To do so means to work across the most complex disciplines to solve problems, to push the boundaries and not be afraid to take smart risks, and to dedicate everything to making life better for people everywhere. None of that happens without continuous and groundbreaking R&D and clinical trials to prove the medicines and vaccines it creates are safe and efficient for millions of people around the world. Which makes Landry Giardina and his colleagues’ jobs absolutely essential. 

Read the full story here!

Werfen: Procurement and supply chain excellence through teamwork

Don Perigny, Director Supply Chain, at Werfen, a Specialised Diagnostics developer, manufacturer and distributor, reveals how a strong work culture can achieve incredible success during challenging times.

“It takes a village to raise a child,’ purports a famous African saying. It’s certainly a phrase that has struck a note with Don Perigny, Director Supply Chain at Werfen. For Perigny, the ‘village’ is Werfen’s supply-chain and procurement team, although he does extend the sentiment to Werfen’s wider network, including its suppliers and partners, who have kept the former professional sportsman busy at the company for over 21 years.

Werfen is a worldwide leader in the area Specialised Diagnostics for Hemostasis, Acute Care, Transfusion, Autoimmunity and Transplant. The Company also has an OEM division, focused on customised diagnostics. Werfen’s annual revenue exceeds $2bn with a worldwide workforce of 7,000, operating in approx. 35 countries and more than 100 territories through its network of distributors. 

We join Perigny at his office in Bedford, Massachusetts. He’s just back from a week at Werfen’s San Diego offices, where he spent some quality time with his extended (work) family. And it’s soon clear that the people, the culture and what Werfen does for the world is crucial to Perigny and the wider workforce at the company. 

Read the full story here!

Plus, we have expert-driven analysis on hot topics such as AI in supply chain, tackling global regulations and how to encourage more women into supply chain and procurement. 

In this innovative partnership, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts as the two companies focus on taming tail-spend with an on-demand platform with embedded change management.

Businesses have been leaving money on the table for years. For most organisations, (indirect) tail spend flies under the radar because of the large number of lower-value transactions, a fragmented supply base, and a poor user experience. This results in process inefficiencies and lost savings opportunities that can be eight to 13 percent higher than with more competitive sourcing.

Simfoni and Kearney set out to solve this problem, joining forces on solutioning tail spend management. The partnership pairs Kearney’s rich heritage and expertise in procurement transformation and change management with Simfoni’s composable analytics and spend automation technology. The result is a comprehensive global delivery model that significantly improves tail spend management, which until now has been a major problem for large and smaller organisations alike.

“We started our journey over three years ago,” says Stefan Dent, co-founder of Simfoni. “It takes some time to form a bond. You get to know one another working together on client engagements and then you realise that the relationship is really working, so you double down on the commitment.”

Simfoni helps businesses “see spend differently” leveraging data analytics to gain a deep understanding of user needs across everyday ‘tail spend’. Founded in 2015, Simfoni is a leading provider of tail spend, spend analytics, and e-sourcing solutions for large and midsize businesses around the globe. Simfoni’s platform uses machine learning and AI to accelerate and automate tail spend management, saving time and money. Its solution quickly ingests and organises complex data to uncover opportunities to optimise tail to higher value spend. Simfoni emphasises rapid value delivery through on-demand spend automation solutions that are operational in weeks rather than months.

Remko de Bruijn, senior partner at Kearney

The Kearney–Simfoni partnership delivers a unique and powerful proposition, combining Simfoni’s digital tail spend solution with Kearney’s know-how and ability to launch a transformation and unlock the promised value, says Remko de Bruijn, a senior partner at Kearney. “There are many digital procurement solutions around, but frankly, many of them aren’t delivering the promised value, typically because of challenges with user adoption and change,” he says. “Kearney continuously assesses solutions in the market, with one of our other partners, ProcureTech, and together, we concluded that Simfoni is leading in tail spend. This is how we found each other.”

Kearney is a leading global strategy consulting firm founded in 1926, with more than 5,700 people working in more than 40 countries. The company works with more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 as well as with the most influential governmental and nonprofit organisations. Kearney is a partner-owned firm with a distinctive, collegial culture that transcends organizational and geographic boundaries—and it shows. Regardless of location or rank, the firm’s consultants are down-to-earth and approachable, with a shared passion for doing innovative client work that realises tangible benefits for their clients, in both the short and long term.

“We see Simfoni as a powerful solution to realise savings in indirect tail spend. It’s about not only data and spend automation, but also the customer experience,” De Bruijn says. “This is crucial when dealing with everyday spend as most users are non-procurement professionals.”

Kearney aids businesses in implementing Simfoni’s solution quickly, mitigating risks associated with unmanaged spend and vendors. “The attractive thing about Simfoni is that the solution manages tail spend—optimising both spend and vendors—with the savings funding the digitisation. It’s a tail spend solution that delivers a comprehensive service,” De Bruijn says. “Simfoni will even pay the tail suppliers with Simfoni becoming the ‘One Vendor’ for the tail, which creates additional benefits in accounts payables and working capital.”

Simfoni and Kearney both operate globally, which is important since their customers often operate in multiple regions around the world. “It’s a very interesting and powerful proposition,” De Bruijn says.

Stefan Dent, co-founder of Simfoni

Simfoni designed its tail spend platform from the ground up. The company founders came from the procurement domain, having worked in a variety of procurement leadership roles and at other procurement technology providers. “Let’s face it, existing solutions never solved tail spend, which accounts for around 80 percent of your vendors and transactions and around 20 percent of spend value,” Dent says. “Until now, the only options were BPOs, where you effectively outsource your tail to be managed by humans in a lower-cost country, or you use self-service bidding platforms. These solutions deliver some value, but it’s like putting a plaster on a wound.  You never properly cure the problem.” 

Simfoni’s platform is unique in that it is first and foremost a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with integrated buying services and digital procurement content components that connect with a client’s existing systems, or Simfoni can operate autonomously. Dent says that’s not even the best part. “The user experience is the most important element because, as Remko pointed out, most tail spend users are not procurement professionals,” he says. “Our users are in R&D, IT, plant operations, or marketing. They want an intuitive, easy-to-use solution to source and buy goods and services to support the everyday needs of their business. This is where traditional eProcurement systems fail.”

Dent says Kearney is an ideal partner being a trusted advisor to many of the world’s largest organisations. Kearney’s expert knowledge of procurement and transformation are a vital part of the offering. “Kearney’s input and expertise is crucial as Kearney helps our clients scope their tail spend program and update their procurement operating model while Simfoni frees up resources, allowing the client to focus on higher-value activities,” he explains. “At the end of the day, technology alone doesn’t solve tail spend. It’s about change. Kearney helps our clients make that digital shift. That’s why our partnership is so powerful because together we provide a comprehensive change and a digital solution as a package. The opportunity for our clients to finally control and optimise tail-spend is huge.”

CPOstrategy cover star this month is Kristina Andric, Supplier Manager IT at Tetra Pak and recent CIPS Young Talent winner, who discusses the procurement landscape from her perspective and how Tetra Pak is nurturing young procurement leaders like her… 

This month’s cover star is Kristina Andric, Supplier Manager IT at Tetra Pak and recent CIPS Young Talent winner, who discusses the procurement landscape from her perspective and how Tetra Pak is nurturing young procurement leaders like her… 

As a household name in food processing and packaging, Tetra Pak stands by having a customer-centric, strong, and competent procurement function.

As a result, it’s always working hard to evolve, which includes seeking out new procurement talent wherever possible. This is how Kristina Andric, Supplier Manager IT, became part of the team and kick-started an exciting career. 

Read the latest issue here!

Andric started working at Tetra Pak in 2018 via a trainee programme called Future Talent. The programme lasted two years and gave trainees the opportunity to understand Tetra Pak from multiple perspectives. Andric was rotated throughout different parts of the organisation and across different geographies, the idea being to give young people a holistic view of the company before taking on a permanent role.  

“Embracing change marked my career since the beginning,” she reflects. “My curious nature thrives on the opportunity to engage in diverse experiences and continuous learning. Challenges motivate me and develop my potential, so every change has been to my benefit. I’ve enjoyed it all.” 

Elsewhere, we also have fascinating insights into procurement hot topics such as optimising tail spend with Simfoni and Kearney, amplifying procurement’s influence with Arkestro, while Box looks at The Art Of Procurement As A Change Agent. Plus, we detail 5 ways of tackling procurement’s talent shortage and discuss being prepared for future pandemics…

Enjoy! 

Luke Abbott, Co-Founder and CEO at Equipoise, discusses the art of accelerating sustainable procurement with artificial intelligence.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, sustainability is not just a buzzword; it’s a necessity. As organisations strive to reduce their environmental footprint and drive social improvements in their supply chains, sustainable procurement emerges as a pivotal strategy. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the potential to revolutionise sustainable procurement practices has never been more promising.

Understanding sustainable procurement

Sustainable procurement is the integration of environmental, social, and economic considerations into procurement decisions, to reduce adverse impacts upon society, the economy, and the environment1. As businesses grapple with the repercussions of climate change, dwindling resources, and increasing stakeholder demands, sustainable procurement offers a pathway to not only mitigate risks but also seize new opportunities.

The AI advantage in sustainable procurement

AI, with its ability to process vast amounts of data, automate tasks, and identify intricate patterns, is poised to be a game-changer for sustainable procurement. By leveraging AI, organisations can:

Enhance sustainability data collection

Scope 3 is the hottest topic in sustainable procurement and many organisations are grappling with the question of how to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of their suppliers. Understanding this, especially beyond the first tier, requires extensive data collection. If you were to focus on your top 100 suppliers and ask your tier n-1 suppliers to do the same, when you get to tier 3 (which is probably nowhere near the end of the supply chain) you need to engage a staggering one million companies. At this point, manual data collection and analysis is out of the question for time-strapped organisations. AI tools, such as Avarni2, streamline this process, ensuring comprehensive and accurate data acquisition.

Predictive analytics for sustainability risk management

Managing sustainability risks in today’s intricate global supply chains presents challenges such as monitoring vast supplier networks, handling overwhelming sustainability data and rapidly adapting to sanctions, media reports and regulations, all while maintaining a pristine reputation. AI offers a solution by providing real-time monitoring of supply chains, predictive analysis of potential disruptions, seamless data integration for a comprehensive view, automated reporting for enhanced transparency, and scenario analysis for strategic planning. AI tools, like Versed AI3, continuously monitor vast amounts of supply chain data, ensuring real-time tracking of sustainability factors. This real-time monitoring allows companies to identify potential risks before they escalate, enabling procurement teams to proactively address disruptions and uphold sustainability standards.

Automation

According to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey4, over 70% of CPOs have seen an increase in procurement-related risks, and only a quarter feel equipped to predict supply disruptions timely. Furthermore, internal challenges like talent loss and organisational complexities add to the burden. By automating routine tasks, AI not only alleviates these pressures but also empowers procurement professionals to focus on high-value initiatives, such as supplier education on sustainability priorities. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can expedite market research, strategy formulation, and contracting processes, allowing teams to be more agile and responsive in this volatile environment.

AI in action

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan5 has been at the forefront of leveraging AI to drive innovation in sustainable procurement. In 2023, Unilever highlighted how they have been using AI and digital technologies, from the launch of their first digital tool to the recent formulation of the world’s first green carbon detergent6

“We’re using AI to help identify alternative ingredients that can strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, making our formulations more sustainable and cost-efficient, and simplifying them by reducing the number of ingredients without impacting a product’s quality or effectiveness.” –  Alberto Prado, Unilever R&D’s Head of Digital & Partnerships. 

Through a data-driven approach, Unilever has been making smarter, faster, and sharper decisions to optimise its portfolio of brands and products. Their commitment to sustainability is further emphasised by their ambitious goals, which include climate action to achieve net zero, reducing plastic usage, regenerating agriculture, and raising living standards within their value chain7. 

Limitations and due diligence

While AI offers transformative potential, it’s crucial to recognise its limitations. The accuracy of AI predictions and recommendations hinges on the quality of data fed into the system. In the realm of sustainable procurement, this means ensuring that the data sources are reliable and comprehensive. Regular audits, cross-referencing with trusted databases, and continuous training of AI models are essential to maintain the integrity of AI-driven insights. 

The 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle for artificial intelligence8 underscores the significance of addressing the limitations and risks of fallible AI systems. It emphasises the need for AI strategies to consider which innovations offer the most credible cases for investment, ensuring that AI’s transformative benefits are realised while mitigating potential pitfalls.

The future of AI in sustainable procurement

As we gaze into the future, the synergy between AI and sustainable procurement is poised to grow stronger. With advancements in machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and predictive analytics, AI’s potential to drive sustainability will only amplify. The Gartner report highlights the rise of generative AI, which is reshaping business processes and redefining the value of human resources. Such innovations, including generative AI and decision intelligence, are expected to offer significant competitive advantages and address challenges associated with integrating AI models into business processes.

However, a conservative outlook suggests that while AI will be a significant enabler, the onus remains on organisations to embed sustainability into their ethos and operations.

In conclusion, as the business landscape becomes increasingly complex, the fusion of AI and sustainable procurement offers a beacon of hope. By harnessing the power of AI, organisations can not only navigate the challenges of today but also pave the way for a sustainable and prosperous future.

Luke Abbott, Co-Founder & CEO @ Equipoise

From cost-containment to carbon emissions, here are the 10 things that should be top of mind for every chief procurement officer in 2024.

In the year to come, procurement will continue to transition from a back office function to a boardroom value-driver. Chief Procurement Officers and other leaders will need to increasingly reevaluate their relationships to the rest of the business as procurement not only becomes an increasingly vital source of business wins, but also a central piece of the puzzle when it comes to emissions reduction and resilience throughout the supply chain.

From generative AI to the skills shortage, there’s a lot that CPOs could be focusing on in the year ahead. We’re kicking off the new year with our list of the top ten things CPOs should be prioritising in 2024.

1. Drive significant value for the business

That’s why the first priority of all CPOs in 2024 is to apply technology, new operational organisation, hiring practices, sustainable strategy, cost containment, and every other trick and technique in order to create value for the business. Increasingly, CPOs are transitioning from logistical and cost-cutting functionaries to “orchestrators of value” and that will only become more apparent as the year (and decade) wears on.

2. Drive digital transformation

As mentioned before, procurement is a process that’s reinventing itself before our very eyes, embracing new digital technologies and ways of working that increase efficiency and drive value for the business. CPOs are increasingly important integrators of technology into the business, and should all be prioritising ways to implement technology over the coming year. However, it’s important to beware that technology for technology’s sake is even more dangerous than sticking it out with a legacy system… 

3. Reduce environmental impact

Knowing may be half the battle, but once CPOs have an understanding of the environmental impact their S2P process has, they must prioritise finding ways to mitigate that impact. From a stricter regulatory landscape to a more perceptive and angry public, a meaningful environmental sustainability strategy is no longer “nice to have” or even necessary: it’s long overdue.

4. Understand your Scope 3 emissions

More than 60% of procurement leaders in the US, UK, and Europe surveyed in a recent report say that their Scope 3 emissions reporting process is more of a “take your best-guess” approach than a process of gathering concrete, reliable information.

The S2P process is one of, if not the, biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions for every company on earth, and understanding the consequences of working with one supplier or another (and then accurately reporting that information) is a huge part of the journey to net zero. CPOs who fail to prioritise transparency in their S2P process will find themselves actively hindering their organisations’ environmental ambitions at a time when procurement has the potential to be the biggest driver of positive environmental impact in many organisations.

5. Cultivate your supplier ecosystem 

As much as technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in the procurement process, no CPO should discount the importance of building genuine, strategic relationships within their supplier ecosystem. Obviously, some industries are doing better than others, but in many areas (like the fashion industry, where “Those in charge of contracting suppliers for fashion brands say they are investing in longer-term strategic partnerships,” but their suppliers “tell a different story”) there’s still need for improvement. 

6. Don’t buy into the hype (too soon)

In 2021, it was self-driving cars. In 2022 it was the metaverse. And last year saw the world get absolutely bent out of shape over the promise of generative artificial intelligence. However, much like NFTs and blockchain (another thing everyone was spending a lot of money trying to figure out how to make money from for a while), the promised trillions of dollars of economic impact from these technologies has yet to translate into meaningful business applications. Even the hyperloop was abandoned this year.

Procurement is an area with a huge amount of potential for digital transformation, and adopting the right technologies for the right reasons is what’s going to separate industry-defining success stories from all those dudes who went blind at the Bored Ape Yacht Club convention.

7. Mitigate risk to the supply chain

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global source to pay (S2P) process has transitioned from a “just in time” approach to a “just in case” one. As climate change disrupts agriculture and manufacturing across the global south, and events like the Yemeni blockade of the Suez canal in order to hinder Israel’s occupation of Palestine hinder the movement of goods between regions, CPOs should prioritise diverse buying strategies that mitigate risk to their S2P processes.

8. Be a source of cost-containment

Inflation was a defining characteristic of the economy in 2023, as corporate price gouging (amid other factors) caused cost-of-living to spike. In a world of rising prices, and supply chain unpredictability, controlling costs will fall increasingly to CPOs in 2024. Cost reduction targets have been hit less consistently across the industry in the last few years, thanks largely to inflation and the pandemic’s disruption of global supply chains. Going into the year ahead, CPOs who can find a way to successfully meet their cost containment targets will find themselves with a serious leg up over their competition.

9. Don’t lose existing talent

The world is in the midst of a growing resurgence in the power of labour, as class consciousness and anti-capitalist sentiment rise. The old propaganda about loyalty to companies that would replace that employee in a heartbeat doesn’t work anymore, and workers are increasingly understanding (and demanding) their true worth, and it sent shockwaves through the service, autoworker, and entertainment industries in the US last year alone.

With the tech sector still leading the world in brutal mass Q4 firing and rehiring strategies, and labour movements within massive logistics firms like Amazon growing stronger by the day, 2024 promises to be defined by more strikes and other examples of direct action, not less. CPOs in the middle of a talent shortage should prioritise giving their employees reasons to stay beyond gym memberships and company pizza parties.

10. Hire top talent

The nature of procurement is changing. As the discipline becomes increasingly digitalised, not to mention plays a more strategic role within the modern enterprise as a whole, the skills that make for a good procurement professional aren’t the same skills that were on job listings ten, or even five, years ago.

In 2024, CPOs should constantly reevaluate the skills necessary not only to do the job now, but to tackle the procurement challenges of the next few years when hiring.

CPOstrategy explores this issue’s Big Question and uncovers if now is the greatest time to be in procurement.

Procurement has a unique opportunity.

Amid unprecedented digital transformation and innovation, it finds itself in a state of flux and momentum. For professionals who like change, procurement is the place for them. The years of procurement standing still are long gone, its position in the c-suite is only becoming increasingly secure and prominent.

As Covid outlined, businesses need flexible and agile supply chains that are equipped to deal with local or global disruption based on macroeconomic factors. This could be an aforementioned pandemic, wars like the ones we’ve seen in Ukraine and Israel in recent years or other external issues such as the Suez Canal disruption or inflation concerns. Procurement’s time is now. 

At DPW Amsterdam 2023, the notion that procurement exists in today’s world as an exciting function that spearheads the c-suite. In comedian and host of DPW, Andrew Moskos’, opening welcome, he noted procurement’s transformation and shouted. “Procurement used to be boring but now we’re all rockstars. We run the company, we’re in the c-suite, we run ESG, sustainability, risk and 80% of the spend of a company goes through us.” His message was met with loud applause from a capacity crowd at former stock exchange building Beurs van Berlage.

Michael van Keulen, CPO, Coupa

According to Michael van Keulen, Chief Procurement Officer at Coupa, it’s the feeling of ‘no two days are the same’ which keeps him energised and feeling refreshed about meeting new challenges in the space. “I wear so many different hats every single day,” he explains. “I always say sometimes I’m an accountant, others I’m an environmentalist. Sometimes I’m the treasurer or a finance person, but I’m also sometimes a psychiatrist. Sometimes I’m a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a judge, an environmentalist and yes even a wizard.

“I never know what my day looks like. I can plan it, but something may happen where everything goes out the window. Procurement will always be going through some type of disruption. It’s about how you drive the competitive edge and how you drive value despite that. Procurement is the best gig in the world. It’s great that more people have started to see that now too.”

Right now, generative AI is the latest craze causing quite the buzz in procurement. Indeed, its noise is loud with its true influence yet to be determined. But it’s worth remembering generative AI didn’t start with ChatGPT in 2022. Chatbots actually go back to the 1960s. Among the first functioning examples was the ELIZA chatbot which was created in 1961 by British scientist Joseph Weizenbaum. It was the first talking computer program that could communicate with a human through natural language. But, given the introduction of a far more advanced model – ChatGPT – gen AI isn’t just making waves in procurement but across industries globally too.

Daniel Barnes, Community Manager, Gatekeeper

For Daniel Barnes, Community Manager at Gatekeeper, the stakes are high. As a self-confessed change agent, he believes procurement stands at a make-or-break moment. “You’ve got people who are stuck in the past that are archaic with what they’re doing. Then there’s those who are really pushing the profession forward,” he explains. “I see it as a moment in time where procurement kind of goes one in two ways. It’s extinct in terms of how it used to be. There’s solutions which have automated workflows and are doing the work that traditional procurement people used to do. We can pull people along, but there has to be a willingness to change or it’s not going to happen. That’s why I think it’s great to see people that are showing that willingness. They may not have the answers, but they want to learn.”

Alan Holland, CEO, Keelvar

According to Alan Holland, CEO of Keelvar, he is bullish and optimistic about procurement’s future, stressing that decision-making for the function is easier than ever before. Holland affirms tomorrow is “very bright” as procurement enters an era with intelligent software agents that can automate workflows and make the human workday more efficient. “There’s a whole new range of possibilities where creative and thoughtful planning will provide a competitive advantage for organisations. Procurement can be far more influential in how successful their companies can be. It’s a game-changer.”

Scott Mars, Global V

Scott Mars, Global Vice President of Sales at Pactum, affirms procurement’s in its golden age given the number of vendors operating within the procuretech ecosystem has hit soaring heights. He tells us, “I was speaking with a CPO recently and he said 10 years ago you could name the procure to pay and ERP vendors on one hand, now there’s hundreds of them and all these periphery vendors for AI and spend. The most visionary procurement leaders aren’t just looking at these all-encompassing solutions, they’re bolting on niche solutions into their ecosystems to make their teams more efficient. I think we’ll start to see a consolidation in the coming years of all these little companies into a few larger players to do really an end-to-end type solution. I expect someone to come up with a solution to close the loop in procurement.”

Stefan Dent, Co-Founder, Simfoni

While procurement, like many industries, is still plagued by talent shortages, there is hope that AI could hold the answer. But while its influence is crucial in one hand, is there a risk that the industry could go too far the other way and become over reliant on technology? Stefan Dent, Co-Founder at Simfoni, believes soon Chief Procurement Officers will soon be thinking differently about their workforce. “This is arguably the best time for people to join procurement, as you’ve got this great opportunity to embrace digital and make it happen. Young people can question ‘Well, why can’t it be done by a machine?’ They’re coming in with that mindset, as opposed to fighting being replaced. I think for graduates coming into procurement, they’ve got the opportunity to play with digital which is a wonderful thing.”

Matthias Gutzmann, Founder, DPW Amsterdam

Today, procurement, and its professionals, find itself amid meteoric change. Indeed, its future could be anything. Matthias Gutzmann, Founder of DPW Amsterdam, believes it is time for procurement to create a buzz about the profession. “It’s the best time to be in procurement,” he explains. “It’s the most exciting era to be in procurement and supply chain. We need to get loud about it and celebrate that fact.” 

Timothy Woodcock, Director of Procurement at CordenPharma, discusses the new wave of change following acquisition and amid transformation

We have a bumper issue of fascinating exclusives this month!

Corden Pharma: Powering Change

Timothy Woodcock, Director of Procurement at CordenPharma, discusses the new wave of change following acquisition and amid transformation 

Change is here, get busy. Indeed, some organisations are further along a transformation journey than others.
For CordenPharma, a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) partner, they are right on track. 

CordenPharma supports biotech and pharma innovators of complex modalities in the advancement of their drug development lifecycle. Harnessing the collective expertise of the teams across its globally integrated facility network, CordenPharma provides bespoke outsourcing services spanning the complete supply chain, from early clinical-phase development to commercialisation. Recognised as a key partner to the pharma industry, CordenPharma provides state-of-the-art know-how, an integrated product offering end-to-end capabilities from early-stage development to commercial large-scale manufacturing. 

A closer look 

Timothy Woodcock has been the Director of Procurement at CordenPharma since October 2022 and is based in Basel, Switzerland. He explains that since joining over a year ago, while it was a “good start”, he admits to discovering some surprises after closer inspection. “There was a lot of information to get to grips with at the start and it was spread wide and thin,” he tells us. “But the team is certainly key and they have helped me pull it together through solid collaboration and engagement. Of course, there were a few surprises in the process realm, but that’s what makes this challenge so interesting to me.”

Read the full story here

carbmee: Carbon management for complex supply chains

Prof. Dr. Christian Heinrich, Co-Founder at carbmee, discusses his organisation’s journey to being the trusted solution provider for carbon management.

​​carbmee means carbon excellence for complex supply chains. It is the carbon management solution for automotive, manufacturing, chemical, pharmaceuticals, medtech, hi-tech, logistics, and FMCG industries. Whether to assess emissions holistically throughout the entire company, product or suppliers, carbmee EIS™ platform can create the transparency required for uncovering optimal emissions reduction potential and at the same time, stay compliant with upcoming regulations like CBAM.

carbmee’s journey

Christian Heinrich has been the Co-Founder at the organisation since January 2021. While some executives end up in procurement and supply chain by mistake, for Heinrich he affirms it was “always” the industry for him. As far as he’s concerned, collaboration is a big piece of the puzzle and Heinrich points to his diverse experience in a range of different industries and sectors which have helped him along the way to forming carbmee. 

“This was actually one of the reasons my co-founder Robin Spickers asked me to leverage my supply chain knowledge,” he says. “Robin had expertise in sustainability areas like Product LifeCycle Assessments and I had that in procurement and supply chain. We connected together and created carbmee to have scope 1, 2 and 3 solutions for carbon accounting and carbon reduction, which also combines the lifecycle analysis.”

Read the full story here!

Hemofarm: Strength through glocal procurement

 Zorana Subasic, Director SEERU & PSCoE Cluster Procurement at Hemofarm A.D. reveals how a glocal approach is transforming procurement at the pharmaceutical… 

Zorana Subasic is all about people. She heads up procurement for Hemofarm, the largest Serbian exporter of medicinal products, with a share of more than 70% of the total pharmaceutical. It sells pharmaceutical products on four continents in 34 states and, since 2006, has been part of the multi-national pharmaceutical giant STADA Group. 

Meeting the challenges

Zorana explains that her priority is focusing on people, both within her team and in the wider company, a priority that has been even more important during the last few challenging years and has impacted her leadership style.  ”These are areas that were new for me – managing people in ‘business as usual’ times is completely different to what we’ve been through in the last two or three years. It has affected people, and how it was for me to manage people in difficult times – understanding the challenges around us and making sure that people also understand the challenges.”

Read the full story here!

Elon: Procurement as a strategic partner

Onur Dogay, CPO at Elon Group, reflects on a year of procurement evolution and making the function an indispensable partner to the organisation…

A lot can happen in a year. Just ask Onur Dogay. In late summer 2022 he arrived in Sweden from his native Turkey to take the helm of a complex and evolving procurement environment at Elon Group AB, the Nordic region’s leading voluntary trade chain for home and electronic products. That he joined just a month after a significant merger that cemented the company’s market-leading position was no coincidence. Rather, Dogay was brought on board with a specific mission: use his industry experience and passion for transforming procurement to sustain the company’s market status while spearheading growth in new areas of retail and electronics. 

And he hasn’t slowed down since. In little over 12 months, Dogay has overseen a procurement evolution that includes setting a new data strategy that’s aligned with the broader company vision, shifting procurement’s role to be less transactional and more of a strategic business partner, improving communication and partnerships both internally and externally with suppliers, and overseeing the greater use of data and technology to enhance forecasting and planning capabilities. 

A seasoned procurement professional

A glance at Dogay’s CV to date leaves little surprise at his success. He is a seasoned procurement professional, with more than 20 years’ experience in procurement leadership positions working across internationally dispersed teams in Europe. “My background is particularly strong in retail, consumer electronics, telecom, and IT business units,” he explains, “including at Arcelik, one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies, and also for one of the biggest retailers in Europe, MediaMarkt. At the time of the merger in 2022 here at Elon Group, this experience, as well as the good relationships I had with many of the suppliers and brands we work with now, was the perfect match for the company.” 

Read the full story here!

Microsoft: A sustainable supply chain transformation

In the past four years, Microsoft has gained more than 80,000 productivity hours and avoided hundreds of millions in costs. Did you miss that? That’s probably because these massive improvements took place behind the scenes as the technology giant moved to turn SC management into a major force driving efficiencies, enabling growth, and bringing the company closer to its sustainability goals. 

An exciting time

Expect changes and outcomes to continue as Dhaval Desai continues to apply the learnings from the Devices Supply Chain transformation – think Xbox, Surface, VR and PC accessories and cross-industry experiences and another to the fast-growing Cloud supply chain where demand for Azure is surging. As the Principal Group Software Engineering Manager, Desai is part of the Supply Chain Engineering organisation, the global team of architects, managers, and engineers in the US, Europe, and India tasked with developing a platform and capabilities to power supply chains across Microsoft. It’s an exciting time. Desai’s staff has already quadrupled since he joined Microsoft in 2021, and it’s still growing. Within the company, he’s on the cutting edge of technology innovation testing generative AI solutions. “We are actively learning how to improve it and move forward,” he tells us. 

Read the full story here!

Click here to read the entire magazine!

B2B procurement is headed for a new, more dynamic, digitalised era defined by a more strategic approach to traditional processes and new challenges.

The procurement industry isn’t a back-office function anymore. Much like the transition of IT departments from obscurity to the C-suite over the past 10-15 years, procurement is making its way into the limelight.

“We are entering a new era of smart business buying where senior leaders are understanding the impact procurement can have on efficiency and overall company success,” said Alexandre Gagnon, vice president of Amazon Business Worldwide, at a recent Amazon Business event attended by more than 1,000 procurement leaders across the public and private sectors.

“The procurement function is now cross-disciplinary, spanning both functional and strategic purviews as buyers are planning to invest more in technology and optimisation while future-proofing their companies and organisations,” added Gagnon.

Procurement’s transition

The 2024 State of Procurement Report released by Amazon Business in conjunction with the event points to an array of indicators that the nature of procurement is fundamentally changing. From the traditional procurement workloads concerned with day-to-day purchasing, to a more recently emerged responsibility of future-proofing the business against disruption (by another pandemic, for example), procurement’s goals are “ever-growing”.

In order to keep up, the discipline is “transforming at lightning speed,” claims Gagnon in the introduction to the report.

Data gathered from over 3,000 procurement professionals supports this inclusion. Key findings include the fact that 95% of decision-makers say their organisation currently has to outsource at least a portion of their procurement to third parties, the fact that 95% of decision-makers say their procurement function has “room for optimisation”, and 53% of respondents who say their procurement budgets will be higher in 2024 than they were this year.

Tech-driven procurement

Technology investment is expected to be high on the agenda, as procurement leaders attempt to bring increased visibility and resilience to their departments. A remarkable 98% of decision makers said they were planning to invest in analytics and insights tools, automation, and AI for their procurement operations, with the (anonymous) VP of purchasing at a major global bank in the US saying that “Making investments in the right tools and technology [is critical] because you rely on data as a procurement organisation. There is … spend data, contractual data, invoices, and more. Without the right tools in place, you can only do so much [with your data].”

Reflecting on the changing role of procurement in the modern enterprise, Gagnon added that “Ultimately, procurement not only keeps operations running, but plays an integral role in achieving key organisational goals, and with smart business buying, companies have procurement solutions to serve as a growth lever for organisations.”

By Harry Menear

AI and Machine Learning-powered analytics could help security teams flag and prevent fraud in their procurement functions.

Procurement fraud is costly and hard to prevent, but with the right tools, organisations could see red flags earlier and respond in time rather than too late.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE), organisations lose 5% of their annual revenue to fraud, with the median loss per case totalling $117,000, and the average being $1.7 million.

Supply chains and procurement functions are especially vulnerable to fraud—often comprising long and winding networks, intricate webs of relationships, vast inventory assets, and multiple transactions along the S2P journey. The procurement and supply chain functions of retailers and manufacturers are especially vulnerable.

Frequently, procurement fraud is the result of a malicious individual within the organisation, although vendors and partners can also be responsible. Bid rigging, intellectual property infringement, inventory theft, and product counterfeiting are all examples of occupational fraud within the procurement process.

To address these challenges, companies must implement proactive measures. The CFE report noted that nearly half of fraud cases occurred due to a lack of internal controls, or an overriding of insufficient existing controls. It also found that anti-fraud controls were effective, resulting in lower losses and quicker fraud detection.

Fraud is prone to thrive in the procurement process, and can have devastating consequences, but the fight against the threat isn’t hopeless, and new technologies are proving especially effective in stamping out the issue.

In addition to traditional anti-fraud measures like strengthening internal controls, performing due diligence, and conducting regular quality checks, organisations can fight fraud in their procurement and supply chain functions by harnessing the power of AI and Big Data.

Fighting fraud with Big Data

AI analytics of Big Data sets can do more than improve efficiencies and predict trends in the movements of goods; these types of analytics excel at pattern recognition and, once correctly trained, can identify subtle changes in activity within the procurement function and supply chain that could point to fraud.

According to Isabelle Adam, an analyst at the Government Transparency Institute in Budapest, and Mihály Fazekas, founder of the Institute and assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at Central European University, “With the increasing use of electronic and online administrative tools — such as e-procurement platforms — making administrative records readily and extensively available in structured databases, public procurement has become a data-rich area.”

This wealth of data, if improperly handled, can become a place for fraud to hide, but if big data analytics are applied, they argue, it “can serve as a tool for auditors to identify and prevent fraud and corruption.”

By Harry Menear

The top seven trends driving procurement’s transition from the back-office to the boardroom in 2024.

The year ahead has the potential to be a watershed moment for the procurement industry, as infusions of leading edge technology and process innovation conspire to enable procurement’s shift from spend management to strategic leadership. Increasingly, leadership is recognising the potential of procurement to guard against risk, drive sustainable practice, and be a key enabler in helping the business identify and capitalise on new opportunities.

Reflecting on the past several years, we’ve looked ahead to bring you the seven trends defining the procurement landscape heading into 2024 and beyond.

1. Procurement takes centre stage

Procurement is undeniably on a journey from being a back-office cost-cutting function to a key driver of strategic wins for the business. In 2024, procurement teams should continue to capitalise and build upon existing wins as they continue their optimisation journey. For those lagging behind, the time to begin their transformation from functionary to value orchestrator is now.  

2. More space strategic, value-add work

A vast majority of decision makers surveyed by Amazon Business last year revealed that they needed to outsource elements of their procurement function to a third party. It’s a known fact that the current procurement industry struggles with a lack of the necessary human resources, skills, and systems to keep pace with mission critical operational demands. With those demands only expected to get more complex in 2024, procurement teams need to find ways to spend less time on low value manual work and refocus their efforts on high-level, strategic activities. Adopting low-code platforms, AI, process automation, and other technology could be a way to execute on this necessary transformation.

3. More investment (and hype) surrounding AI, automation, and analytics

2023 was the year when generative AI exploded into the spotlight, attracting massive amounts of hype, interest, and investment. However, just a few weeks into 2024, you can see excitement starting to cool, as organisations struggle to find effective applications that justify the price of admission.

In 2024, we can expect to see massive AI utilisation in data analytics, in process automation, and other elements of the S2P process, but generative AI adoption in ways that produce meaningful benefits are likely more than 12 months away.

4. Low code, higher automation in S2P platforms

Managing the source to pay process is increasingly complex, and time consuming to orchestrate. In 2024, with pain points like this increasing complexity (due to climate instability, compliance regulations, etc.) and talent shortage, the adoption of more low-code platforms will increase the ability of procurement teams to automate significant elements of their operations.

5. Scope 3 comes under greater scrutiny

A recent report found that around two thirds of procurement professionals in the US, UK, and Europe feel that their Scope 3 emissions reporting is more “best-guess” than hard fact. With regulatory scrutiny—not to mention public opinion—growing less and less lenient with regard to greenwashing and climate inaction, procurement teams need to make 2024 the year they take meaningful action to create transparency beyond Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

This obviously represents a significant challenge. Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are relatively straightforward compared to the sprawling, often opaque morass of Scope 3. Inaction is not an option, however, if organisations are to meaningfully pursue their net zero by 2030 targets. 

6. Mission-critical Big Data

Collecting, managing, and effectively drawing insights from big data is and will remain one of the defining challenges for the modern enterprise. A proliferation of data from IoT devices, cloud-based platforms, and a general increase in the amount of technology being integrated into the procurement process (not to mention an increase in awareness of how important it is to gather as much data as possible) is leaving some industry players overwhelmed.

Vast silos of data with no meaningful way to draw insights from the unstructured mass create more problems than they solve. 2024, then, should be the year that procurement not just recognises the importance of data, but the absolute criticality of putting systems in place to manage it effectively.

7. AI achieves greater autonomy in planning tasks

Even as the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic recede from the global supply chain, macroeconomic forces still conspire to place increased pressure on supply chains and procurement teams. Forward planning is more important than ever and procurement professionals are finding themselves increasingly struggling to meet the demands of “a more complex, multi-tiered, more nuanced world.”

Using artificial intelligence to more effectively run scenario analysis could have a transformative effect on the S2P process, allowing low-touch planning driven by AI to eliminate manual work, analyse data at scale, identify and flag anomalies, and even start making suggestions to humans as to how to proceed. There is still some doubt over AI’s ability to handle tasks consistently with minimal human oversight, but the tide of public opinion is starting to change. 

By Harry Menear

The five most important challenges for procurement teams to meet in 2024 and beyond, according to Amazon Business.

It’s no secret that procurement is undergoing the same backroom-to-boardroom transformation (dare I say “glow up”) that the IT department went through over the last decade. If every business in 2023 is a technology business, then by the end of the decade, it doesn’t feel unreasonable to claim every business will be a procurement business.

However, with prestige and importance comes pressure. The modern procurement function already faces challenges, from supply chain disruptions and rising prices to the existential need to reduce emissions, which will only grow more complex as the discipline moves close to the forefront of the modern enterprise. It’s no wonder that, while Amazon Business’ “2024 State of Procurement” report found that the majority of procurement budgets (54%) were set to rise next year, an overwhelming number of respondents confirmed that their procurement functions are in need of optimisation.

With 2024 still in its first month, we’ve broken down the five highest priorities for procurement leaders to focus on over the next 12 months, as well as heading into 2025.

1. Retaining and developing existing talent

Lastly, even more important than attracting new talent, the number one priority for procurement teams in 2024 will be retaining the talent they already have, and developing those procurement professionals to marry knowledge of the business and industry with an understanding of new trends, techniques, and technologies.

2. Attracting top talent

A report released by Gartner in December found that more than 85% of procurement directors and executives believe that their teams contain “adequate talent” to meet the future needs of their organisations’ procurement function. The demands placed on procurement professionals are changing, as the adoption of new technologies make the profession more data-driven and strategically focused on business value creation than ever. An evolving profession means attracting new talent will be a vital priority for procurement leaders in the coming years.

3. Reducing purchasing costs

Cost was king before the pandemic and, while procurement teams may have more than just their bottom line in mind, it’s still one of the most important differentiators for the function. Not only is procurement a key driver of efficiency within the modern enterprise, but costs are rising across the industry, with Amazon Business reporting that “Costs and Budgets” were the leading risk factor facing procurement over the next two years.

4. Refining procurement practices across organisations

Even as a newly celebrated discipline with a greater role to play in the modern organisation, a key indicator of a successful procurement strategy is that, most of the time, other departments don’t know it’s there. A successful procurement function empowers other parts of the business to make purchases with autonomy, supporting them in making decisions that are compliant, efficient, and cost effective. Developing the procurement practices that create good procurement habits across an organisation—not just in the procurement department—will be a key priority for procurement teams going forward in 2024.

5. Building more resilient, agile supply chains

If the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything it’s that disruption is not a matter of “if” but “when”. Global supply chains—driven almost exclusively by cost-cutting parameters for decades—were decimated by the pandemic, and in the wake of lockdowns it has emerged as hard-won wisdom that the procurement departments of the future need to look at more than cost when building a supply chain. In the Amazon Business report, 81% of respondents revealed that they have internal or external mandates to purchase from different types of certified sellers.

By Harry Menear

CPOstrategy explores this issue’s big question and uncovers what the impact of gen AI is in procurement.

The true possibilities of what can be achieved via AI is still being unearthed.

Indeed, the influence of new technology will only grow from here and new digital tools are being introduced all the time.

When it comes to generative AI, there is perhaps a misunderstanding that it is a new innovation. But the history of gen AI actually dates back to the 1960s. Among the first functioning examples was the ELIZA chatbot which was created in 1961 by British scientist Joseph Weizenbaum. It was the first talking computer program that could communicate with a human through natural language. It worked by recognising keywords in a user’s statement and then answering back through simple phrases or questions, in likeness to a conversation a human would have with a therapist. While ELIZA was seen as a parody and largely non-intelligent, its introduction has paved the way for later advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and the future of generative AI.

Fast forward to today and the gen AI conversation and wider tech landscape looks very different. In late 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT – technology which has shaken the procurement function and beyond. ChatGPT interacts in a conversational way with its dialogue format making it possible for users to answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect answers and reject unsuitable requests. As such, the chatbot has created quite a buzz which has been felt across the globe.

Generative AI’s misconception

Speaking to us exclusively at DPW Amsterdam, Gregor Stühler, CEO at Scoutbee, believes there are some misconceptions around ChatGPT and the nature of how accurate the data it provides actually is. As is the case with any new technology, these things take time. “It’s always the same. It happened with electric cars, nobody thought that would solve the battery issue,” he discusses. “I think we are right at the peak of the hype cycle when it comes to those things and people have figured out what they can use it for. With wave one of gen AI, it is fine to have hallucinations of the model and if something is spat out that is not supported by the input. 

Gregor Stühler, CEO at Scoutbee

“But by the second use case, hallucinations are not okay anymore because it’s working with accurate data and should not come up with some imaginary creative answers. It should be always supported by the data that is put in. This is very important that people understand that if you train the model and if you have the right setting, those hallucinations will go away and you can actually have a setting where the output of the model is 100% accurate.”

Data security

Michael van Keulen, Chief Procurement Officer at Coupa, agrees with Stühler and despite obvious benefits such as time and cost, he stresses caution should be used particularly when it comes to valuable tasks. “If you look at ChatGPT, it’s fine if you’re looking for recommendations for something low-risk. I need something for my wife’s birthday next week, you input three things that she loves and ask it to help. It’s great,” he tells us. “But it comes from data sources on the web that aren’t always governed, controlled or trustworthy. It’s whatever is out there. What about the algorithms that come with ChatGPT? I don’t know what’s influencing the search criteria. On Google, if you pay you are at the top of the search bar. But I don’t know what ChatGPT is governed by.”

Michael van Keulen, Chief Procurement Officer at Coupa

Managing data leakage

Danny Thompson, Chief Product Officer at apexanalytix, explains that one of the biggest challenges with generative AI is being aware of a leakage of sensitive information combined with a contamination of important data. “We have a database of golden records for 90 million suppliers who are doing business with Fortune 500 companies and that is the best information we’ve been able to accumulate about the suppliers and their relationships as a supplier to large companies,” he tells us.

Danny Thompson, Chief Product Officer at apexanalytix

“We want to make sure we’re not loading sensitive information into a generative AI function that might allow just random people to access that data. Ultimately the customers in the space that we’re operating in are serious companies moving around large amounts of money and facing real risks that they have to manage. It’s really important that the data that they have is either highly accurate or at least they understand the degree to which it’s accurate. This means if you’re using the solution that you don’t understand the level of trust you can have in it, then you shouldn’t be using it yet.”

Can generative AI bridge the talent shortage?

Amid talent shortages in procurement, there are some sections of the procurement space questioning to whether AI and machine learning can plug the gap and reduce the necessity of recruitment. Naturally, this raises the debate of whether robots will replace humans. Stefan Dent, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Simfoni, adds that while AI and machines won’t replace humans, it will mean people will need to find new forms of work and take on higher-value roles.

Stefan Dent, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Simfoni

“The shape and structure of the modern procurement function will change quite dramatically and people will need to upskill,” he discusses. “A lot of the work will be taken over by the machine eventually either 20%, 50%, and then a hundred percent. But the human needs to have that in mind and then plan for that next three to five years. The procurement function of the future will be smaller, and they should purposely be doing that, to then look at solutions to find a way to enable it to happen naturally.

Future proof procurement

“For someone who’s joining procurement now, you’ve got this great opportunity to embrace digital. Young people can question ‘Well, why can’t it be done by a machine?’ They’re coming in with that mindset as opposed to fighting being replaced by a machine. I think for graduates coming into procurement, they’ve got the opportunity to play with digital and actually change the status quo.”

As we look to the future, gen AI and new forms of technology will continue to change the world and the way we work. In the short term, work is expected to continue to upgrade the user experience and workflows through gen AI in order to build greater trust for the end user. As transformation continues to happen, businesses and wider society must embrace new types of AI to thrive and stay ahead of the latest trends. The potential that gen AI tools possess is expected transform the workplace of tomorrow while delivering value-add such as time and cost savings on a day-to-day basis.

Given the speed of evolution and development, it is yet unimaginable exactly what form the digital landscape will take in years to come. However, that horizon brings with it fresh opportunity and excitement revolving around a whole new world of technology at our fingertips. The future is digital.

Wary of overdependence on overseas suppliers, the South Korean government is investing heavily in increasing the resilience of its public procurement process.

The South Korean government announced last month plans to establish a commission to oversee and coordinate plans to make the country’s procurement process more resilient. This announcement comes on the back of concerns over the vulnerability of South Korea’s “critical industrial” supply chains.

A state-backed fund expected to exceed 5 trillion won ($3.79 billion) is being set up to “secure stockpiles of critical supplies and support investment in relevant businesses and facilities”, with a long-term goal of divesting Korean industries from overdependence on procuring materials from single country suppliers.

Specifically, urea (like ammonium phosphate used in fertiliser manufacturing) and graphite (used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles) are both considered critical materials for Korean industrial activities, and supplies of both originate almost exclusively from China.

An Editorial published in the Korea Times noted that a recent export restriction of urea product shipments from China has caused a spree of panic buying. “What matters is that China accounts for 95 percent of Korea’s ammonium phosphate imports. Desperate to cope with a growing sense of crisis especially among farmers and relevant industries, the [Korean] government came up with a package of measures designed to secure key materials on a stable basis.”

The government will procure a reserve of 12,000 tonnes of urea in order to create a 130 day buffer to safeguard against future disruptions.  

The way ahead

At a meeting of the new commission on Monday, Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho commented that “Recently, supply chain risk factors for items directly related to core industries and people’s livelihoods—such as urea, diammonium phosphate and graphite—are increasing,” suggesting that devising a national procurement strategy less reliant on Chinese exports would be essential, given the fraught economic and political histories between the countries. 

Moving forward, the commission said it would designate materials and items for intensive monitoring, selected from among 200 options identified as being of critical importance and potentially vulnerable to supply chain disruption by a government study conducted in 2021. Magnesium, tungsten, neodymium and lithium hydroxide were included in the previous listing. In addition to urea products, the Korean government is expected to increase its stocks of graphite, 90% of which comes from China.

By Harry Menear

Procurement has the potential—and the responsibility—to go beyond switching out plastic straws for paper in the quest for Net Zero.

Across the public sector—and increasingly in the private sphere as well—organisations are committing to the necessity of a net zero future. While emissions reduction efforts often begin with scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, analysis of holistic environmental impacts in supply chains often expose scope 3 emissions as being the source of as much as 90% of an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

With the majority of an organisation’s carbon impact originating outside the organisation itself, it increasingly falls to the procurement function to make intelligent, sustainability-motivated decisions in order to draw down indirect emissions and foster a culture of sustainability within their supplier ecosystem.

However, while investment in increasingly sustainable source-to-pay processes is rising, many procurement teams describe the pursuit of net zero as a serious challenge. In Europe, companies earmarked an average of 27% of their total investment budget into improving sustainability this year, a 16% rise in sustainability investment.

Nevertheless, more than 43% of companies surveyed in a recent report had not set a net zero goal, and, within the 32% of organisations with a net zero target of 2030, many procurement professionals reported that “limited data, complex supply chains, and limited control over supplier emissions” presented serious obstacles.

The report notes that, while “procurement organisations firmly have net zero on their agenda,”, other factors like the need to keep costs low are impeding their efforts. Another report by the World Economic Forum—this time focusing on public institutions as drivers of sustainable procurement—also acknowledges the trepidation with which public and private sector organisations view the possible costs of pushing for net zero.

However, the WEF notes that “Pursuing net-zero goals in public procurement will boost the green economy,” estimating that “the private investment and new jobs triggered by greener public procurement, in aggregate, will boost global GDP by around $6 trillion through 2050 – a significant proportion of the green economy’s total GDP of $70 trillion.”

While the short term might represent an increase in costs, the long term benefits for organisations that manage to drive a successful net zero green transition, both in their own organisations, and supply chains, will be substantial. Adopting procurement practices that require green certifications from suppliers (even subsidising green activities within their ecosystems by paying higher prices for suppliers who can demonstrate their green credentials) can drive meaningful reductions in the scope 3 emissions for organisations throughout both the public and private sectors.

By Harry Menear

How Big Data can increase resilience, mitigate disruption, and help procurement teams spot danger before it’s too late.

In the procurement sector, successfully managing risks while achieving your other strategic objectives is what sets a successful procurement function apart from those that can expect to experience disruption. Today, however, procurement teams face greater risk than ever before as supply chains become more complex, ESG goals become more ambitious, and the parameters for compliance get narrower. 

Technology—powered by artificial intelligence and big data analytics—is radically digitalising the procurement process. While this has the potential to increase efficiency, revenue, and accelerate the procure-to-pay process, it has also driven complexity. Luckily, digital transformation also holds the key to managing this complexity. Digital tools, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, can tackle larger and more complex amounts of information than ever before. These analytical tools and their more powerful capabilities in turn have seen viable data sets balloon to include vast quantities of structured and unstructured data from throughout the supply chain, gathered together under the umbrella of Big Data.

Data source

Big Data, in gathering together vast amounts of information about every aspect of the source-to-pay process, in addition to broader contextual information ranging from economic instability to weather patterns, can help procurement professionals build up a more comprehensive, nuanced understanding of their procurement process than ever before. The level of visibility is unprecedented, even in a sector where supply chains are more complex than they’ve ever been.

Complex supply chains are more prone to disruption. More moving parts and longer distances to travel mean higher likelihoods of things going wrong. Michael Higgins, founder and CEO of Clutch, wrote recently that “risk is inherent at every step of the supply chain, from moving raw materials to manufacturers and between manufacturers and the distributor,” adding that “The added value of big data analytics is predicting potential disruptions, giving procurement managers time to make intelligent decisions.”

Procurement transformation

Advanced analytical tools can be used to track the weather, potential disruptions to agricultural or construction operations, political unrest like demonstrations or riots, and changing legislature that may affect everything from compliance to price. Because Big Data analytics are increasingly capable of collecting and analysing all of these factors and more, procurement professionals have the capacity to counteract sources of risk that traditionally would have seemed as inevitable as an act of divine wrath.

The risks to a supply chain are really representative of risks to your suppliers and their networks. Big Data analytics is also granting insight into the workings of—allowing a huge number of variables tied to each supplier to be tracked and used to make decisions. The result is a more agile and reactive procurement process that can analyse and respond to data analytics in real time, as opposed to trying to make best guesses based on past results and limited human judgement.

Procurement is truly transforming from the back office to the boardroom—becoming more strategic, digitally empowered, and complex than ever before—and Big Data analytics are increasingly a vital part of the function within the modern source-to-pay process.

By Harry Menear

CPOstrategy’s cover story this month features a fascinating discussion with Rick Sisk, Director of Procurement at Gen4 Dental

CPOstrategy’s cover story this month features a fascinating discussion with Rick Sisk, Director of Procurement at Gen4 Dental, who explains how he’s revolutionising procurement for the dental industry, and why doctor-led care is so important…

Read the new issue here!

Gen4Dental: Changing the procurement landscape for dentistry 

Gen4 Dental is an organisation that strives to be a true partner to dental practices. It is a truly dentist-first DSO, promoting excellence at every level and working to improve by at least one percent every day. Through mergers and acquisitions, the organisation is also growing at an incredible rate, and this expansion and ambition requires a sturdy procurement department to support it. Enter: Rick Sisk, Director of Procurement at Gen4.

Prior to Sisk joining Gen4 Dental, the procurement landscape certainly wasn’t what it is today. The organisation has grown so quickly in its short lifetime; Sisk says that Gen4 has expanded so rapidly in a way that had the potential to cause problems. “When I came in, there was no real purchasing platform. I called my industry friends and said ‘hey, I need help’. We needed to start at ground zero. I had all these ideas and I was told that procurement was mine to shape. I was really excited about that…”

Read the full story here!

RBI Procurement: Success through technology, innovation and community building 

We speak to Edzard Janssen and several of his team members at Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) to see how the procurement function is enhancing value creation, mitigating risk and dealing with increasing regulatory requirements… 

Now, more than ever, procurement leaders are having to harness innovation as they seek to prosper in highly uncertain times. Successful procurement teams are fostering emerging technologies and strategically aligned operating models and processes as they strive to unlock value across their enterprises. The procurement function at the Austria-based Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) is such an entity, dedicated to delivering value through a future-orientated approach, at scale. 

Edzard Janssen, Head of Group Procurement, Outsourcing & Real Estate Management at RBI, joined the Austrian bank in 2011, where he was tasked with building a state-of-the-art value-creating function. The latest strategy of RBI Procurement focuses on four strategic areas as guidance for all initiatives: value-centric procurement, state-of-the-art capabilities, mastering the data journey and safeguarding the bank. 

1. Value-centric procurement: Focusing on value, not on price, and what truly brings value to the bank. 

2. State-of-the-art capabilities: The procurement systems, the total procurement infrastructure landscape and the capabilities of staff. 

3. Mastering the data journey: Harvesting and utilising the huge pools of data across the bank. 

4. Safeguarding the bank: Covering regulatory compliance, IT and cybersecurity as well as operational and business risk. 

Value-centric procurement 

The ability to deliver value-centric procurement is of course directly related to strategic sourcing and Janssen and his team have made great strides in recent years, establishing an innovative category management approach at the bank. “There are two parts that cover the source-to-pay process,” Janssen tells us from his Vienna office.

“One is the sourcing part of the process mainly fueled by the capabilities of our people and strategy formulation – the right way of approaching the market is pretty much driven by the quality of the people running the process. And then you have the second part of the process: procure-to-pay. So, doing the call-offs and executing the contracts. All that is powered by the quality of systems and efficiency of processes.”

Read the full story here!

Tipico Services: A single source of truth 

We speak to Kiran Menghnani, Director, Tipico Services Ltd (part of the iGaming and Sports Betting brand Tipico Group) to see how he and his team have transformed procurement at the company… 

Kiran Menghnani, Director Tipico Services Ltd – part of the online iGaming and Sports Betting brand Tipico Group – almost stumbled into procurement by accident. As the Malta Head-Officed enterprise Tipico Group started to experience rapid growth midway through the 2010s, combined with complicated regulatory developments, the maturity of the Group realised the tangible need for a dedicated procurement function.

And in 2016, Gibraltar-based Kiran, who had already been with the company since 2011 building internal processes and structures, was asked to look into creating a future-ready procurement hub that could deliver a more strategic and agile business-facing function. 

Tipico had a somewhat disjointed procurement approach to purchasing, prior to its transformation, a situation that resulted in a lack of transparency and an antiquated siloed approach. It was clear to Kiran whilst settling into his new assignment, that as the company continued to grow at pace, that this casual approach to procurement needed to change.

“We were still a young but rapidly growing company. We needed to work fast to get the tasks done while finding our way when dealing with our suppliers. Now the responsibility was on me to better understand the pain points being faced. And so I went about asking the basic questions challenging any purchasing requests. Has the contract been reviewed internally? Is there any data processing by the supplier? Has the price been benched with the market? How can I access past/existing contracts?”

“I soon started to realise that I wasn’t getting the answers to comfort me as Director, and that this humble piece of paper called a contract needed more attention, so I needed to protect both myself and the company as regulatory requirements had evolved. And that’s how this journey really started: someone questioning as to what we were doing and accepting that there were obvious gaps and opportunities.”

Read the full story here!

Richmond’s Department of Procurement Services (DPS): Leadership, relationships and the power of technology 

We speak to Rene Almaraz, Director, Department of Procurement Services, City of Richmond, Virginia to see how public procurement is transforming at the city… 

The values of the City of Richmond’s Department of Procurement Services (DPS) are set out on the opening page of its first ever annual report: teamwork, integrity, innovation, customer focus and leadership. The report is the work of the department’s relatively new director, Rene Almaraz, and his staff, and highlights the team’s achievements – in fiscal year 2023 – and priorities for the future, and also the guiding principles that influence how and why decisions are made.

Almaraz says: “Our goal is to build an organisation that’s more nimble, that provides faster and higher quality service, and supports the customer to the highest degree possible, which includes explaining to them why and when they should follow a specific process.  This, in turn leads to how we can get it done better the next time.”

It will be two years in January since Almaraz took on the role, with clear goals for creating a more agile department that delivers for internal customers and the people of Richmond…

This brings us to two of the points on the DPS list of values: teamwork and leadership. This means within the department itself, but also with external partners, suppliers and customers. The DPS team has grown by around 40% to 28 staff since Almaraz took the reins, as he explains. “We’ve needed to grow. Before I got here, coming out of the pandemic, there wasn’t a lot of stability in terms of headcount. It’s now stabilised and we’ve built a good team here, a really focused team. Plus, I’ve received a lot of support from my leadership and my peer departments to continue improving.”

The team has grown, but can be considered relatively small when you consider the scope of work they’re responsible for, which is why collaboration is so important for Almaraz and, above all else, trust and communication within the team. He explains: “I’m a huge believer in trust – my staff has to trust me, that I’m doing the right thing.  I need to know when to communicate and what to communicate, but they’ve got to trust me and then I must trust them.”

This mutual trust allows everyone to feel inspired and to grow, he says, and develop the skills needed to conduct complex procurement projects. Part of this means asking for help when it’s needed and, crucially, learning from mistakes. Almaraz adds: “Be honest with me: if you need some support, let me know. This is a project I’m giving you so you can grow and so I can grow. We’re going to lead and put this department on the map, through our expertise and professionalism. That’s our objective here.”

Read the full story here!

Ask Procurement—a generative AI procurement solution—is being developed for the market by IBM using Dun & Bradstreet’s “huge data cloud”.

In order to develop more effective and market ready digital solutions for supply chain and procurement professionals, IBM is partnering with Dun & Bradstreet, a data-dealer with access to vast quantities of raw information gathered from a wide variety of sources, as well as cutting edge analytical tools. Together, the companies will work on expanding the capabilities of IBM’s watsonx to expand their use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Through the collaboration IBM and Dun & Bradstreet intend to develop multiple offerings for clients to incorporate into their AI workflows, leveraging IBM’s AI and data platform, and fueled by Dun & Bradstreets’.

Ask Procurement

The leading solution in development, according to an IBM press release, is Ask Procurement, a generative AI-powered procurement solution that will “help empower procurement professionals to unlock new data and insights with a 360-degree view into all aspects of a company’s business relationships to help increase savings, reduce time, and mitigate the potential for risk.”

Ask Procurement is expected to use Dun & Bradstreet’s platform, but feature watsonx supported models and other generative AI capabilities “fueled by Dun & Bradstreet’s vast Data Cloud.” The solution is expected to be available to procurement teams in the second half of 2024, integrated with Dun & Bradstreet solutions or an enterprises’ existing ERP or procurement solution.

“At Dun & Bradstreet, being a trusted data partner and a responsible AI partner to organisations are synonymous,” said Ginny Gomez, President, North America, Dun & Bradstreet. “As two trusted brands that bring nearly 300 years of combined experience to the businesses we serve, Dun & Bradstreet and IBM are ideally suited to help companies responsibly navigate the rapidly evolving generative AI space because we know their business environments and processes well. And with hundreds of thousands of organisations globally relying on us every day, we believe there is no better company than Dun & Bradstreet to lead the industry and our clients into the future.”

By Harry Menear

The HS2 rail project promises over 300 work packages, ranging from £1 million to £500 million for 2024.

The 2024 procurement pipeline for the HS2 rail project promises a £1 billion “boost” for British businesses, as the project administrators reveal details for a slew of contracts available over the coming year and a half.

The contract opportunities, collectively worth over £1 billion, give a heads up to potential suppliers looking to boost their order books and grow their business in the year ahead. So far, UK businesses have secured over £17 billion worth of work on HS2 and 2024 promises even more opportunities to get involved.

“Forward planning is absolutely crucial for businesses, so we’ve worked closely with our stations and civils contractors to develop a simple procurement pipeline setting out what we’ll need and when,” commented Robin Lapish, HS2’s supply chain lead.

HS2 – London with Manchester

HS2—a 140 mile high speed rail network project originally slated to connect London with Manchester—was first announced under the UK’s Labour government in 2009. In the 13 years since its announcement, the project has experienced delays, cost overruns, and controversies. Construction began in September of 2020.

According to the UK’s Institute for Government, while the project was initially estimated as “delivering £2.40 of benefit for each pound of public money spent, the government had revised the BCR down to 1.8 in 2013,” and “Lord Berkeley estimated that HS2 would only deliver £0.66 for each public pound spent, predicting both higher costs – at £22bn more than the 2019 Chairman’s stocktake – significantly reduced benefit from both passenger demand and train frequency, and less ambitious predictions of economic growth.”

As of February 2023, HS2’s total cost to date was calculated at £24.7 billion, and its BCR was calculated as having dropped to .80 following a reduction in rail use after the pandemic—prompting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to announce the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the line.

Harry Menear

At DPW Amsterdam, Kathryn Thompson and Fraser Woodhouse, Partner and Director at Deloitte, discuss the rise of generative AI and the impact on procurement.

Procurement is changing.

That’s something that isn’t lost on Kathryn Thompson, a Partner at Deloitte.

As part of her role, she leads the Sourcing and Procurement Market Offering within Deloitte’s Consulting division in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Originally from Australia, Thompson has worked in procurement since 1996 and has observed quite the evolution over the past two and a half decades.

Procurement’s transition

Over the years, procurement has shifted from a traditional back-office function to an entity operating at the fore of a company’s strategy. Having been involved in the industry for more than 25 years, Thompson has had a front-row seat to procurement’s digital transformation. While she affirms that AI has changed procurement, she isn’t convinced that generative AI is changing the space – yet.

Kathryn Thompson speaking at DPW Amsterdam 2023

“We see lots of AI tools pulling from different data sources to apply intelligence to different decisions,” she explains. “But the generative part, beyond contract summaries or pulling together draft RFPs, remains to be seen at scale.  One of my more sophisticated clients has run 300+ Proof of Concepts in AI across their business, including and beyond procurement, and admits they are yet to scale or drive meaningful ROI from any POC. At the moment, the generative AI side for us, isn’t getting past proof of concept or the pilot stage yet.”

Fraser Woodhouse is a Director at Deloitte and has been with the firm since February 2019. He believes that procurement and sales teams will use gen AI for RFPs over the next six months. “I think they’ll do it without telling anyone,” he explains. “It will eventually get to a point where I think that sort of crutch will become a necessity. When it’s built into the enterprise platforms, people will forget how to write contracts because the AI does it automatically. People will even use it to write their emails.”

The AI dilemma

AI on its own is pointless – it simply doesn’t operate the way you need it to. That’s why the importance of making tech work in a way that creates efficiency has never been more important. For Woodhouse, he insists it’s about putting a human at the right place in the process. “One of the solutions I saw was a gen AI assistant helping write an RFP built in, but then the supplier has a gen AI assistant helping do the response to the RFP as well,” he tells us. “Very quickly you’ve got two AIs negotiating with each other, and that doesn’t work unless a human is curating stuff at that point in the middle.”

Given the ease of AI usage, there is a discussion as to whether tech implementation could go too far the other way. Could humans lose the ability to perform simple tasks they previously wouldn’t have thought twice about? But Woodhouse is quick to dispel that myth and believes that despite the growing reliance on technology, people won’t be rendered useless. “People didn’t forget how to communicate when spellcheck came around, they could communicate better,” he explains. “If you are a supplier and are responding to an RFP and you’re pressing their generative AI button to build the response and five of the other suppliers are doing the same thing, who’s going to stand out? The ones who wrote it themselves or at least edited it and had meaningful input.”

“You can use AI for the transactional, easy stuff but there must be a value underpinning it,” adds Thompson. “The winners are going to be the ones that are human about things.”

Fraser Woodhouse and Kathryn Thompson speaking to CPOstrategy at DPW Amsterdam 2023

Procurement’s place

With such significant innovation happening, it is seen as a transformative time to be in procurement. As automation speeds up, the necessity to upskill new graduates coming into the workforce and encourage them to learn higher-value work earlier in their career journeys is becoming increasingly important.

“Covid and the following work from home attitude has a lot to answer for,” explains Thompson. “Pre-Covid, you would rarely work from home. Consultants, suppliers, delivery partners always went to the client’s site. That’s where innovation, creativity, results that are more than the sum of their parts happen. That’s not replicable by generative AI. We need to get everyone back out there and doing things. Rather than replacing jobs, we’re replacing tasks. The tasks that we’re replacing are the likes of data analysis, synthesising, and summarising. Hopefully, it means we’re doing real-life negotiations, brainstorming and innovation instead which are the things that people love to do. Fingers crossed, it just means the bar goes up.”

Conrad Smith, Founder and CEO at Graphite Systems, discusses the similarities between Formula One and procurement amid significant digital transformation.

“Our business, like the F1 driver, knows to go fast.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking that procurement and Formula One are worlds apart at first glance. However, to Conrad Smith, Founder and CEO at Graphite Systems, they are actually a lot closer than initially meets the eye. A petrolhead by his own admission, Smith shared the stage with Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner at DPW Amsterdam 2023. As a purchaser with almost 30 years of experience, Smith has overseen quite a transformation during his procurement career. He says that with everything going digital, you would assume that purchasing would accelerate. But it is, in fact, the opposite.

The pace of purchasing

“Over these 30 years, you would think purchasing would be getting faster,” he tells us. “Business is speeding up, but purchasing is slowing down – that’s stunning. When you think about it, where else in the world is slowing down when everything’s going faster and faster? Even though we’re investing in Coupa and Ariba and all of these expensive purchasing tools, it’s still slowing down. Our business stakeolders know business is speeding up, and so their tolerance is going away. In the nineties, when you onboarded a supplier, you just needed commercial data, name, address, tax, and banking.”

Conrad Smith (left) with DPW founders Matthias Gutzmann and Herman Knevel

Having been founded in February 2019, Graphite Systems is the premier supplier life cycle and risk management solution. The emergence of risk and due diligence has become a primary function within procurement. Vendor due diligence during the procurement process ensures users can identify and mitigate the risks present with a vendor they want to do business with during the contracting process. For Smith, he believes that this transformation has been 15 years in the making.

“I think that it was typical that a purchasing leader would point to other stakeholders and say it’s legal that’s holding this up, privacy or security. They’re the ones stopping the process from happening,” he explains. “And quite frankly, I’ll admit, those were my early thoughts. This is like a hot potato – I don’t want to be owning it. I look stupid because of the slowness I described. Think how stupid the business thinks we are when they come and say, I’m working on a project, I need this consultant here on Monday. And our best response is that it’ll take weeks or months to onboard the supplier”           

“Weeks matter, and we need to go through all this risk and due diligence. It’s really important to do the risk and due diligence, but we can’t do that at the expense of the speed of business. While business is quicker, in every measure that you look at, purchasing is going slower. It’s dumb, and the business knows that, and it means we lose credibility. It needs to happen, but we need to be very intelligent about it and not just do things the same ways we’ve always done them.”

Conrad Smith with Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner at DPW

Procurement’s changing

Smith explains that one of the reasons he can relate to the F1 analogy is that while cars are going faster than ever, the drivers are far safer today. “Every year, we see massive accidents take place,” he tells us. “I think last year, a car that was flipping head over heels tumbling and hit the fence before slamming into the ground but the driver was okay,” he explains. “There’s this principle that is very important in almost any situation where somebody says, you can have this or you can have that. It’s a false choice.

“You have to pick speed, or you have to pick safety. If you go in with a requirement that says it has to be fast and it has to be safe, that’s the F1 example. You have to go into purchasing and say it’s a non-negotiable. It has to be fast and safe. How can we rethink the design so it can go fast and be safe? That’s really my passion, and it’s possible. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s possible. Frankly, in the case of this purchasing problem, it’s way easier than it should be. But we’re still stuck on passing paper back and forth instead of just saying, there’s my profile. Everything you need is in my Graphite profile – just like everything you need to know about me [as a professional] is in my LinkedIn.”    

The future of creation, management, and sharing of data and documents between buyers and suppliers absolutely needs to evolve from emails, spreadsheets, and PDFs into a modern social network architecture. This transformation of information sharing has already proved its speed and efficiency in most other aspects of our lives. It’s time to quit wasting time and money on supplier onboarding and embrace modern technology in this critical procurement process.

Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO at HICX, discusses why the time is now for supplier experience in supply chain and procurement and its rise to the top of conversations in the space.

“I feel like the focus is shifting.”

Gone are the days of supplier experience being hidden away in the background. Today, it sits as an increasingly important target area within the procurement and supply chain space. But it hasn’t always been this way.

For Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO at HICX, he is pleased to see supplier experience’s conversation grow. “I’ve been in this space for 23 years and even if we go back three or four years ago, no one was talking about it,” he tells us. “It’s great to see a movement beginning to happen.”

Speaking with CPOstrategy at HICX Supplier Experience Live in Amsterdam, a day before DPW Amsterdam kicked off, he revealed how satisfying it was to see its evolution take place. And clearly there’s a market for it. Scores of people filled the Tobacco Theatre in Amsterdam all eager to listen to the many discussions and speakers attending the half-day event. “It is very satisfying because you see people’s minds changing in the same way that it did for the customer and employee experience,” he explains. “What you have to think about is that almost every company is also a supplier so it’s in your interest to focus on the supplier experience side. In another context, you’re also a supplier and people should understand that we’re all in it together. If you don’t think about solving it, then you’re going to have that pain yourself.”

Driving Supplier Experience

Indeed, it’s an issue that needs solving. Xyloyiannis explains that not understanding the necessity of supplier experience is a common misconception because it affects everyone in different ways. “Sales and marketing are the ones likely to understand what it means to be a supplier but they’re detached from the problem,” he says. “They are probably going into a portal and filling things in many times, it’s just not procurement doing it so that’s why they can’t make the connection. What we all need to realise is that focusing on supplier experience is in all of our interest. Ultimately, you have to think it’s just the right way of solving a problem because I create efficiency for myself and I’m also a supplier.”

HICX Supplier Experience Live in Amsterdam in October 2023

Xyloyiannis goes on to explain that if the focus is on supplier experience, an opportunity has been presented to create net efficiency – which is a massive win for all. “This benefits everyone because it’s not a zero-sum game,” he says. “If you think about business cases of other solutions, it’s we’re going to fire people and cut headcount. If I take the US government example of 150 million a year to DNB, this would’ve been a saving they would make without impacting any other functions internally. No heads would have to be cut; nothing would have to be outsourced. In a way, it’s free money for everyone when you can create net efficiency.”

Moving forward

Today’s Chief Procurement Officer has a lot on their plate. Amid navigating continuous innovation and transformation, ESG’s ever-increasing influence and battling inflation concerns all on the back of an already disruptive few years, procurement finds itself at an interesting moment. But looking ahead to 2024, supplier experience has its seat at the table and will only become a hotter topic in the years to come, according to Xyloyiannis.

“A lot of leading companies are putting huge amounts of focus on it,” he tells us. “Henkel posted on LinkedIn last year that they were driving their whole strategy around supplier experience. Then you’ve got Heineken and Unilever who are getting more involved in the space too. I think it is very much at the forefront, particularly in companies which produce goods and services. Supply chain has become very global and there’s a benefit to outsourcing and all these things, but it does make it very fragile. That’s why now it’s become important to focus on supplier experience because we have such a high dependency on one another.”

Maarten van der Borden, Customer Transformation Director at Celonis, discusses the influence digital tools such as generative AI is having on procurement’s workforce.

“When something new arrives on the scene, people have a tendency to immediately think of the worst-case scenario.”

Maarten van der Borden is a Customer Transformation Director at Celonis. As AI gets increasingly complex and advanced, there are concerns from some sections of the workforce that robots will take human jobs in procurement. Indeed, one of the biggest draws of automation is the cost savings and efficiency it brings, with AI able to complete some tasks almost instantly. But van der Borden challenges that notion and believes technology should be used as an enabler.

AI’s impact on jobs

AI will, in my opinion, not replace anyone anytime soon,” he reveals. “What it will do is make life easier and change the way we operate. In the late 90’s, we couldn’t envision what having a mobile phone would be like. When those were first introduced, we thought how annoying it would be that you would always be reachable. Now we can’t imagine living without a phone.

“I don’t envision the elimination of procurement positions due to AI. Rather, a significant shift may occur in the transactional aspects of process analytics. Currently, individuals proficient in creating complex Excel macros or adept at extracting and transforming data into actionable insights are highly valued. These roles are likely to undergo changes, but this should be seen as an opportunity for enhancement, not a threat. It’s crucial to recognise this. My belief is that AI won’t be replacing jobs, particularly in procurement where human involvement is key. The role of technology should be to empower and improve processes in procurement, not to replace the human element.”

Maarten van der Borden, Customer Transformation Director at Celonis

The journey

Over the years, Van der Borden has distinguished himself through a series of impactful transformations and strategic developments, primarily at the nexus of IT, business operations, and finance. His journey has been marked by the successful management of large-scale programs, where his ability to engage cross-functional teams and collaborate with stakeholders at all organisational levels has consistently led to the achievement of key goals. Notably, he has a history of taking on complex and challenging projects, steering them from concept to completion under stringent conditions. This track record has established him as an influential change agent, known for transforming underperforming organizations into models of high performance and efficiency.

Having began his career in the Dutch Military, he experienced a similar journey to many procurement practitioners. Van der Borden fell into the space by a “happy accident” and never left.

He shares, “I didn’t know much about procurement initially, but I quickly grew to love it.” His journey led him to DS Smith, a major packaging organisation, where he successfully spearheaded a comprehensive global procurement transformation. Subsequently, he transitioned to head the finance transformation within the same company. In this role, he sought a tool that could effectively navigate the unique challenges of procurement compared to finance.

“I needed something that would show me how our financial processes really ran. It meant finding the most impactful inefficiencies and developing an action plan to deal with them.”

Celonis today

This search brought him to Celonis’ process mining capability, a product that resonated with him so profoundly that he decided to join the company. “Right now, I am a Customer Transformation Director at Celonis, which means I help our customers organise themselves around this solution because I firmly believe implementing a tech solution by itself doesn’t do anything. We will always need the human element to make the change and create value, based on the insights tech provides. I’m very happy to be here.”

Today, Celonis is the global leader in process mining, providing companies with a modern way to run their business processes entirely on data and intelligence. The firm pioneered the process mining category more than a decade ago when it first developed the ability to automatically X-ray processes, find inefficiencies and implement immediate, targeted, and automated action to resolve them.

Gen AI drive

Procurement is in a transformative moment. At DPW Amsterdam, generative AI was the buzzword on attendees’ lips everywhere you looked. For van der Borden he acknowledges how rapidly the space is changing as a result of an increased influence of digital tools.

“To me, the first big thing to realise when we talk about gen AI is the democratisation of data and process analytics,” explains van der Borden. “I think what’s really important is that procurement realm to me is a prime example of where gen AI can have a huge impact. I think what gen AI will do is open up the capabilities of analytics to a much wider audience than today. People who may previously have trusted some Excel sheets or PowerPoint slides presented to them to make decisions can now freely explore, or even converse with their own data and make informed decisions themselves. You start to build a community of data analysts rather than just having consumption of data analytics. That to me is the big game changer that gen AI is actually providing procurement with.”

Procurement’s perception

CPOstrategy sits down with Maarten van der Borden, Customer Transformation Director at Celonis, at DPW Amsterdam 2023

By its own common admission, procurement used to be boring. A function hidden out of sight and kept far away from the c-suite. Now, it’s front and centre, firing on all cylinders. Indeed, the Covid pandemic helped drive it towards the top of the agenda, in addition to other enablers such as transformation and ESG. For van der Borden, he believes procurement is beginning to shake off that old skin and be seen as more of a strategic function.

“We’ve received a bad reputation in the past because the impact has not always been clear,” he tells us. “Some analysis that people do on procurement as a strategic function is to ask what’s the real impact? Yeah, you manage the supply and demand but as long as I have my blue ball point where and when I need it, you’re doing a good job. If things start to fall over then procurement used to get the blame. What I’m really happy to see is that more and more CEOs are seeing procurement as a strategic function, not only driving value in the financial domain but also more and more as the primary contributors to a more sustainable future and the guardians of our corporate brands.

An evolution

“There’s been a noticeable evolution in procurement, particularly in the merging of processes like source-to-pay, procure-to-pay, and purchase-to-pay. Our definitions in these areas haven’t always been crystal clear. However, when you delve into purchase-to-pay, it’s apparent that this is where the transactional activities occur. Due its very transactional nature, this phase is measurable and reveals the outcomes of our upstream actions in sourcing. I’ve observed that these areas, despite often being managed by separate divisions or functions, are intrinsically linked. The transactional aspects are commonly seen in shared services, while the sourcing aspects represent traditional procurement.

“Bridging these two areas, in my view, is a significant shift. This is where technology truly demonstrates its value. By integrating and examining the transactional processes to understand their shortcomings, we can trace back to the root causes, often found in sourcing. This integration is fascinating to me. It allows us to assess the real impact of our efforts.”

DPW has announced it is expanding into North America following the success of its Amsterdam offering.

DPW has announced it is expanding into North America following the success of its Amsterdam event.

Founders Matthias Gutzmann and Herman Knevel revealed the news via LinkedIn to confirm a move that will see significant growth into new territories.

Gutzmann exclusively told CPOstrategy: “Marking a pivotal moment for DPW, our expansion to the US isn’t just about growing our footprint, it’s about building on our ongoing momentum over the last few years and bringing the enthusiasm and expertise of DPW.

“We aim to bridge procurement organisations with innovative startup founders and change makers, fostering the growth of a digital procurement and supply chain ecosystem in North America.”

Accompanied by a photo of the duo outside Google offices in Silicon Valley, California, he posted on Monday (27th November): “I am currently in #SilliconValley together with Herman Knevel, gearing up for an exciting week filled with meetings with tech giants, founders, visionary partners and future collaborators.

“Having previously led the expansion of Procurement Leaders | A World 50 Group Community into North America, I must say I feel extra energised to bring my experience and strong relationships within the North American market for the benefit of DPW.

“Stay tuned for more updates as we embark on this exciting phase of growth and innovation!”

Founders Matthias Gutzmann and Herman Knevel

​​Since launching DPW in Amsterdam in 2019, the conference has grown from strength to strength and is now widely regarded as the biggest and most influential tech event in procurement and supply chain on the planet. The conference welcomed over 1,250 procurement professionals with more than 2,500 virtual attendees watching along at home in its 2023 edition in October.

Last year’s event was held at the former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage, with the theme called “Make Tech Work” which focused on turning digital aspirations into a reality. DPW Amsterdam has already been announced for October 9 and 10, 2024, next year.

Further details about DPW North America will be revealed in due course.

At DPW Amsterdam 2023, Sigbjørn Nome, CEO and Co-Founder at Ignite, discusses the importance of a people-first mindset in procurement.

“It’s super important to get the right people in procurement.”

Sigbjørn Nome, CEO and Co-Founder at Ignite, is passionate about talent. The company is now armed with 60 employees and has become an organisation of choice for many graduates in Norway. According to Nome, building a positive environment that empowers staff holds the key to long-term success and growth in procurement.

“We’ve managed to get a good reputation in Norway and recruit top talent,” he tells us. “In the beginning, we used the best students and offered internships to help us build the first version of the product. Then we built a good relationship with the universities in Norway and we’ve also recruited lots of senior hires too. There’s a great combination of talent within Ignite.”

Sigbjørn Nome, CEO and Co-Founder at Ignite

Procurement transformation

Ignite is an advanced yet simple spend management solution that gives customers the power of correct and holistic data, transparency, and actionable analytics to empower data-driven decision-making. This way, customers not only save money and avoid risk but also make smarter choices and drive value across their organisation. Ignite provides a one-stop shop to consolidate, clean, and enrich data, get advanced procurement analytics, conduct supplier assessments, as well as holistically managing suppliers and contracts and quickly and automatically estimating their Scope 3 CO2 footprint.                             

With a background in consulting, Nome worked on a variety of procurement transformation projects and has witnessed significant potential in the space. Having decided to form Ignite in 2016, the organisation began as a consulting firm but it was later decided to be delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. “As a consulting business, you are cashflow positive and you earn money from the get-go. While for a SaaS business, you need to invest a lot in product and productive development,” he tells us. “It is quite a challenging change. As a business owner, you also need to sell and be more out there to get customers. There’s been a lot of challenges and one of those has been building the team which I’m really proud of.”

Procurement’s evolving function

Procurement is changing. Traditional procurement revolved around delivery, cost and quality. Now, given the nature of environmental challenges as well as the necessity of data analytics, people with diverse skill sets are needed more than ever before. Nome believes it’s about changing the mindset of procurement. “You’ve got to shift that mentality because the function is so different today,” he explains. “In the future, it’s going to be a more collaborative function because procurement teams cannot win alone.”

With that future in mind, Nome recognises the space is a different beast today than it was a decade ago. Change dominates the industry and the players that embrace transformation will be the ones who win. “You need to use procurement as a lever to get change done,” he tells us. “It’s not enough anymore to look at your business only, your responsibility also extends to your suppliers. It’s about where you spend your money and your negotiation power because customers will look at that. I would say the regulation demands will offer a broader perspective, not only looking at your business but also how you spend your money.”

At DPW Amsterdam 2023, Brandon Card, Co-Founder and CEO at Terzo, discusses the rise of his organisation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how it used the disruption to its advantage.

Terzo means third in Italian.

With the two founders having Italian heritage, they chose to describe what they set out to build – a platform that brings third parties together.

Terzo uses powerful AI technology to extract, analyse, and visualise its customer’s contract data. Terzo’s AI data extraction capabilities also reach beyond contracts and can solve an organisation’s document problems, from invoices to POs and more. Its platform was designed on the foundation of contract intelligence, providing business teams the necessary data to improve productivity, optimise spend, reduce costs, and manage risk and governance across their entire supplier ecosystem. Terzo is the first solution to provide critical data and terms to both legal and business teams to make decisions together.

Terzo’s journey

Brandon Card is the Co-Founder and CEO at Terzo. His company’s journey’s start was an interesting one, having been founded days before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that then ensued. But, reflecting on the disruptive nature of the situation, Card believes it actually helped get Terzo up and running quicker. “It just accelerated our timeline because we wanted to build fast,” he reveals. “When we put the team together, we had this concept that we wanted to get the product out as fast as possible. We knew that with Covid happening there was going to be a huge shift in how people were working. People were going to need to buy new solutions faster and it’s going to be harder to control spending. We knew procurement was going to have a host of challenges across the supply chain with this interruption with Covid. Our team on the engineering side believed we need to build faster.”

This led to Terzo’s team on the engineering side of the house to work diligently throughout the rest of 2020 and into 2021 on building code and new releases with the vision of getting the Terzo product into the industry quicker. “We thought we might be able to help procurement given the challenges they have now with all of these new needs that the business is going to bring,” he says. “We probably built the product about 50% faster just because there were no distractions so there’s pros and cons when everything happens in life. Our team really worked well together and they buckled down and they took that time to focus on Terzo. It’s something I’m very proud of this team for doing that.”

Brandon Card speaks with CPOstrategy at DPW Amsterdam 2023

Developing relationships

A big part of what Terzo does revolves around strengthening relationships by uniting teams to unlock insights so organisations can make smarter decisions and maximise value from suppliers, customers and partners. Card believes this mantra holds the key to long-term success in procurement.

“It’s critical for us because when we think about whether we’re doing spend analytics or contract intelligence, it’s all about understanding the relationship with these different entities you’re working with,” discusses Card. “We’re not there yet but my big vision in the future is to build an enterprise relationship intelligence platform to understand every single business that you’re working with, whether it’s a customer, a supplier or a partner. The truth with these big organisations, a lot of their suppliers are also partners or customers. These relationships are very complex and they’re very critical to innovation.

“If you’re doing anything in the cloud right now, if you’re doing anything with AI or even autonomous driving, you need partners to get this done. You can’t build it in-house. And years ago, people would build in-house. When we were young growing up in the nineties, everyone had to build their own data centres and build their own software. We’re in a world now where you can go and turn things on online in a few minutes, and that’s where we want to be so you can push product out faster, competitive advantage, and I think these relationships are critical to procurement having a competitive advantage and driving value for the whole business.”

Procurement’s place

In today’s world, procurement is in the driving seat. The function isn’t siloed anymore, stuck in a back-office room and out of the way of everyone else. Despite such significant innovation, there is sometimes a perception that procurement is still boring. For Card, he believes one of procurement’s biggest challenges is changing that age-hold mentality of procurement within a c-suite.

“It’s about educating the CEO or the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of large organisations just how critical procurement is. A lot of them just don’t understand,” he tells us. “That’s the challenge we have, and that’s something we want to change. In the future, the CFO is going to treat the head of sales the same they treat the CPO. Right now, the chief revenue officer gets special treatment in every organisation. If you run sales, you’re treated differently because you bring in revenue. If you’re procurement, you’re lucky if you’re at the table. But I do see that changing.”

While Card believes this shift is already beginning to happen with younger CFOs, change such as this doesn’t happen overnight. “By doing this, you’re going to have a really balanced organisation and reduce risk while optimising their costs,” he discusses. “Ultimately, they’re going to be more efficient, and the teams are going to be working a lot better together. There’s going to be a better culture when leadership buys in because then procurement feels valued. They work harder, and that vibe carries throughout the organisation. That’s something that we want to help push for procurement but we know it’s going to take time.”

Last month, CPOstrategy travelled to DPW Amsterdam. Here are five takeaways from the biggest and most influential tech event in procurement.

1. Digital transformation isn’t just about tech

David Rogers, author of The Digital Transformation Roadmap, delivered an important keynote that highlighted that digital transformation doesn’t just mean technology. He told the audience, “The hard part about transforming organisations isn’t about tech. It’s about making the technology work for your customers and for your business.”

He expressed the importance of delivering value in your organisation while also describing the art of rethinking business to define what growth opportunities there are by thinking differently about customers, competition, data, innovation and value. Rogers provided guidance to the audience and unveiled a five-step digital transformation roadmap. These are: define a shared vision, pick the problems that matter most, validate new ventures, manage growth at scale and grow tech, talent and culture. Rogers explained to the attendees gathered before him, “ChatGPT is not your strategy. Fall in love with the problem and not the solution.”

2. Building connections

DPW welcomed more than 1,250 procurement professionals over the two days while also hosting more than 120 procuretech solutions. New digital cards which were worn as lanyards around an attendees’ neck allowed for instant connections to be made and eradicated faffing about for contact details or losing important business cards. The buzz and hum of chatter in the air across the conference was audible. A walk around the two expo halls, both kitted out with dozens of tech solutions each offering something different to engage with ensured plenty of choice of destination. Many booths provided gifts which added a personal touch, such as Gatekeeper’s dragon or Omnea’s socks.

While the virtual only events in years gone by during the Covid period served a purpose, nothing could beat the sense of community and valuable face-to-face meetings that attendees were provided with.

3. Gen AI is a game-changer

If you were a fly on the wall in most conversations, a common theme would appear more often than not – generative AI. Indeed, the technology dominated thoughts at DPW Amsterdam 2023 which has only been accelerated given the ever-increasing influence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT which only launched a year ago. But gen AI isn’t only about chatbots, AI adoption was prevalent across the floor with each procuretech ecosystem showcasing its own spin on new technology as well as fresh and innovative ways of offering services.

Generative AI is firmly on the tips of people’s tongues. While its possibilities appear limitless, its rise to prominence has led and will continue to cause debate about how far its capabilities can reach in its current form. Expect that to continue.

4. People are still the secret sauce

As exciting as new technology is, without good people your operations are doomed to fail. While there have been concerns from some sections of the space that robots are here to replace humans, DPW Amsterdam’s conversation revolved around making tech work for us and about using technology as a tool to make day-to-day life easier.

Ultimately, even chatbots require a human at the other end to make the correct inputs otherwise all the end user receives is data without direction. While discussions were had as to whether AI can help plug talent gaps, all it means is that boring, outdated data-entry tasks will be taken over by machines and allow the next generation of the workforce to focus on greater value-add work that will lead to increased efficiency for themselves and the company they work for.

5. Now is the greatest time to be in procurement

In comedian and host of DPW Amsterdam Andrew Moskos’ opening speech he reflected on procurement’s evolution and transformation. “Procurement used to be boring but now we’re all rockstars. We run the company, we’re in the c-suite, we run ESG, sustainability, risk, and 80% of the spend of a company goes through us.” It was quite the welcome – and set the tone for the subsequent two days.

With an unprecedented amount of innovation at a practitioner’s fingertips in today’s ever-evolving and transformative world, the future is what procurement makes it. Gone are the days of procurement being some boring back-office function hidden out of sight, the industry has had a sudden injection of life via digitalisation.

Matthias Gutzmann, Founder of DPW, exclusively told us: “It’s the best time to be in procurement. It’s the most exciting era to be in procurement and supply chain so it’s an amazing time that we need to celebrate and get loud about it.”

DPW Amsterdam 2023 certainly did that.

Michael van Keulen, CPO at Coupa, discusses the emergence of gen AI and whether procurement is in a golden era amid technology transformation.

Generative AI, or gen AI for short, is one of the hottest topics in procurement today.

Indeed, the introduction of ChatGPT has only accelerated its prominence into wider consumption. Gen AI allows its users to quickly generate new content based on inputs. These models could include text, images, sounds, animation, 3D models or other types of data. One of its biggest draws is the ability to understand different learning approaches and allows organisations to move quickly to leverage large quantities of data.

But despite obvious benefits such as time and cost, Michael van Keulen, Chief Procurement Officer at Coupa, stresses caution should be used particularly when it comes to valuable tasks. “If you look at ChatGPT, it’s fine if you’re looking for recommendations for something low-risk. I need something for my wife’s birthday next week, you input three things that she loves and ask it to help. It’s great,” he tells us. “But it comes from data sources on the web that aren’t always governed, controlled or trustworthy. It’s whatever is out there. What about the algorithms that come with ChatGPT? I don’t know what’s influencing the search criteria. On Google, if you pay you are at the top of the search bar. But I don’t know what ChatGPT is governed by.”

Van Keulen is a passionate and seasoned procurement evangelist with a comprehensive track record of driving value through business transformation at global companies. Since March 2020, van Keulen has been the Chief Procurement Officer at Coupa, a leader in cloud-based business spend management software, where he is responsible for driving best-in-class procurement practices across the company, supporting business development and being a source for peers looking to elevate and transform procurement. Van Keulen is especially passionate about building teams, driving value, organisational transformation, CSR, and diversity and inclusion.

CPOstrategy speaks with Michael van Keulen, CPO at Coupa, at DPW Amsterdam

The rise of AI

In the case of Coupa, the firm has been conducting its community.ai platform for the past decade which has been at the heart of the company’s strategy. Community.ai analyses real-time spend data, applies AI to compare company’s metrics against others and offers ways for organisations to be more efficient, profitable and sustainable. Van Keulen believes that the biggest difference between what Coupa offers and what gen AI provides is the trust factor.

“At Coupa, we measure information based on real spend, data and suppliers that are doing real business together – the internet isn’t doing that,” he discusses. “We’ve got nearly $5 trillion of spend under management from real transactions and real suppliers. That number continues to grow as customers and suppliers join the Coupa community. Pretty much all of our customers have trusted us with access to their sensitive data which we anonymize and then share back with the entire Community.  As a member of the community I know I can trust it because it comes from a source that is reliable, sanitised, relevant and well-governed. As well, we have certain standards and algorithms that we built-in all based on outcomes that our customers are looking to receive.”

Van Keulen believes there is a misconception in procurement that ready-made data sets are out there that are capable of meeting customer requirements. “The truth is most tech companies out there today don’t have access to customer data because their customers won’t let that happen,” he explains. “But at Coupa, our customers have already given us access to their data. This means we now have a real, reliable, accessible, governed and structured data set that has been anonymized.  When we then apply AI, you actually get prescriptions that are meaningful and relevant to procurement. I think the misconception is that this type of data set is easily found, but it’s not, we’ve been building this for over 10 years. There’s no other company out there that has the same level of spend data as Coupa.

“It’s the same as Google Maps. The only way that Google Maps works is because everybody uses it.  It allows me to get from A to B to C to D, back to A in the quickest time and with the least amount of disruption. The only way that that works is because we’re all using it. And I look at AI no differently in spend as I do with AI in my private life.”

Michael van Keulen, CPO at Coupa

Bridging the talent gap via AI

The need for fresh talent in procurement has never been so important. Procurement, like many industries, is lacking a defined path to welcome the next generation of talent, a feeling which has only been amplified on the back of COVID-19. This means the need to find ways to meet that shortage head-on, whether that’s through education, an industry rebrand or via AI. In van Keulen’s mind, he believes developing the correct tech landscape could hold the key.

“I’ve actually said this for a while,” he explains. “For too long, we brought in super smart people and then we would let them work in some antiquated old-school ERP, in Excel and run RFPs in emails. Nobody wants that, especially the current workforce because they’re used to and have been raised with Amazon, they all have TikTok accounts and are used to all these other e-commerce websites which have very seamless systems. If they come into the workforce and I let them work in some outdated ERP environment with email as the means of communication, that talent is either going to leave procurement because they think it’s boring or they’re just going to leave the overall organisation and work somewhere else. We don’t want that to happen, so you need to have the right tech landscape in place.”

Once the strategy is formed, van Keulen explains that is where the fun of procurement begins. “Then procurement’s the coolest function in the world and we will close the talent gap,” he says. “The talent is out there, they’re just not coming to procurement. They’ll go to finance, marketing, legal or IT instead. If you execute procurement properly, it’s the best because you’re right at the heart of everything. But you need the right people, operating model and operationalisation of your procurement process as well as the right technology. You need all of those elements or it’s never going to work.”

The greatest time in procurement?

Given the disruptive nature of global challenges and its ripple effect on procurement and the supply chain over the past few years, organisations are increasingly waking up to the importance of developing greater strategic relationships with suppliers. COVID-19, inflation issues, natural disasters and wars have meant today’s CPOs have been forced to firefight and think more strategically than ever before. Van Keulen recognises the turbulent nature of recent years and believes major transformation is already underway in procurement. “Historically most executives in any company would pay very little attention to their supply chain,” he reveals. “Due to recent events, companies are realising that they need to be closer to their suppliers. Perhaps in the past, the CEO would only spend a small fraction of their time with suppliers but those metrics are changing rapidly.”

As the ground lies in procurement, some sections of the industry now believe it is the industry’s greatest era given the level of possibilities. Widely considered a back-office function tucked in a corner and working in a silo, procurement is a totally different beast in today’s world. For van Keulen, he likes the variety.

“I wear so many different hats every single day,” he explains. “I always say sometimes I’m an accountant, others I’m an environmentalist. Sometimes I’m the treasurer or a finance person, but I’m also sometimes a psychiatrist. Sometimes I’m a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a judge, an environmentalist and yes even a wizard. I never know what my day looks like. I can plan it, but something may happen where everything goes out the window. Procurement will always be going through some type of disruption and it’s about how you drive the competitive edge and how you drive value despite that. Procurement really is the best gig in the world and it’s great that more people have started to see that now too.”

Giorgio Sarno, Senior Data Scientist at Stratio, on how AI and ML can unlock data from both internal combustion and electric vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint and hasten the transition to zero-emission transport.

A single bus journey pollutes 82% less than the same journey by car.

For this reason, a small decision like taking public transport instead of driving is a big step towards lowering emissions. If we then consider the significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that transport operators can achieve by implementing eco-driving solutions or by transitioning to electric vehicles, choosing the bus over personal vehicles becomes an even more sustainable choice. Transport operators are already moving in the right direction in terms of minimising the environmental impact of their services, and they’re doing so by leveraging vehicle data.  

The bus is essentially a black box, where vehicle technical data is locked and remains largely inaccessible to transport operators. However, by automating the collection and analysis of this data, fleet managers can rely on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to implement a predictive maintenance approach. This means that vehicle sensor data can be turned into actionable insights to help reduce the carbon footprint of internal combustion engine (ICE) buses, hasten the transition to zero-emission transport, and minimise breakdowns and downtime, resulting in a more reliable public transport service.

Car vs Bus

With cars representing 72% of EU road transport emissions, it’s key to make public transport the preferred form of travel. However, in order to create a push towards shared mobility and leverage the environmental benefits of public transport, operators and public transport agencies need to ensure it can live up to the promise of reliability, getting passengers where they need to be, when they need to be there. To guarantee reliability, it is necessary to turn our attention back to the most crucial component of public transport: the vehicle. 

AI predictive maintenance is like a digital stethoscope for buses, enabling operators to tune in to the state of health of their vehicles’ critical systems and components. By collecting the data from built-in vehicle sensors and analysing the patterns that indicate the condition of components, maintenance managers can leverage real-time, actionable insights to inform their decisions. AI can identify tricky faults that humans could overlook – tracing leaks in the compressed air system or the wear and tear of brake pads, for example. 

With such a system in place, bus operators can depend on real-time monitoring to assess whether their vehicles’ brake pads need to be replaced, meaning that parts can be ordered in bulk and that maintenance can be scheduled during off-peak periods to avoid service disruptions. Maintenance and repairs can be scheduled automatically and more accurately, contributing to better fleet utilisation and cost savings. More importantly, by preventing equipment failure, vehicle breakdowns can be pre-empted to reduce downtime and protect both revenue and customer experience.

Reduced resource consumption & enhanced asset lifecycle management

The data on equipment behaviour, failure modes, and degradation patterns can also inform asset management strategies, including engineering decisions related to repair, replacement, or refurbishment of components and systems. By extending the useful life of assets and maximising their performance, operators can minimise waste generation, reduce the need for new equipment production, and lower the environmental impact associated with resource extraction, manufacturing, and disposal. 

Moreover, early identification of sub-optimal operating conditions enables engineers to fine-tune equipment settings, adjust operational parameters or identify faulty components, reducing energy consumption and resource waste. By optimising resource utilisation, operators can function at higher energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance the overall sustainability of their operations. 

Curbing ICE emissions

Predictive maintenance solutions can also be used to inform eco-driving strategies to further reduce the carbon footprint of ICE bus road usage. By analysing driver patterns, optimal RPM and idling time, operators can implement strategies to lower fuel consumption and put in place a range of continuous improvement processes. Arriva Czech Republic has recorded a saving of 942 litres of diesel per vehicle per year using this approach. This equates to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided per vehicle, per year. 

Speeding the transition to EVs

For transport operators, new EV technology poses challenges as well as opportunities. It comes with new breakdown patterns and failure modes and requires a new knowledge-set to minimise life cycle costs and optimise battery maintenance and route management. Additionally, the greater up front, maintenance and infrastructure costs of the transition mean that operators must have a detailed strategy in place to minimise the impact of the shift on their bottom line.

Just as with their ICE counterparts, by combining the granular collection of vehicle data and large-scale data processing with autonomous AI systems, public transport operators can gain valuable insights from the new EV data they have access to, creating a continuous feedback loop that constantly increases the ways in which data can be leveraged. The performance, faults, and range of EVs can be analysed and used to inform the planning of smooth, efficient, and profitable operations. 

Predictive battery analytics for example can provide an accurate, comprehensive view of the battery health evolution of an EV bus, allowing for effective route planning and charging requirements, as well as usage optimisation metrics to extend the lifespan of the vehicles. This is crucial given the high proportion of the overall cost of an electric bus that the battery represents. By leveraging State of Charge (SoC) and Depth of Discharge (DoD) data, fleet managers can understand if the operation profile can be changed to maximise battery life, reducing the total cost of ownership of electric buses. This type of analysis is fundamental for an operationally successful and profitable EV fleet deployment. 

The future of AI and ML for public transport

By onboarding next-gen AI and ML predictive maintenance technology, the future of sustainable, affordable, and highly efficient public transport is promising. The actionable insights on potential component failures, fuel consumption and operational efficiency offer full control over the health of both ICE and electric buses. This can be harnessed to enhance reliability, encourage passengers to move away from private car usage, curb emissions and wastage through inefficient driving and maintenance strategies, and pave the way for a smoother and faster transition to EV usage. 

AI is constantly learning, picking up data about different categories of vehicle and enabling fine tuning for improved operations. It is a system that will keep on growing with huge benefits and impact, contributing to the goals of sustainable and reliable public transport. With some operators already implementing predictive maintenance, the approach will become more ubiquitous in 2023 and beyond, representing the new frontier when it comes to smoother, more efficient and environmentally friendly operations. 

By Giorgio Sarno

Matthias Gutzmann, Founder of DPW Amsterdam, discusses the conference’s rise to prominence, reflects on challenges and reveals future plans.

“Our challenge is always around asking ourselves how can we make DPW Amsterdam better every year?” 

It’s fair to say Matthias Gutzmann, Founder and CEO of DPW Amsterdam, doesn’t believe in standing still and resting on his laurels. 

​​Since launching DPW in 2019, the conference has grown from strength to strength and is now widely regarded as the biggest and most influential tech event in procurement and supply chain on the planet. And despite welcoming over 1,250 procurement professionals with more than 2,500 virtual attendees watching along at home in its 2023 edition in October, Gutzmann is eyeing continuous improvement. 

​​In 2018, Gutzmann was researching procurement conferences to showcase his then-employer, Vizibl, a startup. He was frustrated by the options. The existing conferences were prohibitively expensive for a limited startup budget, lacked investors, and failed to attract an audience of startup businesses, which is critical for the development of digital capabilities and to drive innovation. Identifying this gap in the market, Gutzmann left his job in New York, moved into his parents’ house in Germany, and invested his entire personal savings to launch DPW Amsterdam.​​     ​​ 

“As soon as one conference finishes, we’re already thinking about the next one,” he explains. “We all sit down and think about how we can improve the experience and what new technologies we can bring in next time. It really is a 12-month process to bring it all together.”  

Bringing DPW to life

Held at the former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, this year’s theme was “Make Tech Work” which focused on turning digital aspirations into a reality. There was a deep dive into discussions surrounding AI and machine learning in procurement, digital transformation strategies, sustainable procurement, supplier collaboration, risk management as well as innovation and disruption. The two-day event was centred on ensuring the vision of digital procurement happens now and how organisations can be challenged to deliver results instantly instead of only concepts and theories. 

Despite significant success, Gutzmann maintains that there are some difficult aspects to get right in order to make the magic happen on the day. DPW ​Amsterdam ​builds client booths themselves instead of allowing sponsors to bring them themselves. “That’s a massive undertaking to get this done because we need all the design elements from the sponsors,” he says. “It’s that quality standard but we know it comes with more work instead of just allowing people to bring their own stuff. We have Simone Heeremans, Head of Production, who is amazing and oversees logistics such as catering to the suppliers. 

​​“There is also the sales part of the conference which is selling the tickets and sponsorships. We have created this pull for the conference that we didn’t need to build a proper sales team around it. That said, there’s always a stress factor to get the numbers we want every year and grow it. So far, so good.”​     ​​  

​The uniqueness of the conference, the problem it solves, and the timing of the launch in 2019 were the basis for today’s success and fast growth.  
 
WHAT MAKES DPW AMSTERDAM SO UNIQUE?  

​Matthias Gutzmann:​​  

​​​1. THE AUDIENCE​​ 

​​​Traditional procurement conferences only attract procurement professionals. But, DPW Amsterdam recognised the need for breaking this silo and for more collaboration in order to harness the potential of new digital technology, targeting an audience of procurement professionals, business leaders, suppliers, startups, data scientists, investors, and young talents No other procurement conference brings this variety of people together.​​ 

​​​​ 

​​​2. WORLD’S BIGGEST STAGE FOR PROCUREMENT STARTUPS​​ 

​​​DPW Amsterdam is built to bring startups into the procurement ecosystem. In 2023, we displayed over 50 startups, giving delegates a unique insight into procurement innovation.​​ 

​​​​​ 

​​​3. ATTENDEE EXPERIENCE 
I always thought procurement events felt boring – and I felt lost in a sea of guys wearing suits and ties. So, at DPW, our goal is to make procurement cool and sexy. Not an easy feat, I know. Our dress code at DPW Amsterdam is strictly “startup casual.” You’ll see t-shirts, hoodies, and sneakers from attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers alike. This dress code embodies our entrepreneurial spirit. But it also breaks down barriers– and levels the playing field between big-shot enterprise CPOs and 20-something startup founders. 

​​​Better than ever

A large focus for Gutzmann and his team has been tweaking the formula of the virtual experience. Due to the impact of COVID-19, DPW was forced to cancel its 2020 conference before offering a virtual-only event in 2021. The experience, although different, was praised for its ‘TV feel’ and still created a buzz for those watching at home. However, with day-to-day life returning to a new normal, DPW Amsterdam reverted to an in-person conference in 2022 but offered a hybrid solution for those keen to watch the action from afar. “There wasn’t really anything special about it,” he discusses. “If you run an eight-hour live stream from only one stage, you aren’t likely to keep people watching. That’s why this year we asked ourselves: what can we do to increase the virtual experience? So we did just that.” 

This year, Gutzmann and his team set about creating a pop-up broadcast studio to generate a television feel with live coverage from podcaster and host of Let’s Talk Supply Chain Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, as well as a reporter conducting interviews on the expo floor. “Now we’ve got cameras moving around which helps bring the whole conference to life,” explains Gutzmann. “We’ve really ramped it up this year and turned it into a large production.” 

Up until this point, DPW has run solely in Amsterdam which Gutzmann believes has acted as his organisation’s competitive advantage. It is this approach that has enabled DPW to allow it to reach the level it is today. Hosted at the Beurs van Berlage, Gutzmann is full of admiration for the historic building which was built in 1896. According to Gutzmann, he believes it is what sets DPW​ Amsterdam​ apart from other conferences operating in the space.

“We love it here, it’s unique and I feel it’s a key part of the experience,” he says. “But we’re becoming bigger and we might need to build something completely from scratch. Every year, we think about how we can do things differently. I don’t know if bigger is necessarily better, it’s also about the quality of the solutions we bring in. My goal is to map out the entire end-to-end tech ecosystem and bring in that diversity of solutions.” 

Bright future

Procurement, like many industries, is suffering from a talent shortage. The need to find ways to plug that gap, whether that’s through education, industry rebrand or AI, has never been so crucial. With an eye on the future, Gutzmann believes in procurement’s workforce of tomorrow and gave out around 100 free student passes this year. “When we talk to CPOs everyone’s talking about talent shortages so we understand the need to bring in that next generation and show them that procurement could be the way forward for them,” he says. “I think in the context of digital, who better to do digital than the next generation? They are more tech savvy so we need them and it’s a great opportunity for both sides because they can meet CPOs and it’s also becoming a place for recruitment too. We are doubling down on young talent 100% and it’s a win-win.” 

Gutzmann is candid about the future of DPW ​Amsterdam ​and is always open to feedback while striving for continuous improvement. He believes in the value of innovation and shaking things up in order to best meet attendee’s needs. “I always think we can always bring in new speakers, but this year’s agenda was incredibly strong,” he discusses. “It’s really about listening to the people. Ultimately how can we be more relevant around the solutions as well here? How can we better matchmake people? I was wondering about how we can work pre-event with some of the corporate attendees that are coming to the conference around mapping out their challenges to then have more meaningful matchmaking at the event because it’s an innovation showcase here as well. There’s more value to be had but we know that also comes with more work. There’s always more we can think about.” 

With an unprecedented amount of technology at procurement’s fingertips today, Gutzmann is in no uncertain terms about what the next chapter of the space holds. “It’s the best time to be in procurement,” he explains. “It’s the most exciting era to be in procurement and supply chain. We need to get loud about it and celebrate that fact.” 

CPOstrategy explores five barriers companies are faced with in terms of sustainable procurement.

A robust sustainability strategy isn’t only a ‘nice to have’ any longer, it is quickly becoming one of the top items on the agenda in procurement.

Many organisations are implementing sustainability programmes with a view of helping them to cut costs, make their companies more competitive and secure a greener future for all.

But, adopting a greener way of working isn’t necessarily straightforward. Here are five barriers companies are faced with in terms of sustainability in procurement.

1. Acceptance from senior employees

Change isn’t always welcomed. Executives, particularly those that have been served the industry for a significant time period, aren’t always receptive or quick to embrace new strategies. Without buy-in from senior executives, positive change is trickier to achieve. However, by informing employees of the considerable advantages by making a shift, it could lead to an easier experience with less pushback.

2. Limited time and resources

Time, funding, and other resources are vital in ensuring the best results from sustainability. On a busy schedule, it can be challenging to implement a sustainable procurement policy but it is important to retain the knowledge that it won’t be achieved overnight.

3. Lack of support from suppliers

In a similar way to senior employees, getting suppliers on side can also be a hurdle. As suppliers are separate from your company, they potentially have less resources available or a different mindset. Suppliers may not recognise the importance of sustainability in the same way which could lead to a misalignment of priorities.

4. Higher costs

The prospect of a higher cost is one of the biggest concerns companies have when thinking about sustainable procurement. After switching to a sustainable procurement strategy, costs do tend to rise but by not switching sooner, it could lead to organisations paying even more in the future. For companies without a sustainable strategy, they will have to question whether they can afford to watch competitors implement green strategies and the impact this will have on what their customers demand.

5. Accessing the right technology

Technology can be an influential tool to help drive an organisation’s sustainability goals. Sometimes, a different set of digital tools to what is already existing within a company is necessary to make more of a concerted environmentally friendly effort. However, this comes with the caveat of new tools being time-consuming and requiring training to improve skills and knowledge. But once up to speed, using technology will mean greater efficiency to scale sustainability strategies.

Vizibl has revealed the launch of a new sustainability target programme to help large organisations get supplier engagement for sustainability initiatives ready to launch within four weeks.

Vizibl has announced the launch of its Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) Framework aimed at helping large organisations get supplier engagement for sustainability programmes ready to launch within four weeks.

The new configuration will allow companies to get started with their supplier raw spend data, which Vizibl first intakes.

The move will also see data cleansed, normalised and enriched, mapped and loaded onto Vizibl’s sustainability launchpad for emissions.

Organisations can also use the launchpad to quickly visualise emissions hotspots or which suppliers have committed to a SBTi.

Companies can quickly select cohorts of suppliers to add to supplier engagement programmes and start taking action after four weeks.

The new configuration will also allow all the supplier engagement action that’s been taken to decarbonise their supplier base, in one central location using the Vizibl platform, to mitigate against the rising tide of risk from upcoming and existing ESG regulations.

The process

This process follows SBTi’s supplier engagement guidance steps and leads the organisation through the process.

It will also mean automating key steps of the framework that would otherwise be administratively intensive spreadsheets.

The programme ready to launch is aligned to a UN-backed global sustainability standard for supplier engagement in the SBTi.

It supports Vizibl customer’s evidence of the collaborative actions associated with upcoming mandatory ESG regulations around scope 3 reduction.

It is also underpinned by a library of supporting content specifically to guide the organisation further to achieving science-based targets.

Once the programme is ready to launch, the Vizibl team is ready to walk the organisation through the launch process.

The team also supports the ongoing programme rollout and maintenance, continuously monitoring progress to ensure the programme meets agreed objectives.

“With mounting ESG regulatory pressure on businesses, ensuring our customers have the tools they need to quickly and accurately assess and improve sustainability performance across their supply base is key to Vizibl,” commented Richard Hogg, CEO at Vizibl.

“Ensuring that our customers can build a body of evidence that shows the efforts they’re taking, both at speed and at scale, to engage their suppliers to decarbonise their supply chains, is critical to meeting net-zero targets.”

Koray Köse, Chief Industry Officer at Everstream Analytics, speaks to us exclusively at DPW Amsterdam and discusses the importance of leading from the front in the supply chain

Everstream Analytics sets the global supply chain standard.

Through the application of AI and predictive analytics to its vast proprietary dataset, Everstream delivers the predictive insights and risk analytics businesses need for a smarter, more autonomous and sustainable supply chain. Everstream’s proven solution integrates with procurement, logistics and business continuity platforms generating the complete information, sharper analysis, and accurate predictions required to turn the supply chain into a business asset.

Koray Köse is a supply chain expert, futurist and multi-lingual thought leader, CPO, researcher, and published author. He specialises in working with CSCOs, CPOs, CIOs and other c-level executives while possessing more than 20 years of success in developing global supply chain and sourcing strategies, re-engineering and transforming business processes, and maximising financial resources. Köse is experienced in designing new business frameworks, risk and governance processes and deploying full-scale ERP and procure-to-pay systems to drive efficiencies through digital transformation. He is an expert in industries such as automotive, pharma, life sciences, IT, electronics and FMCG and has served as Chief Industry Officer at Everstream Analytics since June 2023.

Koray Köse, Chief Industry Officer, Everstream Analytics

World’s first Slave-Free Alliance

Recently, Everstream became the world’s first Slave-Free Alliance (SFA) validated modern slavery and forced labour technology provider. Everstream’s collaboration combines the firm’s multi-tier supplier discovery and AI-powered risk monitoring and analytics with SFA’s proprietary forced labour intelligence to expose unknown risks and protect global supply chains from modern slavery and exploitation.

“We’ve had issues in supply chain before, like conflict minerals for instance was a big topic,” Köse tells us. “Legislation came that was rather weak, where companies can say we can’t confirm nor deny that we have conflict minerals in our products. Modern slavery takes it to a whole different level. In essence, you may get import issues the moment that you might be suspicious, or the government import controls may say, ‘this comes from a specific region that has general exposure’. You basically have a disruption in your supply chain.

“If you forget about the business side, your business is actually promoting ethics that your own company in its statement and the way you live don’t align with and you didn’t know about it. So unknowingly you have actually incremented the issue that you are tackling on your own and within your environment. For us it was important to live up to the promise and look for an NGO that is impactful, has a mindset that is all about partnership and not blaming or shaming, it’s about changing the environment.”

Breaking down barriers

Around 50 million people worldwide are living in modern slavery. It remains a serious problem in nearly every region, with over 40% occurring in upper-middle to high-income countries. Due to the opacity and complexity of today’s global supply networks, companies are increasingly vulnerable to the risk of forced labour. According to a study cited by Slave-Free Alliance, 77% of companies expect to find modern slavery somewhere in their supply chain. Through this alliance, Everstream will actively contribute to enhancing capabilities and eradicating modern slavery and forced labour from global supply chains.

“We started that partnership to transfer our knowledge and also get insights from their end and understand what the upcoming issues were in the arenas of modern-day slavery that we should keep an eye on and how to help our clients to be informed and avoid getting exposed,” says Köse. “That’s where I started to talk with Hope for Justice and have collaborated with them during my time at Gartner as well. Then legislation is pushing the matter to the forefront of supply chain issues.

“Now, there is also financial impact and disruption and there’s the ability to do good and live up to the promise of your own vision and the way you want to conduct your business. Then I wanted to put our product to test and make sure that it lives up to the promise and if it doesn’t then we fix it. We went through a validation process and we got 90% plus accuracy in the feedback, which is important as it’s another confidence boost that we’re doing the right thing and we should continue on that path. We are the first world’s first validated modern-day slavery solution to tackle the issue – we’re very proud of that.”

The value of due diligence

In today’s fast-paced world, due diligence has become more important than ever. Companies must ensure they are generating the best value for money and that the product that they’re purchasing actually meets their needs. Köse believes companies almost have no choice in 2023.

“It’s an element that is not only preserving value, but it also creates it too,” he explains. “In the past it was more like a checkbox exercise that you conducted because everyone thought it was the right thing to do. Meanwhile, you had spillovers that you didn’t know about. It’s almost like what I don’t know, I don’t care. Since transparency requirements have been augmented significantly and the realisation of transparency as a value driver has dropped through Covid almost instantaneously in the c-level boardroom, compliance has become a value driver.

“It’s not just a checkbox exercise where you say that you are compliant. It is an affirmation of your product quality, brand and innovation that speaks to the customers and the choice they make. If you are concatenating beliefs and values to your product in that moment, you just have created a customer and that customer will be retained throughout the lifetime that you actually care about what they care about.”

Georg Rösch, Vice President Direct Procurement Strategy at JAGGAER, discusses his organisation’s approach amid significant transformation and evolution

Procurement is at a sliding doors moment – its direction of travel could go one way or another.

The influx of new technology makes procurement a dynamic and interesting industry in 2023. Following global challenges felt around the globe, procurement practitioners have had to step up in the face of adversity. To the industry’s credit, procurement has so far come through it but now it’s about embracing the world of today and finding ways to deal with pressing issues such as ESG and the knock-on effects of a war in Ukraine while also navigating inflation concerns. Of course, all this is on the back of COVID-19, of which the aftermath is still felt in some quarters.

In a recent CPOstrategy Podcast, Georg Rösch, Vice President Direct Procurement Strategy at JAGGAER, tells us all about how spend management giant JAGGAER is helping procurement teams overcome the challenging backdrop and discusses digitalisation strategies within the space.

Georg Rösch, Vice President Direct Procurement Strategy at JAGGAER
Georg Rösch, Vice President Direct Procurement Strategy at JAGGAER

The road in which procurement professionals end up where they do is always an interesting one. Can you tell us why procurement was the path you chose which led to your journey to JAGGAER? 

Georg Rosch (GR): “I would say I stumbled into the procurement space. Growing up, I was always a technology person and had a very early interest in computers. When everyone was playing video games, I was playing around with software and started coding. Eventually, one thing led to another, and I found myself in a small procurement startup in Vienna in development. This is really where I found out that this is interesting stuff. 20 years later, it’s crazy to think I’m still doing it because I didn’t even know this field existed and I think that is felt industry wide. But I still love it and getting to combine procurement with technology is something I’m really interested in.” 

In your view, how would you explain JAGGAER and sum up what differentiates it from other players in the space?

GR: “JAGGAER has been around for more than 25 years and came together through a lot of mergers and acquisitions. I came through from a branch that was local to Austria and the company has become one of the largest procurement software vendors out there. What I really like about JAGGAER is our vision of autonomous commerce. First of all, it sounds weird for a procurement software vendor not to have the word procurement in the tagline. But that’s done on purpose, because when you think about what a procurement software firm really does, it’s about communication and collaboration between buyers and sellers.

“For a while, JAGGAER was really good at the indirect procurement side which revolved around the whole P2P process. That’s really where a lot of our business came from. But this has evolved over the past 20 years into more of the source-to-contract process that’s being added which is proving so important. It’s not just the execution, but also the strategy of how you build everything and how you find the right sources. As part of autonomous commerce, we created four pillars. It’s networked, intelligent, comprehensive and extensible which spells NICE so it’s very easy to remember.”

Can you expand on the NICE strategy that JAGGAER has developed? What is its true meaning?

GR: “Networked basically means you collaborate with your suppliers, buyers, sellers, partners – everyone. It’s like the modern-day town square where the commerce happens – it’s the foundation of everything. Then it needs to be intelligent which means the question isn’t just about what data you have, but how do you intelligently use the data to drive the processes? Next, you have comprehensive. That encompasses all the functions you have starting from analytics, category management, supplier management, sourcing contracts, ePRO, supply chain management and quality management. It’s all of these beautiful things and how they work together. 

“Finally, extensibility means a lot of different things. It means being open to communicating with other systems. With our platform, you can bring in a lot of external data – ESG and sustainability, risk, enriched supplier data, and more – from our partners into our solution. This allows you to make smarter decisions across the procurement cycle. Another aspect is that not every company is the same. Extensibility also means, ‘how can I tailor the solution to my needs?’ This completes the picture that we are working towards here at JAGGAER.”

The procurement space itself has undergone major transformation over the past decade and suddenly, it is so much more than just a back-office function out the way of everyone else. What has been the catalyst for its transformation in your opinion?

GR: “Procurement is really at a make-or-break moment. Supply chain and procurement have been really in the spotlight in the last couple of years. It’s been a case of ‘oh my, there aren’t any shipments coming anymore’ or ‘people are not buying the stuff that they bought before because our whole way of life changed.’ So, we were working from home, and we were not going out to restaurants or buying new clothes because we were all in our tracksuits all day. Society shifted. This meant procurement and supply chain management was really important because they needed to navigate all of this.


“This is why expectations and visibility of these functions rose during that time. But now we’re at a critical point. Can those functions deliver the value that they should? And can they continue this momentum? This is why I’m saying we’re at the make-or-break moment and there are a lot of companies that really made this transition and change to where procurement is an advisor to the business which is so critically important. Think about everything that’s not going away such as ESG with the environmental element, human rights and the governance of those different processes. Procurement is playing such a critical role of managing all these different agendas within our board level topics today.”

How is JAGGAER driving value to companies in a way that perhaps it didn’t before?

GR: “At JAGGAER in procurement, you want to cater to the most mature companies but many of your potential customers are not the most mature firms. It’s a challenge and that’s the balance that you need to strike. You have to be ahead of the curve and in front of the market, so we take this very seriously. We have a dedicated team that’s only working on what we call innovation to uncover questions like how do we use these new technologies? How can we bring this into the solution? How do we drive value for our customers with these things? We did this by coming up with what we call a maturity matrix, where you can see which step of the maturity scale you are on right now.


“It’s five steps in total but no one is at step five yet. The current technology that exists today is at step four, but the space is constantly changing. As a customer, they can measure where they are and say, ‘I might be a two at that process, but I’m a three at that’ and work out what needs attention. They can ask themselves the question, should I even do this? Does this make sense for me as an organisation? We really try to work with those maturity models because it helps us whenever we work with a customer to assess where they are and tell them this is where you can go, and this is what you can achieve by doing that. 

“It helps us have the right conversations with our customers which was part of the vision of autonomous commerce. We have autonomous commerce as our North Star and know where we and the industry are aiming for, so it’s imperative our customers know the way too.”

How important is it that any technology introduced actually serves a purpose instead of being introduced for technologies sake?

GR: “People love technology, I love technology. But in business, we shouldn’t use a tool just because we like it. Tools should drive value. I won’t use something just because it sounds fancy. I’ll take whatever solution can truly solve the problem. At JAGGAER, when we evaluate solutions, we always consider what really helps us as an organisation and what drives value. At the end of the day, we are here to make our customers successful.  And how is that success measured? Each customer might have different KPIs, but in the end, it’s driving valuation and value for the company. Value can look different for your organisation, whether it’s higher customer or shareholder value. We have to be very pragmatic about the means of how we help because what works for one company potentially doesn’t work for another.”

What does the future of procurement look like to you? How exciting/challenging does the road ahead look for the space?

GR: “I believe it’s continuing the path that we’re on right now which is bringing more data and market intelligence into the whole procurement process. Procurement overall has to move away from gut feeling decision-making. Success stems from bringing all the information that’s needed for procurement into a solution for data-driven decision making. What I’m seeing right now is more strategic information regarding important topics such as environmental impact and human rights. All of this should make a difference and influence the decision making in procurement. This is how procurement drives the sustainability agenda of the company and reliability across the supply chain. This is really where I see procurement going. It’s about taking in all this information, being the advisor to the business, and making the right decisions to drive the company strategy. The future is exciting.”

CPOstrategy explores this issue’s big question and questions whether procurement is in need of a rebrand in order to get to the next level

Does procurement need a rebrand?

Procurement’s transformation in recent years has been exponential. 

As an industry which has embraced technology at scale, there is a greater clarity in spend, expanded category coverage and increased return to shareholders. But is there enough awareness about procurement and is it doing itself a disservice? Procurement professionals aren’t often known for being great marketers. But in today’s fast-paced world, being sure an audience can understand something quickly is essential. Without strong brand potential, procurement is risking not living up to its full potential.

For example, procurement’s brand is often left to customers to work out. To many, people think that procurement is solely about purchasing or negotiating contracts. However, they are often unaware just how innovative and exciting procurement can be. From some sections, procurement is still sometimes thought of as some back-office function tucked away out of sight. But now, particularly in the face of massive challenges over the past few years, procurement has become so much more.

Solving talent shortages

Shaz Khan, CEO and Co-Founder of Vroozi

In a recent CPOstrategy Podcast, Shaz Khan, CEO of Vroozi, discussed how rebranding procurement could help solve its talent shortages. He believes the space must be more strategic than just finding themselves there one day. He told us how corporate procurement is currently in a “golden age” and that by making job roles more relatable it could encourage fresh perspectives to enter the industry on purpose instead of by accident. “When you say you work in procurement, try explaining that to your family or friends because it takes a while! In reality, we as human beings in our day-to-day lives are sourcing every single minute of every day,” he explained.

“We are sourcing where our dry cleaning is, we’re negotiating at the farmer’s market for carrots. When we look at corporate procurement, we need to ask ourselves, do we need to be rebranding this function? We need to get more individuals not just falling into procurement by accident and make it more measured and predictive.”

What’s holding procurement back?

Executives “falling” into procurement has long been a common joke shared among those in the industry. But in what other line of work does such a high proportion of the workforce accidentally stumble upon their chosen industry and end up staying? It is both a compliment and an achilles heel to procurement but ultimately that method leads to periods of talent shortages which is what the industry is experiencing today. Procurement’s talent problem is not just down to one thing, given how COVID-19 impacted the industry and people’s decision to opt for a career change in the post-pandemic world. In order to address the problem, it all starts with education.

Pauline Potter, Director of Procurement at Evri

“I certainly didn’t know that this was a profession when I was at university and I don’t think I’m alone in that,” explains Pauline Potter, Director of Procurement at Evri.

“It all seems crazy to me because I genuinely think this is such a fantastic career path that people can take. It’s hugely variable with loads of paths you can go down and you can apply a similar skillset to all kinds of businesses. I think the first thing procurement can do to address the talent shortage is raise the profile when recruiting.

Nicolas Walden, Associate Principal at The Hackett Group, agrees in the importance of rebranding procurement but also believes that a lack of education could be holding procurement back. “I was talking to a CPO recently and he was saying when he looks across Europe, there’s only a small number of universities that actually offer degree level qualifications in procurement or supply chain,” he says. “I know from colleagues in the United States that there’s many more universities there that offer this level of education. This can create the entry point of a pipeline of talent for the future. This means they’ve got the skills, mindset and the training in what we need in terms of modern procurement.”

Recruitment in procurement

Khan highlights the opportunity procurement has to redefine how it presents itself to the workforce of tomorrow. It is his belief that getting rid of the misconceptions surrounding procurement could hold the key. “Higher education and the lack of programmes going forward after graduating is a real problem,” he adds. “Corporate procurement can be an incredible entry level area because it centres around data. You’re leveraging cutting edge toolsets and are making an impact on the company – your job isn’t boring. It’s not pushing paper back and forth or getting on phone calls with suppliers to talk about delivery schedules.”

Fadi El Mouallem

And procurement roles don’t just have to apply to ‘procurement people’. Global procurement executive Fadi El Mouallem affirms that people could add their valuable transferable skills from other industries and be successful within the space. “I like to attract talent from different industries, not just procurement or finance,” he discusses. “I’ve had the likes of project managers, salespeople and engineers come into procurement and they all made a career out of it.

Success is making them feel that they belong, so they can grow into this space and make an impact. If they choose to leave procurement later, then that’s fine.”

Procurement, like many industries, has been through a tough time. But as a sector very much at the forefront of technology innovation the future looks equally exciting and bright. By rebranding procurement, being open to people from all walks of life and empowering the talent of tomorrow to emphasise that this could be the place for them to thrive, it could bring positive change that will stand the test of time.

CPOstrategy visits HICX’s first Supplier Experience Live as organisations gear up to remove friction and become a customer of choice.

Supplier experience has never been such a hot topic.

After decades in the darkness, the importance of supplier experience is finally on the agenda.

Truthfully, success can’t be achieved alone. Without happy, committed and strategic supplier relationships, a business will stagnate. And now, organisations are waking up to the potential a robust supplier base could unlock.

The rise of Supplier Experience

Earlier this month, HICX launched its first-ever Supplier Experience Live the day before DPW Amsterdam. Hosted at the Tobacco Theatre in Amsterdam, it was recognised as an official DPW Amsterdam side event. The event’s vision was to help organisations use supplier experience to remove friction and become a customer-of-choice.

The half-day event began with a welcome from Ragnar Lorentzen, Chief Commercial Officer at HICX, who opened the door to the world of supplier experience and the market developments that have led the way. Lorentzen handed over to the first keynote speech from Dr. Elouise Epstein who explained that the ERP system was dead. Epstein suggested that the solution could be how well you exchange data with third parties.

Following Epstein was a panel discussion that featured Ruth Bromley, Director of Procurement Enablement at Heineken, Adam Hubbard, Senior Manager of Supply Chain, Governance and Performance at EDF which was moderated by Tommy Benston, VP of Global Client Management at HICX. The conversation advised of ways to gain a competitive advantage in procurement and supply chain through supplier experience management. Bromley highlighted three key learnings: speed, standardisation and simplicity, believing in a “single source of truth”.

Dr. Elouise Epstein
Dr. Elouise Epstein

Driving supplier adoption

Later, Anthony Payne, CMO at HICX, discussed how to drive supplier adoption and engagement through supplier marketing. Payne explained the value of segmentation which is the process of dividing the market into subsets of customers who share similar characteristics. Payne equipped the audience with six recommendations to take forward and advised them to use caution with the language they use with suppliers. Following the coffee break was Duncan Jones, former Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, who unpacked the reality of how to decide on the correct types of solutions in the new best-of-breed era amidst a transition away from the traditional database-centric approach.

The afternoon continued with a panel discussion involving Marc Bengio, Senior Director and Head of Technology Enterprise Procurement at Johnson & Johnson, Lance Younger, CEO at ProcureTech and Jacy Bassett, VP of Professional Services, to explore the topic “Demystifying the technology landscape: How do you architect for Supplier Experience?” Each speaker gave their viewpoint on how to arm the procurement function of tomorrow to meet the challenge of an ever-changing digital world. The conversation offered guidance and counsel amid an explosion of transformative solutions in the space.

Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO at HICX
Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO at HICX

Bright future

Finally, Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO at HICX, took to the stage to announce the launch of IUBN which he explained was a streamlined way to identify legal entities in a bid to create net efficiency within the supply chain. One system, one time, everywhere.

Speaking exclusively to CPOstrategy at the event, Xyloyiannis told us, “It’s pretty significant running an event like this. I’ve been in the space 23 years, and finally, I feel like the focus is shifting. Two or three years ago no one was talking about supplier experience so it’s great to see a movement starting to happen. It is very satisfying because you see people’s minds changing in the same way that it did for the customer and employee experience.

“What you have to think about is that almost every company is also a supplier so it’s in your interest to focus on the supplier experience side. In another context, you’re also a supplier and people should understand that we’re all in it together. If you don’t think about solving it, then you’re going to have that pain yourself.”

Supplier experience is just getting started. Reimagine the possible.

Global research and advisory giants Deloitte and DPW has announced a partnership to bring procurement innovation to organisations.

Deloitte and DPW has announced a partnership to bring procurement innovation to organisations.

Under the terms of this strategic alliance, DPW LABS, the consulting arm of DPW, and Deloitte will work together to refine the boundaries of innovation in procurement.

From problem and strategy definition to proof of concept and deployment, through the DPW LABS innovation capabilities and digital ecosystem and Deloitte’s global transformation capabilities, the move allows for impact to be delivered at scale.

Deloitte is a global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services.

The firm, which is a member of the Big Four in professional services, currently has about 330,000 employees in more than 150 countries and territories. 

Founded in 2019, DPW stands as a global leader in procurement innovation. DPW LABS empowers organisations to identify and seize collaborative innovation opportunities with DPW’s line-up of pioneering startups, scale-ups, and tech innovation experts.

Herman Knevel, co-founder and co-CEO at DPW, said: “We are excited about this strategic partnership with Deloitte.

“This partnership will enable us to join forces and make tech work, expand and complement our impact at global scale.” 

Michiel Junge, partner of sourcing and procurement at Deloitte, added: “We are united in our mission to make procurement awesome.

“The partnership with DPW will enable our clients to tap into DPW’s capabilities and ecosystem and define their procurement future.”

The move comes after DPW welcomed over 1,250 procurement professionals to Amsterdam for its annual conference.

DPW Amsterdam has quickly made its name as a hub of innovation and collaboration. It is one of the biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain.

CPOstrategy travels to the Netherlands to soak in the atmosphere of one of the world’s biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain – DPW Amsterdam 2023

“You are the reason why DPW exists.

“It’s been my mission from day one to break procurement out of its silo and create what I call the end-to-end ecosystem and that is you.”

Digital Procurement World (DPW) Founder Matthias Gutzmann’s first address to the crowd gathered before the main stage had a clear tone of appreciation.

The rise of DPW Amsterdam

Today, DPW Amsterdam is one of the world’s biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain. Its exponential rise in a relatively short space of time is undeniable. Its story began with a frustrated Gutzmann having discovered a lack of procurement conferences to showcase his previous employer. This led to Gutzmann finding a gap in the market and set about solving the issue himself. He left his job in New York, moved into his parent’s house and invested all his savings to launch DPW. Months later, DPW’s launch conference in September 2019 welcomed 400 industry leaders while being praised from across procurement. Under the watch of Gutzmann and co-CEO Herman Knevel, DPW’s influence and pull has only grown since.

This year’s event was located at the historic former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage. Built in 1896, the building breathes character and history. Its architecture and rich past, alongside its central Amsterdam location, showcases its sense of place and being.

DPW Conference, Amsterdam 2023

Innovation

DPW Amsterdam has quickly made its name as a hub of innovation and collaboration. This year, more than 1,250 procurement professionals gathered to connect, learn and innovate, while over 2,500 virtual attendees watched along at home. The buzz and hum of chatter was audible, the sense of excitement evident. And the attendees were certainly in for a treat. This year’s theme was “Make Tech Work” which focused on turning digital aspirations into a reality. There was a deep dive into discussions surrounding AI and machine learning in procurement, digital transformation strategies, sustainable procurement, supplier collaboration, risk management as well as innovation and disruption. It was all centred on ensuring the vision of digital procurement happens now and how organisations can be challenged to deliver results now instead of only concepts and theories.

Speakers across the two days included renowned experts and visionaries including the likes of Dr. Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, Yossi Sheffi, Director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author David Rogers, among dozens more. Sarah Barnes-Humphrey led superb virtual coverage of the event and allowed those unable to make it to still feel a part of such an important conference in the procurement calendar. There were book signings from Sheffi and Atif Rafiq, eye-catching tech innovations showcased on stage and even an appearance from F1 legend and Haas Formula One team principal Guenther Steiner.

DPW's founder Matthias Gutzmann

Digital future

To sum up, in comedian and host of DPW Amsterdam Andrew Moskos’ opening speech he reflected on procurement’s evolution and transformation. “Procurement used to be boring but now we’re all rockstars. We run the company, we’re in the c-suite, we run ESG, sustainability, risk, and 80% of the spend of a company goes through us.”

Change is here and procurement holds the cards. Let’s Make Tech Work.

CPOstrategy examines 10 of the best ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) in procurement

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest buzzwords in procurement. Everyone wants to get their hands on it and introduce it into their strategies.

Particularly in procurement, AI is often talked about being the answer to all challenges. It can be used to overcome complex problems and deliver efficiency while also being introduced within software applications such as spend analysis, contract management and strategic sourcing.

In this article, we will list 10 of the best ways to use AI in procurement.

1. Machine learning spend classification

AI algorithms can help categorise, clean and classify data automatically. Machine learning spend classification helps detect patterns and uses them for prediction while allowing for better decision-making. Examples of spend classification techniques include supervised learning, unsupervised learning in vendor management and classification reinforcement learning. 

2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

National Language Processing (NLP) is the branch of artificial intelligence focused on understanding, interpreting and manipulating human language. It can be used to gain valuable data and information to streamline time-consuming processes. Information contained in legal documents can be interpreted through AI for the procurement of relevant data. It allows procurement professionals to get ahead and use an AI assist engine to receive alerts to proactively monitor progress. It also allows for compliance over the life of multiple agreements with the same or several vendors.

3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) mimics human actions to eradicate repetitive tasks. While not strictly AI in the traditional sense, RPA does provide procurement with opportunities to improve process efficiency and is part of the wider family of AI. It can assist with the likes of contract management, input identification as well as purchase request and order submission, among more benefits.

4. Anomaly detection

With AI being able to process vast amounts of data quickly, it is able to stay up to date on the latest developments and changes in the procurement space at speed. Automated notifications on things such as anomalies, new opportunities and recommended activities allows for immediate action to be taken and provide suggestions on what should be done instantly. Rapid detection will ensure risks are mitigated and resolved before they become problems.

5. Purchasing

AI can be utilised to automatically review and approve purchase orders. Chatbots can be used to check the status of acquisitions or automatically approve virtual card payments. AI can analyse data and assess the reliability and quality of suppliers based on predefined criteria. This helps the purchasing team select the best suppliers quickly and accurately.

6. Contract management

Contract management can benefit through using AI to create, store, review, index, retrieve, analyse, negotiate and approve agreements. A big benefit delivered by contract management solutions that use AI is standardised metadata reporting which eliminates the need for category managers and legal counsels to manually read contracts to gain insights into the commercial part of their supplier relationships.

7. Supplier risk management

Supplier risk management is an important part of the procurement process and is around understanding what happens if a supplier fails to meet its obligations. To combat this, AI can be used to monitor and work out potential risk position through Big Data. Millions of different data sources are screened in order to provide alerts on potential risks within the supply chain.

8. Accounts payable automation

AI can automate most manual tasks in accounting such as data entry and invoice routing. Using AI for this substantially reduces procure-to-pay cycles, minimises the need for humans to get involved and integrates multiple workflows into a seamless process.

9. Strategic sourcing

Using AI in strategic sourcing is a key tool in a procurement practitioner’s arsenal. AI can be used to manage and automate sourcing events while also leveraging machine learning for the recognition of bid sheets, as well as specialised category-specific e-sourcing bots such as raw materials and maintenance.

10. Automated compliance

AI can also be used as a valuable tool for compliance officers to help work out potential risks, monitor employee behaviour, generate reports, provide recommendations as well as educating employees about the importance of compliance. For organisations without a source-to-pay system, compliance is a useful alternative and allows procurement teams to seamlessly compare payment terms, identify duplications as well as determine non-compliance.

This month’s cover story features Fiona Adams, Director of Client Value Realization at ProcurementIQ, to hear how the market leader in providing sourcing intelligence is changing the very face of procurement…

It’s a bumper issue this month. Click here to access the latest issue!

And below are just some of this month’s exclusives…

ProcurementIQ: Smart sourcing through people power 

We speak to Fiona Adams, Director of Client Value Realization at ProcurementIQ, to hear how the market leader in providing sourcing intelligence is changing the very face of procurement… 

The industry leader in emboldening procurement practitioners in making intelligent purchases is ProcurementIQ. ProcurementIQ provides its clients with pricing data, supplier intelligence and contract strategies right at their fingertips. Its users are working smarter and more swiftly with trustworthy market intelligence on more than 1,000 categories globally.  

Fiona Adams joined ProcurementIQ in August this year as its Director of Client Value Realization. Out of all the companies vying for her attention, it was ProcurementIQ’s focus on ‘people power’ that attracted her, coupled with her positive experience utilising the platform during her time as a consultant.

Although ProcurementIQ remains on the cutting edge of technology, it is a platform driven by the expertise and passion of its people and this appealed greatly to Adams. “I want to expand my own reach and I’m excited to be problem-solving for corporate America across industries, clients and procurement organizations and teams (internal & external). I know ProcurementIQ can make a difference combined with my approach and experience. Because that passion and that drive, powered by knowledge, is where the real magic happens,” she tells us.  

To read more click here!

ASM Global: Putting people first in change management   

Ama F. Erbynn, Vice President of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at ASM Global, discusses her mission for driving a people-centric approach to change management in procurement…

Ripping up the carpet and starting again when entering a new organisation isn’t a sure-fire way for success. 

Effective change management takes time and careful planning. It requires evaluating current processes and questioning why things are done in a certain way. Indeed, not everything needs to be changed, especially not for the sake of it, and employees used to operating in a familiar workflow or silo will naturally be fearful of disruptions to their methods. However, if done in the correct way and with a people-centric mindset, delivering change that drives significant value could hold the key to unleashing transformation. 

Ama F. Erbynn, Vice President of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at ASM Global, aligns herself with that mantra. Her mentality of being agile and responsive to change has proven to be an advantage during a turbulent past few years. For Erbynn, she thrives on leading transformations and leveraging new tools to deliver even better results. “I love change because it allows you to think outside the box,” she discusses. “I have a son and before COVID I used to hear him say, ‘I don’t want to go to school.’ He stayed home for a year and now he begs to go to school, so we adapt and it makes us stronger. COVID was a unique situation but there’s always been adversity and disruptions within supply chain and procurement, so I try and see the silver lining in things.”

To read more click here!

SpendHQ: Realising the possible in spend management software 

Pierre Laprée, Chief Product Officer at SpendHQ, discusses how customers can benefit from leveraging spend management technology to bring tangible value in procurement today…

Turning vision and strategy into highly effective action. This mantra is behind everything SpendHQ does to empower procurement teams.  

The organisation is a leading best-in-class provider of enterprise Spend Intelligence (SI) and Procurement Performance Management (PPM) solutions. These products fill an important gap that has left strategic procurement out of the solution landscape. Through these solutions, customers get actionable spend insights that drive new initiatives, goals, and clear measurements of procurement’s overall value. SpendHQ exists to ultimately help procurement generate and demonstrate better financial and non-financial outcomes. 

Spearheading this strategic vision is Pierre Laprée, long-time procurement veteran and SpendHQ’s Chief Product Officer since July 2022. However, despite his deep understanding of procurement teams’ needs, he wasn’t always a procurement professional. Like many in the space, his path into the industry was a complete surprise.  

To read more click here!

But that’s not all… Earlier this month, we travelled to the Netherlands to cover the first HICX Supplier Experience Live, as well as DPW Amsterdam 2023. Featured inside is our exclusive overview from each event, alongside this edition’s big question – does procurement need a rebrand? Plus, we feature a fascinating interview with Georg Rosch, Vice President Direct Procurement Strategy at JAGGAER, who discusses his organisation’s approach amid significant transformation and evolution.

Enjoy!

Welcome to issue 43 of CPOstrategy!

Our exclusive cover story this month features a fascinating discussion with UK Procurement Director, CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS), Catriona Calder to find out how procurement is helping the leader in worldwide real estate achieve its ambitious goals within ESG.

As a worldwide leader in commercial real estate, it’s clear why CBRE GWS has a strong focus on continuous improvement in its procurement department. A business which prides itself on its ability to create bespoke solutions for clients of any size and sector has to be flexible. Delivering the superior client outcomes CBRE GWS has become known for requires an extremely well-oiled supply chain, and Catriona Calder, its UK Procurement Director, is leading the charge. 

Procurement at CBRE had already seen some great successes before Calder came on board in 2022. She joined a team of passionate and capable procurement professionals, with a number of award-winning supply chain initiatives already in place.

With a sturdy foundation already embedded, when Calder stepped in, her personal aim focused on implementing a long-term procurement strategy and supporting the global team on its journey to world class procurement…

Read the full story here!

Adam Brown: The new wave of digital procurement 

We grab some time with Adam Brown who leads the Technology Platform for Procurement at A.P. Moller-Maersk, the global logistics giant. And when he joined, a little over a year ago, he was instantly struck by a dramatic change in culture… 

Read the full story here!

Government of Jersey: A procurement transformation journey 

 Maria Huggon, Former Group Director of Commercial Services at the Government of Jersey, discusses how her organisation’s procurement function has transformed with the aim of achieving a ‘flourishing’ status by 2025…

Read the full article here!

Government of Jersey

Corio: A new force in offshore wind 

The procurement team at Corio on bringing the wind of change to the offshore energy space. Founded less than two years ago, Corio Generation already packs quite the punch. Corio has built one of the world’s largest offshore wind development pipelines with projects in a diverse line-up of locations including the UK, South Korea and Brazil among others.  

The company is a specialist offshore wind developer dedicated to harnessing renewable energy and helps countries transform their economies with clean, green and reliable offshore wind energy. Corio works in established and emerging markets, with innovative floating and fixed-bottom technologies. Its projects support local economies while meeting the energy needs of communities and customers sustainably, reliably, safely and responsibly.  

Read the full article here!

Becker Stahl: Green steel for Europe 

Felix Schmitz, Head of Investor Relations & Head of Strategic Sustainability at Klöckner & Co SE explores how German company Becker Stahl-Service is leading the way towards a more sustainable steel industry with Nexigen® by Klöckner & Co. 

Read the full article here!

And there’s so much more!

Enjoy!

Pauline Potter, Director of Procurement at Evri, discusses her firm’s drive to delivering sustainability and offering best-in-class solutions.

Today, Evri stands as the UK’s biggest dedicated parcel delivery firm and is armed with more than 18,000 couriers.

It has over 8,500 local one-stop ParcelShops and lockers and a growing network of best-in-class hubs and depots. Founded in 1974, Evri has undergone significant transformation over the years, most recently a successful rebrand with Hermes UK in March 2022. And overseeing the company’s procurement function is Pauline Potter. A Cornell University graduate in the US, Potter trained as an engineer before moving into consulting at KPMG and Efficio.

Indeed, setting the standard in procurement isn’t easy. It takes hard work, dedication and a drive to consistently deliver and meet customer demands, particularly in today’s world. However, to companies like Evri, they take challenges in their stride.

In our recent CPOstrategy Podcast, Pauline Potter, Director of Procurement at Evri, discusses her firm’s driving sustainability while at the same time delivering best-in-class solutions while maintaining its position as the UK’s biggest dedicated parcel delivery company.

Welcome to issue 42 of CPOstrategy!

This month’s cover story sees us speak with Brad Veech, Head of Technology Procurement at Discover Financial Services.

CPOstrategy - Procurement Magazine

Having been a leader in procurement for more than 25 years, he has been responsible for over $2 billion in spend every year, negotiating software deals ranging from $75 to over $1.5 billion on a single deal. Don’t miss his exclusive insights where he tells us all about the vital importance of expertly procuring software and highlights the hidden pitfalls associated.

“A lot of companies don’t have the resources to have technology procurement experts on staff,” Brad tells us. “I think as time goes on people and companies will realise that the technology portfolio and the spend in that portfolio is increasing so rapidly they have to find a way to manage it. Find a project that doesn’t have software in it. Everything has software embedded within it, so you’re going to have to have procurement experts that understand the unique contracts and negotiation tactics of technology.” 

There are also features which include insights from the likes of Jake Kiernan, Manager at KPMG, Ashifa Jumani, Director of Procurement at TELUS and Shaz Khan, CEO and Co-Founder at Vroozi. 

Enjoy the issue! 

CPOstrategy-Magazine-41

Welcome to issue 41 of CPOstrategy!

This month’s exclusive cover story features a fascinating insight into the procurement function at lighting giant, Signify.

A forward-thinking enterprise constantly reevaluating and adapting its operations against an ever-changing landscape, Signify has recently transformed its procurement function. And so we join Luc Broussaud, Global Head of Procurement/CPO and Arnold Chatelain, Transformation Program Director for Signify’s Procurement Organization to see why, and how, they have evolved procurement at the company.

Signify is a global organisation spread over all continents and Luc heads up the procurement function. According to Luc, he and his team no longer engage in traditional transactional procurement, but instead leverage digitalisation to deliver competitive prices as well as what they call ‘concept saving’, “Which is how we redesign or improve our product; leveraging the knowledge of our suppliers to make it cheaper, more efficient, easier to manufacture and install, and more sustainable for the planet.”

CPOstrategy - Issue 41

Luc joined Signify in 2018, after being the CPO of Nokia (based in Shanghai) and has always been working within procurement. He joined Signify with a broad skillset and a wealth of experience. “I joined because the people I talked to, from the COO to the CEO and CFO were all incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about procurement,” he reveals. Read the full story here!

Not only that, but we also have some incredible insights from procurement leaders at Heijmans, Datadog, HICX, DPW, ProcureCon Asia and SourcingHaus Research! Plus, the very best procurement events of 2023.

Enjoy the issue!

STADA graces the cover of CPOstrategy this month!

Our exclusive cover story this month features Alan Rankin, Chief Procurement Officer at STADA, who discusses his company’s journey to offering a best-in-class procurement function.

Few industries can say that statement with certainty. But for the pharmaceutical industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a solution quickly was non-negotiable.  

Indeed, Alan Rankin, Chief Procurement Officer at STADA, acknowledges the role his sector played in helping to combat one of the biggest health crises of all time. He says the COVID-19 period made him “extremely proud” to be part of the industry. “The pharmaceutical industry worked hard to come up with a solution during a time when governments struggled to cope with what happened,” he recalls. “The industry had a real impact on the world being able to handle the situation and not going into financial meltdown. That alone makes me so proud to be in this space.” 

Read the latest issue here!

Today, STADA stands as a renowned manufacturer of high-quality pharmaceuticals. The firm operates with a three-pillar strategy consisting of consumer healthcare products, generics and specialty pharmaceuticals. Its consumer healthcare brands such as Hedrin, Nizoral, Grippostad and Zoflora are among the top sellers in their respective product categories…

Not only that but we also have fascinating discussions involving all the hot topics around the procurement function at the moment, with George Schutter, Former Chief Procurement Officer at the District of Columbia, Noemie Chetty, Director of Procurement of the Seychelles’ Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) and Trevor Tasker, CEO at EMCS Industries. Plus, Bob Booth Senior Partner, Finance & Supply Chain Transformation at IBM Consulting details how AI could affect the procurement function. “We are now witnessing a tipping point in the application of AI at real scale, and CPOs are wondering how this impacts them and their colleagues. This article aims to equip CPOs and their teams with some ideas to consider and some pointers on applying AI in a professional capacity to their company,” he reveals.

All this and lots, lots more!

Enjoy!

Procurement is in a state of flux. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, the procurement landscape is volatile and requires…

Procurement is in a state of flux.

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, the procurement landscape is volatile and requires agility to navigate turbulent waters. But, despite significant disruption could there still be opportunity?

Simon Whatson, Vice President of Efficio Consulting, is optimistic about the future of digital procurement and despite a challenging few years he is confident of a successful bounce back. He gives us the lowdown on the direction of travel for digital procurement in 2023. 

As an executive with considerable experience in the space, we’d love to learn more about your background and how you ended up in procurement. Why was this the specialism for you and how did you get involved to begin with?

Simon Whatson (SW): “I think the one-word answer of how I came into procurement was accidental. I studied maths at university, with a year in France, before I began looking for different roles to apply for.

“Eventually, I was offered a position with a big plumbing and heating merchant with global operations. I worked in that supply chain team for two and a half years. Although it was called supply chain, a lot of the work was procurement, which involved negotiating with suppliers. It was after that stint there, that I discovered consulting and joined a boutique procurement consultancy. Now I am onto my third consultancy and I’m very happy here!

“In terms of why I’ve stayed, one of the success factors in procurement is being able to work cross-functionally. Procurement doesn’t own any of the spending that it is responsible for helping to optimise. It must work with other functions and the spend owners. I quite like the people side of that, building relationships, almost selling internally to bring teams together. That really appeals to me and is a key reason why I’ve been very happy in procurement.”

As we move into exploring procurement today in 2023. The space is filled with challenges and complexities. You only need to look at the last few years. Covid, war in Ukraine, inflation – how would you describe the world’s recent challenges and their effect on the industry and what do you feel CPOs and leaders can do to combat these issues?

SW: “I would flip it around and say that these are not so much challenges but rather opportunities for procurement. When I started my career 18 years ago, procurement was often fighting to get a voice and there were complaints that procurement was not represented at the top table, but the war in Ukraine, inflation, COVID and ESG, these are things which are now on the C-suite agenda and procurement is ideally positioned to help companies face those challenges. If you think about COVID and the war in Ukraine, procurement is in a privileged position to help with this.

“I see some procurement functions that prefer to do what they know, which focuses on the process and transactional side. However, there are also many forward-thinking CPOs and procurement professionals out there, that have really seized this opportunity of being on the C-suite agenda and drive the thinking and the solutions to some of these big challenges we’re seeing.”

Although new technology in procurement has been around for well over a decade, digitalisation has become so much more of an important topic. How would you sum up where procurement and supply chain are in terms of digital transformation today?

SW: “It’s a bit laggard, but digital transformation is difficult, and we have to recognise there are some real trailblazers. There are some firms doing some fantastic things in digital to produce better outcomes. If you contrast your experience when you’re buying something in your private life, it’s much easier than 20 years ago. You can get access to a wealth of pre-sourced things, whether it’s food, a holiday, a car, or a book. You can see reviews of what other people think of these things.

“But when you go into your workplace as a business user and you want to buy something, it doesn’t quite work like that yet. You often have to fill in a form, send it off and wait for them to come back to you. They might come back a little bit later than you were hoping and might tell you that they don’t have that part on the supply frameworks. I think people sometimes get confused about how it can be so easy to buy something as large as a car or a holiday on their sofa at home, but when they want to buy something at work, it seems to be quite cumbersome. Digital can help a lot with that, but it is incumbent on organisations and procurement functions to figure out how to recreate that customer experience that we’ve become accustomed to in our private lives.”

With a new generation of leaders growing up with technology, some might say that it could be a key driver in helping to speed the adoption in procurement along. Is this something you would agree with or what would you point to as a key driver?

SW: “I do think that it will act as one of the catalysts for further digital transformation in organisations, because if procurement doesn’t manage to recreate that customer experience that the new generation expects, then they won’t use procurement going forward and will look to bypass it.

“The analogy that I’ve used previously in this case is one of travel agents. I remember as a child, my parents were able to take us on holiday and I remember the whole process. We would walk into town to the travel agent, and look at some of the brochures of options. They often then had to phone the various airlines or resorts on our behalf. They might not be able to get through, so we’d have to come back the next day. I remember as a child being quite excited by the whole process but actually, thinking back, it was quite cumbersome. You compare that to now, with being able to review online, and you can get instant answers to your questions. It’s not a coincidence that travel agents don’t really exist anymore.”

How much of a challenge is it to not get caught leveraging technology for technologies sake? How important is it to stay true to your approach and be strategic?

SW: “We conducted a study of many procurement leaders and CPOs a few years ago, and one of the things that we found was that about 50% of procurement leaders admitted to having bought technology just on the basis of a fear of missing out, without any real understanding of the benefits that technology was going to bring. That was a real shock and a revealing find because technology is not cheap, and its implementation is quite disruptive. If you’re purchasing a system because everybody else is using it, then there could be some pretty costly mistakes. It is really important to make sure that when buying technology, it is because the benefits are fully understood.

“My advice to companies when looking to digitalise is own your data, visualise that data, and manage your knowledge. If you can focus on getting those things right in that order, and make your technology decisions to support that goal, then that’s a much better way of thinking about it rather than just jumping in and buying a piece of technology.”

It’s clear that the procurement space is an exciting, but challenging, place to be. What do you think will play a key role in the next 12 months to push the digital conversation further to take procurement to the next level?

SW: “Looking forward, one thing that procurement needs to do and continue to do is attract the best people. Ultimately, people are what makes an organisation, and it is what makes a function successful. I think procurement has often not looked for the right skills in the people that it employs. Traditionally, it’s looked for people with procurement experience and while they are valuable and required, we also need leadership potential. People who think a bit more outside the box and aren’t so process driven. A lot of what procurement has done in previous years has been process driven, so if you’re just limiting your search of people to those that have had procurement experience, you’re inevitably going to end up with a lot of people who are process driven.

“I think being bolder and recruiting people from different backgrounds with different skill sets is the way to go. If procurement can ‘own’ the ESG space, that will help with the younger generation see procurement make a difference. I think that’s one thing that will be key to success going forward.”

Check out the latest issue of CPOstrategy Magazine here.

Paul Farrow, Vice President of Hilton Hotels’ Supply Management, sits down with us to discuss how his organisation’s procurement function has evolved amid disruption on a global scale

The hospitality industry has endured a rough ride over the past few years.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic which stopped the world in its tracks and now with millions facing a cost-of-living crisis, it’s been a period of unprecedented disruption for those involved in the space and beyond.

But it’s a challenge met head-on by Paul Farrow, Vice President of Supply Management at Hilton Hotels, and his team who have been forced to respond as the world continues to shift before their eyes.

Farrow gives us a closer look into the inner workings of his firm’s procurement function and how he has led the charge during his time with Hilton Hotels.

Could we start with you introducing yourself and talking a little about your role at Hilton Hotels? 

Paul Farrow (PF): “I’m the Vice President of Hilton’s Supply Management, or HSM as we call it. I’ve been with Hilton Hotels for 12 and a half years, and my role is to head the supply chain function for our hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“Over the past few years, Hilton has grown rapidly and has now got 7,000 hotels in over 125 countries globally. What is really exciting is Hilton Supply Management doesn’t just supply Hilton Hotels and the Hilton Engine because we also now supply our franchisees and competitive flags. While we have 7,000 hotels globally, Hilton Supply Management actually supplies close to 13,000 hotels. That’s an interesting business development for us, and a profit earner too.”

You’re greatly experienced, I bet you’ve seen supply chain management and procurement change a lot in recent years? 

PF: “The past two to three years have been tremendously challenging on so many industries but I’d argue that hospitality got hit more than most as a result of the Covid pandemic. Here at Hilton, supply management was really important just to keep the business operational throughout that tough time, but I’m delighted to say we’re fully recovered now.

“Looking back, it was undoubtedly difficult, and you only have to look at the media to see that we’re now going through a period of truly unprecedented inflation. On top of the normal day job, it’s certainly been a very busy time.”

Hospitality must have been under an awful lot of pressure during the pandemic… 

PF: “Most of our teams as a business and all functions have worked together far more collaboratively than ever before through the use of technology and things like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Trying to work remotely as effectively as possible changed the way we all had to think and the way we had to do. Now we’re back in the workplace and in our offices, we’re actually looking to take advantage of that new approach.”

Inflation, rising costs, energy shortages, as well as drives towards a circular economy means it’s quite a challenging time for CSCOs and CPOs right now, isn’t it?

PF: “Those headwinds have caused and created challenges of the like that we’ve not seen before. The war in Ukraine and Russia has meant significant supply chain disruption and supply shortages of some key ingredients and raw materials. China is a significant source of materials and they’re still having real challenges to get their production to keep up with demand.

“All the local and short-term challenges are around energy and fuel pricing, so throughout the supply chain that’s been a major factor to what we’ve had to deal with. On top of that is the labour shortages. We rely heavily throughout the supply chain and within our business to utilise labour from around the world. In my region, particularly from say Eastern Europe as well as other businesses all fighting for a smaller labour pool than we had before. We are fighting with the likes of the supermarkets, Amazon’s, not just other hotel companies to capture the labour pool we need both in our properties but also within our supply chain supplies themselves.

Hilton operates a rather unique procurement function, doesn’t it?  

PF: “We trade off the Hilton name because our brand strength is something that we are able to utilise and we’re very proud of, but we’ve also got additional leverage by having that group procurement model.

“We’ve got essentially two clients. We’ve got our managed estate which is when an owner chooses to partner with Hilton, they’re signing a management agreement because they want the benefit and value of the Hilton engine. That could be revenue management, how we manage onboarding clients and customers through advertising, as well as the other support we give in terms of finance, HR, marketing and sales as well as procurement.”

HSM is a profit centre and revenue driver through its group procurement model but how does this work?

PF: “Our secret sauce is our culture. It’s our people and that filters across all of our team members and indeed all of our functions. The key strategic pillars are the same for health and supply management around culture, maximising performance and so on as they are across the overall global business.

“Across our 7,000 plus hotels, the majority are actually franchised hotels because that’s the legacy of what still is the model in the US. When I joined Hilton 12 and a half years ago, the reverse is true where nearly all of our hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and indeed in Asia Pacific, were and are managed. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions right now we’re building up close to a 50/50 split between managed, leased and franchised.”

What has pleased you most about the roll-out of the HSM?

PF: “It’s certainly not been easy because we’ve got 70 countries that sit within our region here in EMEA and Hilton’s penetration in those individual countries is very different. We may have 100 hotels in one of those markets and only one or two in specific countries. Our scale and our ability to get logistics solutions is different by market.

“Getting everyone on board to what we want to achieve to our guests and to our owners means we have to pull different levers. We have very effective brand standards. If you’re signing up to Hilton, you’re signing up to delivering against those brand standards that we believe are right for our organisation.”

What kind of feedback have you had from your clients? 

PF: “Integrity is in our DNA, and we work very closely with our suppliers who we value as partners. These are long-term relationships, and we work hand in hand because we have to see that they’re successful so that we can be successful – it’s really important to what we do and we constantly look for feedback.

“With our internal and our external customers, we’ll have quarterly business reviews and so we’ll get that feedback through surveys where we are asking them to tell us what we do well and what we could do better. Our partners are now asking what additional value can you do to bring support to our organisation through ESG? So that’s what’s on the table now when it wasn’t before. But it’s not just that – it’s about the security of supply competitiveness, competitiveness of pricing, and a whole bunch of other very important things as well.”

Looking to the future, what’s on the agenda for the next few years?

PF: “We’re out there meeting and greeting people in person and there’s always new opportunities that make things exciting in what we do and how we work. Innovation’s very high on our agenda and we’re very proud of what we do in food and beverage. In non-food categories, it’s about how we support our owners and our hotel general managers to find that competitive edge and do the next big thing ahead of our competitors.”

Anything else important to know?

PF: “One thing we’ve been able to take full advantage of is how we’ve been able to grow our business by bolting on new customers. I think it’s fantastic that our competitors choose to use Hilton Supply Management because they benchmarked what our capabilities are and how competitive we are.

“Another key part of the agenda is environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability. Responsible sourcing and everything that sits within that is front and centre of what we do. Within that you’ve got human rights, animal welfare, single use plastics as well as general responsible sourcing like managing food waste. The list is very long, but they’re all very important.”

Check out the latest issue of CPOstrategy Magazine here.

CPOstrategy catches up with Sam de Frates, who has been leading procurement transformation at Mars, Incorporated, to discover how one of the world’s largest enterprises has put people at the heart of its plans…

Our exclusive cover story this month, sees us catching up with Sam de Frates, Vice President, Commercial – Europe, CIS & Turkey at Mars, Incorporated, and the leader of procurement transformation at the company, to discover how one of the world’s largest enterprises has put people at the heart of its plans…

Read the latest issue here!

CPOstrategy Magazine cover - Issue 39

Talk of technological change and digital transformations often excludes the most vital tools in delivering meaningful value within an enterprise: the people. Because new tools, processes and capabilities only truly maximise their value if they are shaped by the very people that require their services. The adoption of technology without the human touch can be an expensive opportunity missed.

An experienced procurement leader who has worked at some of the largest companies on earth, de Frates joins us for a chat from his London office to discuss how digital procurement at Mars has evolved under his guidance, whilst the company undergoes cross functional changes at scale – a hugely significant transformation with Mars Associates and its suppliers at its heart…

Elsewhere, we also we discuss the hottest topics within the procurement function, with Paul Howard, Chief Commercial Officer at New Zealand Defence Force and Manuele Burdese, Sr Director, Head of Business Insights & Analytics Strategic Sourcing & Procurement, Bristol Myers Squibb. Plus, we have some incredible insights from Efficio, Ivalua and Hilton Supply Management.

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods

Sara Malconian, Chief Procurement Officer at Harvard University & Jim Bureau, CEO of JAGGAER explain how ESG & the Circular Economy is changing the evolution of procurement.

We speak to Sara Malconian, Chief Procurement Officer at Harvard University and Jim Bureau, CEO of JAGGAER to see how ESG and the Circular Economy is changing the evolution of procurement…

Sara, how have you seen your role evolve as a procurement leader over the years as ESG and supplier diversity come into focus? 

Procurement leaders have gone from ‘cost cutters’ to ‘problem solvers’ within their organisations. Our core mandates used to be to drive cost savings and efficiency. We were hyper-focused on getting the most out of the organisation’s spend and supplier relationships. Those priorities haven’t gone away, especially in today’s inflationary environment, but the expectations of the procurement function are significantly higher and broader today. 

Procurement functions saved their companies during COVID and the confluence of disruptions that followed. We showed we are a strategic linchpin. We are now looked upon to drive value and impact and strategically guide our organisations to achieve broader goals, including diversity and environmental, social, governance (ESG). Internal stakeholders realised the benefits of procurement and sought help with advancing their department’s agendas or solving their challenges. We listen to their needs, allocate the right resources, and ultimately enable them and the overall organisation to be successful.  

I’ve been in procurement for over 20 years, and I can honestly say you’d be hard-pressed to find a more rewarding and exciting career. Procurement professionals have a real opportunity to make a tangible difference within their organisations, communities, and the world through the way we source products and services. 

What is Harvard doing to have a positive impact on society? Can you share some examples, Sara?

Across the Harvard community, students, alumni, faculty, and staff are advancing scholarship and teaching on the world’s most significant challenges, and everyone wants to do their part to address inequities. Supplier diversity and inclusion have been a priority for Harvard for years, but we wanted to make even more of an impact and really invest in the growth and development of diverse businesses, especially as the pandemic highlighted inequities and disparities within our communities.

In 2021, we formed the Office for Economic Inclusion & Diversity (OEID), which is dedicated to reaching out to diverse suppliers, giving them opportunities, and providing them with tools, training, and resources to be successful. The office also encourages the use of underrepresented business enterprises (UBEs) in the purchasing of all goods, services, and construction at Harvard and standardises procurement practices with these businesses across the university. 

We’re proud of the work this office is doing. We’re actively training suppliers on Harvard’s policies and how they can work with us. We’re creating a central location for them to access bid and RFP opportunities. UBEs can also apply to be mentored by Harvard Business School students.

We’ve created a dashboard to track and analyse spend with diverse suppliers across all of Harvard’s schools and measure progress over time. Everything we’re doing is aimed at increasing spend with our existing diverse suppliers, as well as the number of diverse suppliers that work with Harvard, and helping these suppliers grow their businesses.

Jim, why is prioritizing ESG and supplier diversity important and what steps can companies take today to progress in their journey? 

Beyond being the right thing to do, investors, boards, regulators, customers, and employees now expect organisations to prioritise ESG and diversity initiatives and walk the talk. There’s also a clear business impact. Supplier diversity drives competitive bidding processes that lead to cost savings. Working with partners who are sustainable and have different ideas and perspectives fuels innovation and creates a competitive advantage. Sourcing from a sustainable and diverse supplier pool also reduces risk by broadening organisations’ access to multiple resources for various materials, products, and services. 

One of the most critical steps companies can take to progress on their ESG journey is to make it clear to suppliers that environmentalism is a priority for their organisation. They will attract suppliers with higher levels of ESG maturity and provide suppliers who are earlier on in their ESG journey with sustainability toolkits and training to help educate them on eco-friendly best practices and sustainability innovations.

This step avoids having to overhaul their supply chain to account for ESG. Strategically managing suppliers by leveraging third-party data, scorecards, and supplier audits are crucial for understanding the ESG risks that suppliers pose and minimizing disruptions by working with them to correct these issues. 

Successful supplier diversity programs start with a top-down culture shift. If a company’s culture isn’t diverse, inclusive, and supportive for all its stakeholders, they won’t be able to drive supplier diversity in a meaningful way. Supplier diversity strategy should map back to company goals and include an executive-level champion to sponsor the program internally and help bring in the resources they need.

Outside of leveraging technology to identify diverse suppliers and build a program, businesses can talk with people who have been in their shoes. They can collaborate with like-minded companies at industry events, engage in relevant LinkedIn groups, and connect with organisations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Once diverse suppliers are on board, organisations can create a supplier diversity policy that clearly outlines how many diverse suppliers need to be invited to bid for each event to ensure teams are executing on the strategy. Leading supplier diversity programs go beyond simply spending with diverse suppliers to providing mentorship and training them on how to respond to RFPs correctly, as well as creating environments where it’s easier for them to engage. 

Jim, what role does technology play in helping organisations achieve ESG and supplier diversity goals?

Technology is a key enabler of ESG and supplier diversity initiatives. One of the biggest obstacles to supplier diversity and ESG is a lack of reliable supplier data. Suppliers don’t always keep their information up to date in self-service portals. The data procurement teams have isn’t always enriched to the level they need, with insights on diversity status, certifications, and proof of ESG compliance.

Researching and assessing suppliers is tedious and time-consuming, which leads many organisations to skip the verification step. Without this information, organisations don’t have a true picture of the inclusivity and sustainability of their supplier network, which makes it impossible to identify the right partners to source from to meet their ESG and supplier diversity goals and make an impact.

Technology addresses this challenge by automatically collecting, enriching, validating, and integrating the supplier data needed to obtain this level of supply base visibility and make decisions that drive ESG and diversity. AI-powered tools are available to match buyers with specific diverse suppliers who also have the capabilities to help drive ESG objectives and meet broader procurement criteria.

Software that segments the supply base and helps visualise spending with small and diverse suppliers across a variety of classifications is critical for setting benchmarks and measuring progress and ROI. 

Jim and Sara, how do you expect the ESG and diversity conversation to shift and where should procurement leaders focus for the future?

Sara: I expect we’ll see the conversation shift to emphasise measurement. It’s not enough anymore to say you’re committed to ESG – you need to prove it and show demonstrable progress and ROI. Maintaining the momentum on ESG initiatives is hard. Technology is key for setting benchmarks and goals, ensuring accountability for hitting key milestones, and measuring progress and return in a credible way. 

Jim: In a declining economic environment, choices inevitably need to be made. I expect the conversation around ESG will center around where companies can focus to maintain progress on ESG initiatives as financial and economic pressures come to the forefront. While some companies may need to scale back in some areas to preserve cash and resources to navigate a downturn, I’d advise them to be careful about slowing ESG down too much as it will be much harder to catch up to current levels after the economy bounces back.

I’d argue that when ESG is done right it can be a strategic lever for navigating a down economy, saving organizations money and resources, driving innovation, and helping them achieve broader business objectives and resilience. 

Here are five of the biggest procurement events happening during 2023 that chief procurement officers won’t want to miss.

Procurement Futures 


London, UK  |  1-2 February 2023 

Held at the QEII Centre in central London, Procurement Futures is a new conference, launching in 2023. It promises delegates the chance to find out how to make supply chains more resilient, with thought-provoking and presentations and discussions designed to inform and inspire.

There is a flexible programme of content that can be tailored to attendees’ preferences, with networking opportunities throughout and a huge variety of sessions to attend and take part in.

This CIPS event has three streams of content: Insights, Ignite and Interact. Insights will showcase presentations and panel discussions from leaders, Ignite will consist of hands-on workshops to help delegates optimise their procurement strategies and Interact will be smaller groups taking part in interactive roundtables and debates.

Speakers across the two days will include Ross Grierson, Director of Procurement, Primark; Patrick Dunne, Director of Group Property, FM & Procurement (CPO), Sainsburys Plc; Rebecca Simpson, Procurement and Supply Chain Director, Balfour Beatty; and Nick Jenkinson, Chief Procurement Officer, Santander. In addition, delegates are ablew to book a one-to-one career workshop, where they’ll get advice on professional development from coaches covering a variety of specialisms. 

Tickets are £795 for CIPS member, £995 for a non-member and £2240 for a supplier/solution provider, and there is a discount of 30% for tickets purchased before 30 November 2022. 


3rd World Digital Procurement Summit 


Berlin, Germany  |  2-3 March 2023 

The third World Digital Procurement Summit is aimed at procurement directors, VPs, managers and other industry specialists. The two-day event will focus on accelerating procurement processes, adopting emerging technologies, finding the right talent, overcoming the barriers to progress and embarking on a journey of transformation. It’s a hybrid event, bringing together procurement experts from various industries, which will maximise knowledge exchange opportunities. The event organisers list five key learning points for delegates: 

  1. Exploring the latest advances in data and cognitive technologies to gain greater insights and improve procurement processes 
  1. Overhauling the procurement ecosystem with new technologies and strategies to drive business value 
  1. Sharing the best practices of monitoring and managing a range of risks to hedge against future disruptions 
  1. Developing capabilities and skillset required for the digital transformation of procurement 
  1. Defining ESG metrics of the procurement strategy to ensure business continuity 

Speakers will include Paul Harlington, Group Procurement Director at TUI Group and Patrick Foelck, Head of Strategy and Transformation Procurement at Roche. 

Click here to check out a video from a previous event. Tickets cost €1495. 


Women in Procurement & Supply Chain 


Sydney, Australia  |  6-8 March 2023 

Returning for its 8th annual event, Women in Procurement & Supply Chain will deliver two days dedicated to leadership and the future of procurement. The event will feature a series of exclusive panel discussions and keynote addresses examining career development, overcoming imposter syndrome, working with confidence, developing an unbeatable talent pool, mentoring, diversity and inclusivity.

It will also address risk mitigation, digital disruption, ESG, sustainability, economic development, ethical sourcing, category management, cultural diversity, strategic sourcing, supplier relationships, procurement with purpose, and supply chain resilience. There are two pre-conference masterclass options on 6 March – that can be booked separately – covering either contract law or leadership skills. 

Some of the reasons to attend include: 

  • Discover the path to taking your procurement career to a new level while elevating your organisation with dedicated days on leadership and the future of procurement 
  • Learn best practice strategies to facedown supply chain vulnerabilities and reduce risk exposure 
  • Get ahead of the game with insights into the future of procurement and the impact of globalisation on modern supply chains 
  • Put yourself at the cutting edge of ESG and procurement with the latest updates and trends in procurement with purpose 

Speakers for the main two-day conference include Michelle Richard, Director of Procurement, Thales; Karina Davies, Chief Procurement Officer, icare NSW; and Kylie McKinlay, Procurement Partner – Property and Business, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

Tickets start at $3,495 with discounts available until 25 November 2022. 


Americas Procurement Congress 


Miami, USA  |  21-22 March 2023 

The Americas Procurement Congress will feature the region’s most progressive CPOs sharing their expertise

With a focus on what makes CPOs tick, the Americas Procurement Congress will feature the region’s most progressive CPOs sharing their expertise in keynote presentations and working groups.

Giving delegates the tools to stay on the cutting edge of procurement developments, there are also sessions aimed at those with responsibilities over governance, procurement capabilities and quantifying data. Unsurprisingly, sustainability will also be a key theme in 2023, and attendees will hear from a diverse range of sustainability leaders about how to transition from traditional metrics to a purpose-driven function. 

The agenda for Americas Procurement Congress 2023 will include: 

  • Sustainability of the future  
  • How to transition from traditional metrics to a purpose-driven function   
  • Harnessing the power of digital transformation  
  • Utilizing data as a driver of sustainable value, supply continuity and transparency   Agile procurement  
  • New approaches and skills that facilitate speed and agility   
  • Frictionless procurement  
  • Removing friction from the procurement process to support high-velocity sourcing   
  • Beyond Just in Time 
  • Designing future-fit supply networks for an age of chaos and conflict 

Tickets start at $3649. 


Americas Procurement Congress 


Orlando, Florida  |  8–10 June 2023 

Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo 2022 addressed the most significant challenges that chief supply chain officers and supply chain leaders face as they mitigate risk and navigate uncertainty in an increasingly dynamic and challenging environment.  

At the conference, the top 5 sessions that CSCOs and supply chain leaders met on included: 

  • Signature Series: The Future of Supply Chain 
  • What the Pivot to Sustainable Profit Means for Procurement Leaders 
  • The Art of the New Age One Page Dashboard: Why Your Current Perfor-mance Measures May Be Doing More Harm Than Good 
  • Manage Supplier Risk With Technology 
  • Procurement Role Redesign: Stop Fitting Square Pegs Into Round Holes 

Tickets start at $4725. 

Our exclusive cover story this month features Sangram Bhosale, CPO at Xcel Energy.

Our exclusive cover story this month features Sangram Bhosale, Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Xcel Energy. Sangram Bhosale is a highly experienced CPO with an impressive track record of delivering procurement excellence within the energy sector for some of its biggest names.

When the former TransAlta and Husky Energy CPO joined Xcel Energy as Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) in 2020, he wasted no time devising a procurement transformation plan to advance the function to the top quartile. One that would capacitate the rest of the organization to meet and overcome the many technical and tactical challenges to meet current and future needs.

Read the latest issue now!

What attracted Bhosale to Xcel Energy was its visionary leadership team and an opportunity to catalyze the profound shift in how energy is generated and consumed.

“One of the things that I love, and a big part of why I joined Xcel Energy, is that we are a purpose-driven organization with a bold vision of being an industry leader in clean energy. The fast-evolving and innovation-driven utility industry also attracted me,” he tells us from his Denver office.

“Today, utilities are no longer the stodgy beast of yesteryears where not much had changed for decades. New technology is being explored and adopted, with billions invested in grid expansion and strengthening to meet reliable, cleaner, and increased energy demand. To be at the forefront of and lead that clean energy transition aligns closely with my values and beliefs and makes my role at Xcel Energy very exciting.”

Elsewhere, we also feature exclusive interviews with Vice President of Procurement, Anna Barej, and Director, Procurement Center of Excellence, Shawn Calabrase from Best Buy, Alessandro Gaiati, CPO at Fedrigoni, Norian Wasch, Director Procurement at EuroFiber, David Latten, Head of Global Indirect Procurement at Logitech, as well as Heath Nunnemacher, VP Global Electronics Sourcing, TTI and Mark Brady, Global Supply Chain Director at McPherson’s. It’s a bumper issue!

Enjoy!

The latest issue of CPOstrategy is LIVE!

This month’s cover story is an exclusive and compelling insight into the procurement strategy at Vodafone New Zealand.

This month’s cover story is an exclusive and compelling insight into the procurement strategy at Vodafone New Zealand.

“For me, the future of procurement is two things: digital and sustainability,” says Rajat Sarna, Chief Procurement Officer and these two themes are the thread that runs through everything he’s put into place since he took over the reins of the procurement function at Vodafone New Zealand in October 2020.

The role was a huge one to take on, too – the telco employs 2,000 people, serves 2.4m customers and is a $2bn revenue company. The scale of its operations is huge with customers consuming over 3 billion minutes, 4,500 terabytes of mobile data and 55,000 terabytes of fixed line data every month.  A key part of his mandate was to transform procurement into a market-leading operating partner to the business that would “ultimately improve the value that we deliver to our customers”.

Read the latest issue here!

Sarna went back to basics initially, thinking about what the future capability of Vodafone New Zealand would look like, and what its procurement operation needed to be to support this. He says: “It was very critical for me to have a purpose and it cannot just be better savings or improved cost position. That’s not purpose; purpose is: what are we doing in terms of how we align with the future of procurement?”

Elsewhere, we have exclusive interviews with procurement strategists Lawrence Kane, a SIG Sourcing Supernova Hall of Fame member and Nirav Patel, CEO of Bristlecone. Plus, a ProcureTech exclusive and a guide to the best procurement events over the next 12 months and much, much more.

Enjoy!

How can businesses cope with persistent, global supply chain issues and what are the concerns looming on the horizon?

The Digital Insight speaks to Nirav Patel, CEO of Bristlecone (a supply chain company of the $19bn Mahindra group), who discusses how businesses can cope with persistent, global supply chain issues – and outlines the concerns looming on the horizon.

The latest edition of CPOstrategy is live, featuring exclusive articles on Coupa, Just Eat Takeaways, Friesland Campina, DPW and ProcureTech

This month’s exclusive cover story centres around the Coupa App Marketplace, the digital ecosystem transforming procurement functions the world over.

We speak to Nigel Pegg, Vice President and General Manager of the Coupa App Marketplace and CoupaLink to find out more about the roll-out one year on.

Read the latest issue now!

The evolution of procurement into a true strategic business enabler is fuelled by technological advances. The ability to dig deep into data with true visibility into an enterprise’s entire spend and supplier network has been provided through ever-evolving platforms, such as Coupa’s highly successful Business Spend Management (BSM) platform. In BSM, Coupa has created a digital ecosystem that brings suppliers, vendors, and partners together in the same room with a single ‘source of truth’. 

 
Elsewhere, we discuss how strategic procurement is the way forward at a rapidly growing enterprise, with John Butcher, Group Procurement Director Just Eat Takeaway.com. Plus, we grill Maximillian Tan, Director Business Procurement Asia at FrieslandCampina, one of the largest dairy companies in the world with a cooperative tradition going back 150 years, on how he is unlocking value at the enterprise.

We also have features on DPW and its NEXT100, the CIPS Awards 2022 and revisit the winners of ProcureTech100 2021.

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods

Editorial Director

CPOstrategy’s cover star this month is procurement transformation expert, and CEO and Co-Founder of Tropic, David Campbell…

Right now, procurement excellence is blooming. Experts determined to create change are coming to the fore and aligning procurement with SaaS to bring an end to the do-it-yourself way of working that decimates technology budgets. Tropic is one such game-changer, providing the tools to navigate software procurement’s complexities for competitive advantage.

Read the latest issue here!

The CEO and Co-Founder of Tropic is David Campbell, a born entrepreneur. He grew up on a cattle ranch in California and has always had at least one side-hustle on the go. Even as a child, he was running some form of money-making venture at any one time – but he didn’t necessarily consider that entrepreneurial pursuits were his calling until later.

CEO and Co-Founder of Tropic, David Campbell
CEO and Co-Founder of Tropic, David Campbell

Campbell studied English at UC Berkeley, and on graduating assumed he’d go into the arts. He’s a lifelong musician and writer, and he moved to a cabin in the woods to write the ‘next great American novel’. This venture, while it didn’t have the exact results he had hoped for, planted the seed in his mind that perhaps entrepreneurialism was for him because he loved setting his own hours and vision, creating a strategy, and executing that…

Elsewhere, we have exclusive interviews with supply chain and procurement leaders at the City of Edmonton and QSC, as well as the results of our first Sustainable Procurement Champions Index. We also have some exciting news from DPW too, ahead of its conference later this month.

Enjoy the issue!

There is an urgent need for the digitalisation of the procurement function, according to a new report from leading smart sourcing solutions organisation Globality

There is an urgent need for the digitalisation of the procurement function, according to a new report from ProcureTech and leading smart sourcing solutions organisation Globality.

The report, which can be read in full here, states that 9/10 of global procurement leaders are committed to the urgent transformation of their operations and processes to become more resilient, agile and future-proofed in these uncertain and volatile times.

The report, which surveyed 170 global procurement leaders, claims that innovative and emerging technologies are being harnessed in order to better arm CPOs as they face global inflation, COVID-19 and geo-political crises such as the war in Ukraine.

Those surveyed also cited the growing need to fully digitalise operating processes in order to improve efficiency and boost cost reduction, while enhancing agility, resilience and value. 90% expected operational transformations within the next three years.

The report covers:

  • Digitalisation drivers
  • Future procurement operating models
  • Digital work in the future
  • Procurement process digitalisation
  • Digital supplier management
  • Challenges to progress
  • Value of digital adoption
  • Change manifesto

“Everyone recognises this shift, 99% of companies plan to make changes to their operating model over the next three years,” says the Globality report. “In 2020 and 2021, change has been thrust upon us all. In 2022 and beyond companies are owning the shift. In our research, we have seen the procurement leaders outperform their peers through a focus on resilience and cost in the short term. However, to maintain this competitive advantage in the long term, they need to adopt a new digital-led operating model.”

That said, 81% cited a lack of organisational support with regards to digitalisation, indicating a need for further engagement at some enterprises. 68% say that digitalisation will continue to increase business self-service, while 50% of organisations aim to move to a business procurement-centric organisation, acting as advisors and business partners versus executing transactional processes.

Content Credits: Globality & ProcureTech

Designed By: CPOstrategy

EyeCare Partners works in partnership with clinicians and healthcare leaders to achieve the best patient and business outcomes and this…

EyeCare Partners works in partnership with clinicians and healthcare leaders to achieve the best patient and business outcomes and this has had dramatic results, such as a 1,500% revenue growth since 2015.

EyeCare Partners is growing through acquisitions, by providing strategic capital and operational support to its network of partner practices in 680 locations across 18 states. In February 2020, this growth was boosted when Swiss private equity firm Partners Group acquired a controlling stake in EyeCare Partners. “They’re a very interesting group,” he says. “They’re very heavy on investment, plus they have a very, very impenetrable and robust sustainability platform too, which is very near and dear to my heart through my time at Unilever,” This level of growth is fuelled significantly by increasing demand for eye care over the longer term, driven by an ageing US population and an increased incidence rate of eye diseases. But this level of growth requires an agile and resilient operational enterprise.

Our cover story reveals a massive procurement transformation programme at Zendesk

Procurement transformation is the hot topic this month as we speak to Rendi Miller, VP of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Zendesk. Miller is a procurement evangelist and transformational leader who is clearly energised as she delivers meaningful change to the function at Zendesk.

“What I’ve always enjoyed about procurement is the visibility into what the entire company is buying, from Marketing creative services to IT and Engineering technology to office furniture and everything in between.”

“Procurement has insight to trends before they become mainstream that gives us the ability to research new partners, technologies and solutions to start addressing the needs of the business early on. Being in procurement offers an awareness to nearly every aspect of the company.”

Read the latest issue here!

According to Miller, trust is absolutely critical to success because without that, “there is no reliability, there’s no confidence and there’s no relationship”, says Miller. “That’s something I emphasise with my team. Trust must be earned, but trust is also given. I empower them to be the leaders that I’ve hired them to be…”

Elsewhere, we sit down with Procurement Excellence Lead at Antofagasta Minerals, Christophe Le Flech, to discuss the state of procurement in the South America mining industry, and the work he’s doing to make a difference. We also talk to Convex Insurance’s Head of Procurement & Tactical Change, Vivek Pai… and discuss diversity in the workplace with Silvia Simon, LATAM Procurement Senior Manager at Mercedes-Benz Brazil. Plus, we look at 10 ways to optimise your digital procurement scouting approach with ProcureTech.

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods

Bringing a wealth of experience to the table, Kuvesh Ayer, CPO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority discusses procurement transformation and being prepared for anything…

Bringing a wealth of experience to the table, Kuvesh Ayer, CPO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority discusses procurement transformation and being prepared for anything…

Tell us about yourself and your current role…
I’m currently the chief procurement officer for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA embarked on a huge transformation effort across all its operating divisions to transform the organization into a more efficient, effective one.

I got a call one day asking if I’d be interested in this position and I decided, “Okay, it sounds interesting and very challenging,” and decided to throw my hat in a ring. Lo and behold, it’s two years down the line – it’s gone like a flash. Overall, my responsibilities include managing the MTAs procurement and sourcing operations, which also include the logistics, warehousing, and distribution aspects...”

Procurement transformation is at the heart of our chat with Tod Cooper, Director Procurement at the Department of Corrections in New Zealand

This month’s exclusive cover story features Tod Cooper, Director Procurement at the Department of Corrections in New Zealand, who reveals all regarding the strategic restructure of the procurement function.

Read the latest issue here!

Procurement transformation is at the heart of our chat with Tod Cooper, Director Procurement at the Department of Corrections in New Zealand
Procurement transformation is at the heart of our chat with Tod Cooper, Director Procurement at the Department of Corrections in New Zealand

Most of us like to think that if we were presented with the chance to do something positive and societally significant for our country and its indigenous people, in particular, we would.

And that’s exactly the opportunity Tod Cooper, Director Procurement at the Department of Corrections in New Zealand, has grasped with both hands, with the department’s dedication to supporting Māori. 

Business transformation through leadership has been a major part of Cooper’s working life, preparing him for the challenges he’s faced at the Department of Corrections.

“It’s a big personal passion for me,” he says. “I’m not a guy who likes to sit still. Continuous improvement is a big thing. I’m always asking myself how we can make things better, looking at new ways of re-engineering, and getting good people around me who can enact my vision of things.

I’m a typical extrovert who’s easily distracted by the next thing, so it’s really important to have a good leadership team around me that understands the vision and can pull me back in.”

Elsewhere, we also speak with Dean Bennett, VP of Procurement, and Mike Cowling, VP of Global IT at BeiGene, about the benefits of a strong collaboration between procurement and technology, and what makes the company so special. Plus, we have an exclusive ‘provenance in the supply chain piece’ from IBM’s Blockchain Leader, Winston Yong.

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods, Editorial Director

Welcome to the first CPOstrategy of 2022! We decided to kick off the new year in style with our best…

Welcome to the first CPOstrategy of 2022!

We decided to kick off the new year in style with our best issue yet!

Our exclusive cover story features a fascinating discussion with Sean Park, CPO of software organisation Splunk, talks us through transforming the procurement function from one that was deliberately immature, to the powerhouse of efficiency it’s now becoming.

Read the latest issue here!

When Splunk brought Park in to join the team, he knew it was time to make a change and get serious about the bottom line. The decision was made to put in place a more centralised procurement and sourcing function; Splunk was rapidly growing, and it didn’t want friction, but rather controls and guardrails in place to scale the company. It was very much a natural evolution for the business – a pattern Park has watched occur before. This put him in an ideal position to push the new vision forward.

“The first step was to undertake an assessment of the function,” he says. “What are our strategic objectives? How does that fit in with the corporate objectives, or those of the finance team? What are our processes and policies? How are we resourcing the organisational structure? How do we source? Do we want a category management structure or a business unit focus?”

Elsewhere, we have an incredible rollcall of equally fascinating articles on Atotech, Beeline, Delivery Hero, plus an engrossing selection of Procurement Leaders’ procurement transformation success stories. Plus, much, much more.

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods, Editorial Director

A major recent step for Philips has been casting aside traditional indirect procurement and implementing a new-and-exciting approach under the umbrella of Spend Management. We take an exclusive look behind the scenes…

Our exclusive cover story this month takes an in-depth look inside the procurement function at Philips; the leading Netherlands-based health technology company, which is improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation.

Read the latest issue here!

To achieve the company’s aim to improve 2.5 billion lives per year by 2030, Philips has been through a major transformation in the past decade. Besides overhauling the business, the functions – including indirect procurement – also needed to adapt.

A major recent step for Philips has been casting aside traditional indirect procurement and implementing a new-and-exciting approach under the umbrella of Spend Management. Alexander Visser is the Leader of Spend Management, and the architect of this change and he takes us through this incredible transformation…

Plus, we speak exclusively to CPO of Ooredoo Algeria, Saber Chrigui, who describes how he took the branch from struggling to a shining example for the entire group, through managing waste and costs, and dramatically repositioning procurement. We also catch up with Gudrun Gunnarsdottir, Procurement Manager at Vodafone Iceland, about how being based on a tiny island is no barrier to procurement excellence and keeping a finger on the pulse of technological advancement…

And another great exclusive this month, focuses on RHI Magnesita (RHIM); the global leader in refractories – its refractory products are used in all the world’s high-temperature industrial processes. The creation of RHI Magnesita (following the merger of RHI and Magnesita in 2017) saw the continuing transformation of procurement from a cost-saving function into a strategic business partner gather pace. We speak to RHI’s Michael Leitner, VP Procurement Europe & CIS & Turkey…

Enjoy the issue!

Andrew Woods

Welcome to another bumper issue of CPOstrategy magazine…

Our cover star this issue, Willem Mutsaerts, is both the CPO and CSO of Givaudan, a global industry leader creating game-changing innovation in food and beverages, and inspiring creations in the world of scent and beauty. The duality of his role is quite unique and makes for a fascinating discussion as to how procurement makes all the difference for Givaudan’s sustainable ambition. It’s a revealing insight…

Read the latest issue here!

Will also dive deep into Procurement Leaders’ latest report Procurement as a Growth Engine (partnered by Ivalua), which explores how procurement can bring new opportunities for growth, as forward-thinking business leaders become increasingly aware of the huge potential that exists in the upstream supply base.

Elsewhere, we move away from what procurement can do in the private sector to what it can do for the local communities of the world, specifically, procurement in West Mercia Police. We peek behind the curtain of a major procurement transformation that will see the local UK police force empower its officers to protect and serve their local communities.

There are also fascinating insights from Lance Younger, Dr Elouise Epstein and many many more..

Enjoy the issue!

Dale Benton

Governments around the world have highlighted supply chains as an area for urgent attention in tackling cyber risk in the coming years…

Business ecosystems have expanded over the years owing to the many benefits of diverse, interconnected supply chains, prompting organizations to pursue close, collaborative relationships with their suppliers. However, this has led to increased cyber threats when organizations expose their networks to their supply chain and it only takes one supplier to have cybersecurity vulnerabilities to bring a business to its knees. To this point governments around the world have highlighted supply chains as an area for urgent attention in tackling cyber risk in the coming years.

Looking beyond your own perimeter

Over the last few years, many organizations have worked hard to improve their cyber defenses and are increasingly “harder targets”.  However, for these well-defended organizations, now the greatest weaknesses in their defenses are their suppliers, who are typically less well-defended but with whom they are highly interconnected. 

At the same time, the cyber threat landscape has intensified, and events of the past year have meant that security professionals are not only having to manage security in a remote working set up and ensure employees have good accessibility, they are also having to handle a multitude of issues from a distance whilst defending a much broader attack surface.  As a result, points of vulnerability have become even more numerous, providing an attractive space for bad actors to disrupt and extort enterprises.  Threats have escalated, including phishing and new variants of known threats, such as ransomware and Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, as well as increases in supply chain attacks.

But where supply chains are concerned, it is nearly impossible to effectively manage this risk unless you know the state of your suppliers’ defences and continually ensure that they are comparable to your own.  Organizations must deeply understand the cyber risks associated with the relationship and try to mitigate those risks to the degree possible.

However, that’s easier said than done. With the sending and receiving of information essential for the supply chain to function, the only option is to better identify and manage the risks presented.  This requires organizations to overhaul existing risk monitoring programs, technology investments and also to prioritize cyber and data security governance.

Ensuring the basics are in place

At the very least organizations should ensure that both they and their suppliers have the basic controls in place such as Cyber Essentials, NIST and ISO 27001, coupled with good data management controls. They should thoroughly vet and continuously monitor supply chain partners. They need to understand what data partners will need access to and why, and ultimately what level of risk this poses. Likewise, they need to understand what controls suppliers have in place to safeguard data and protect against incoming and outgoing cyber threats. This needs to be monitored, logged, and regularly reviewed and a baseline of normal activities between the organization and the supplier should be established.

As well as effective processes, people play a key role in helping to minimize risk. Cybersecurity training should be given so that employees are aware of the dangers and know how to spot suspicious activity. They should be aware of data regulation requirements and understand what data can be shared with whom. And they should also know exactly what to do in the event of a breach, so a detailed incident response plan should be shared and regularly reviewed.

IT best practices should be applied to minimize these risks. IT used effectively can automatically protect sensitive data so that when employees inevitably make mistakes, technology is there to safeguard the organization.

Securely transferring information between suppliers

So how do organizations transfer information between suppliers securely and how do they ensure that only authorized suppliers receive sensitive data? Here data classification tools are critical to ensure that sensitive data is appropriately treated, stored, and disposed of during its lifetime in accordance with its importance to the organization. Through appropriate classification, using visual labelling and metadata application to emails and documents, this protects the organization from the risk of sensitive data being exposed to unauthorized organizations further down the line through the supply chain.

Likewise, data that isn’t properly encrypted in transit can be at risk of compromise, so using a secure and compliant mechanism for transferring data within the supply chain will significantly reduce risks. Managed File Transfer (MFT) software facilitates the automated sharing of data with suppliers. This secure channel provides a central platform for information exchanges and offers audit trails, user access controls, and other file transfer protections.

Layering security defenses

Organizations should also layer security defences to neutralize any threats coming from a supplier.  Due to its ubiquity, email is a particularly vulnerable channel and one that’s often exploited by cybercriminals posing as a trusted partner. Therefore, it is essential that organizations are adequately protected from incoming malware, embedded Advanced Persistent Threats, or any other threat that could pose a risk to the business.

And finally, organizations need to ensure that documents uploaded and downloaded from the web are thoroughly analyzed, even if they are coming from a trusted source. To do this effectively, they need a solution that can remove risks from email, web and endpoints, yet still allows the transfer of information to occur.

Adaptive DLP allows the flow of information to continue while removing threats, protecting critical data, and ensuring compliance. It doesn’t become a barrier to business or impose a heavy management burden. This is important because traditional DLP ‘stop and block’ approaches have often resulted in too many delays to legitimate business communications and high management overheads associated with false positives.

Cyber criminal attacks set to rise

Many of the recent well publicized attacks have been nation state orchestrated. Going forward this is going to turn into criminal syndicate attacks. Cybercriminals already have the ransomware capabilities and now all they need to do is tie this up with targeting the supply chain.  Therefore, making sure you have the right technologies, policies and training programs in place should be a top priority for organizations in 2021. If you are interested in finding out more about protecting your supply chain, why not download our eGuide: Managing Cybersecurity Risk in the Supply Chain.”

According to Accenture, 94% of Fortune 1000 companies experienced supply chain disruption owing to the pandemic…

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the future of supply chains indefinitely. When compared to overall business impact, most senior leaders said their supply chain was more susceptible to disruption from COVID-19 than their workforce, systems, or operations. According to Accenture, 94% of Fortune 1000 companies experienced supply chain disruption owing to the pandemic. Amidst the ongoing impact of COVID-19, as countries move in and out of lockdowns and vaccines are rolled out, this will continue to be felt worldwide throughout 2021 and beyond as organisations look to recover from the disruption to their supply chains.

Written by Mark Perera, CEO, Vizibl

Transforming supply chain models – for good

However, the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 has forced companies, and industries, to rethink and transform their supply chain models – for good. Many are now looking at how they can move away from linear supply chains to a more holistic, robust and sustainable supplier ecosystem.

It is interesting because since humans began making and distributing products to one another, the structure of the supply chain has remained predominantly untouched. Raw materials flow in, they are changed into a product and distributed and used until finally they are thrown away. This linear – take, make, throw away – supply chain has been sufficient to keep economies churning for decades, but now organisations are seeking out more robust, more profitable, more sustainable, circular supply chain ecosystems.

Adopting a circular approach 

The circular supply chain is a model that encourages manufacturers and sellers of products to take discarded materials and remake them for resale. To remain competitive and relevant linear supply chain entities must be willing to transition to a circular supply chain, which includes the entire reverse logistics process, in order to continue to grow and become sustainable in a future without an unlimited supply of resources.

The demand for some organisations to move to a circular supply chain is driven by government and limitations on what products can go to waste and what must be reclaimed. That said, consumers stand out as the key driving force towards greener and more ethical, sustainable approaches.

Additionally, COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of long-distance, international supply chains. Building-in a level of resilience will see organisations seeking to work with a much wider range of suppliers – building out that ecosystem – from global corporations to smaller, regional start-ups to ensure business continuity, diversity and circularity in the supply chain. 

Building a purpose-led ecosystem

The step-change that organisations must undertake to deliver against these sustainable and circular demands is now all about building purpose-led ecosystems. This means that organisations need to move beyond looking at their supply chain in a linear way, to actively collaborating with suppliers on initiatives to improve environmental, social and economic performance. They need to move towards a purpose-led procurement approach that includes a circular supply chain, and we will see adoption accelerate in 2021.

But what do we mean by a circular supply chain?

This is based on the principles of the circular economy, which is about designing waste out, circulating materials and resources and regenerating natural systems. The underlying premise behind the circular economy is that businesses will be more sustainable, more profitable and as a result add trillions to the global economy by 2030. The idea is that they are no longer reliant on the limited natural resources they required for growth. For businesses adopting a circular economy approach to be successful, their supply chains must also support these principles. According to Deborah Dull, who leads digital product management at GE Digital for Operations Performance Management, Supply Chain, Digital Kaizen, and Circular Economy: “Ultimately the circular economy is about inventory and extending its life, reusing it, repurposing it or eliminating the need for it altogether. Supply chain is responsible for inventory, and a global, circular economy requires supply chain innovation beyond its current scope which is very linear.”

How being lean helps

Deborah advocates that organisations should move to a lean supply chain approach because this moves inventory and decisions closer to the customer. This is important because proximity reduces the time between inventory decisions and actual customer need and because more inventory is typically required to buffer against uncertainty. Decreasing the time decreases the uncertainty, which decreases the need for an oversupply of inventory. Additionally, technology and data are key. Therefore, having a supply chain collaboration and innovation technology platform in place is important to facilitate collaboration in the supply chain, build in resilience and to give that all-important visibility into demand, supply, capacity and data. 

In particular, data about inventory helps organisations make the best use of their existing inventory and reuse items as many times as possible. If the organisation cannot see their inventory, or if they lack the ability to easily move it around, they often end up duplicating inventory in different locations and buying an oversupply to prevent shortages.

Resilience and responsibility – watchwords for 2021

Going forward, it is entirely feasible that similar worldwide events to COVID-19 will cause major problems for organisations getting goods and products through traditional supply chain models, that are deemed too linear and don’t take a flexible, collaborative, diverse and a circular approach. Likewise, as government regulation and legislation increase, organisations will be forced to think about circular supply chains and more ethical approaches to how they dispose of raw and waste materials. 

Therefore, repurposed supply chains of the future must have resilience and responsibility at their heart. Likewise, organisations must not only accelerate their agility, but also value chain transformation to help outmanoeuvre the ongoing uncertainty we face in 2021 and beyond. 

New research found that 43% of UK businesses say that the rate of digitalisation within procurement is low, which is impacting agility and preventing businesses from minimising risk…

If we’ve learned anything from 2020, it is that we cannot predict the future. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted many supply chains, as businesses became dependent on procurement teams to help mitigate the impact by identifying and onboarding new suppliers in different regions. 

However, a significant number of organisations have been hindered by a lack of procurement process digitalisation. New research found that 43% of UK businesses say that the rate of digitalisation within procurement is low, which is impacting agility and preventing businesses from minimising risk. 

The importance of process digitalisation goes beyond navigating the immediate effects of COVID-19. Businesses that are reliant on manual processes are not only wasting an average of £1.94m per year in staffing costs, they are also preventing procurement teams from focusing on high value tasks. Savvy businesses have digitised procurement processes as a springboard to create a competitive advantage for themselves, as they can better identify new revenue opportunities, unlock innovation and improve profitability. Over the coming years, UK businesses need to move quickly to digitally transform procurement and ensure they are not left behind.

Procurement process digitalisation remains in the slow lane

As things stand, organisations still have a long way to go, with many failing to digitalise procurement processes. Just over half (55%) of UK businesses have digitalised invoice processing, while less than half have digitalised purchasing (42%) and budget management (33%). Businesses are even further behind in digitalising strategic processes such as spend analysis (32%) and risk management (26%). Clearly, there is significant room for improvement for organisations looking to make informed decisions, identify opportunities to create revenue, or collaborate with suppliers.

Worryingly, most businesses have not digitalised supplier onboarding or sourcing processes. Identifying and bringing on new suppliers is critical for businesses searching for new opportunities to collaborate and innovate or react to a potential disruption, so digitalising the process should be a top priority. This is particularly true in times of crisis, as one of the biggest challenges UK businesses faced in reducing the impact of COVID-19 was identifying alternate suppliers.

Procurement teams are prevented from adding value

This lack of procurement process digitalisation is creating frustration for UK businesses, and holding them back from adding value. Eight-in-ten (81%) UK businesses say a lack of digitalisation is preventing them from collaborating with suppliers and internal stakeholders, while a further 83% believe it is preventing them from innovating and executing on new revenue streams and opportunities. Without the ability to collaborate or execute on opportunities to drive new revenue streams, businesses stand little chance of getting ahead of the pack.

However, when it comes to digitalisation, UK businesses face a number of challenges. The most common obstacles to digital transformation for UK businesses were their suppliers, technology, and processes. Clearly, collaborating with suppliers is still tough. But, as supplier visibility continues to be vital to innovation and identifying revenue opportunities, it is not a problem that businesses can leave unsolved.

A smarter approach to eliminate manual processes

Most businesses understand and recognise that digitalising procurement will help them gain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, UK businesses recognise the importance of digitalisation beyond this, with one of the biggest benefits being reducing their environmental impact. Sustainability continues to become a key differentiator, allowing for greater efficiency and waste reduction, while turning being ‘green’ into a competitive advantage for eco-friendly businesses. 

But to reap these benefits, it is clear a new approach is needed. Organisations need to adopt a smarter approach to procurement that can enable effective digital transformation, helping them to move away from managing processes over email, phone, or paper, to instead capturing everything digitally. This can free capacity for more strategic projects, improve access to insights for better decision-making and foster better collaboration by connecting internal stakeholders and suppliers. As a result, businesses are better able to identify opportunities to innovate, collaborate and grow revenues, giving them the chance to build better products and service offerings that will differentiate them from the competition. 

Digitalising procurement to combat uncertain times

n today’s uncertain and evolving landscape, procurement has become a much more strategic part of every business, but a lack of digitalisation is holding teams back. To create a competitive advantage, businesses need to digitalise manual and strategic procurement processes to provide teams with the tools they need, and give them back time to focus on creating value for the business.

Making procurement smarter can create an all-encompassing digital view of procurement and supplier management. This is increasingly important for businesses looking to restore growth post-COVID and ensure resilience for the next crisis.

Lack of digitalisation preventing UK businesses from identifying new sources of revenue and opportunities to collaborate and innovate

Research from Ivalua, a leading provider of global spend management cloud solutions, has found that almost half (46%) of UK businesses are frustrated by a lack of procurement process digitalisation. According to the study, 43% of respondents believe that the rate of digitalisation within procurement is low, while a third (33%) claim that procurement digitalisation is stagnant and hasn’t progressed in the last 12 months.

The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Ivalua, surveyed 200 UK-based procurement, supply chain and finance professionals to examine digitalisation in procurement. Eight-in-ten (81%) UK businesses say a lack of digitalisation is preventing them from collaborating with suppliers and internal stakeholders, while 83% believe it is preventing them from innovating and executing on new revenue streams and opportunities. Additionally, two-thirds (67%) of UK businesses say a lack of digitalisation reduces their ability to gain insights into spend and suppliers.

“As organizations look to restore growth post Covid-19 and ensure resilience for the next crisis, procurement can play a major role, helping identify opportunities to innovate and new sources of revenue. Procurement digitalisation is essential to enable unique business processes and improve collaboration with suppliers and internal stakeholder,” commented Alex Saric, smart procurement expert at Ivalua. “However, the current state of transformation in procurement is underwhelming. The risk in the future is that many businesses will be outstripped by more digitally-savvy rivals and find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage. Over the coming years, UK businesses need to move quickly to digitally transform procurement and ensure they are not left behind.”

Digitalising processes still has a long way to go

While businesses recognise the need to digitally transform, the report found that on average, UK businesses have digitalised less than half (43%) of their procurement processes. The most digitalised tasks were transactional processes such as invoicing (55%), purchasing (42%) and budget management (33%). 

UK businesses have also failed to digitalise strategic processes such as spend analysis (32%) and risk management (26%). Identifying and bringing on new suppliers is also critical for businesses looking to identify new opportunities to collaborate and innovate, but worryingly, most businesses have not digitalised supplier onboarding (89%) or sourcing (84%) processes. When it comes to digitalising procurement and these processes, UK businesses face a number of challenges, with the most common obstacles to digital transformation being their suppliers (29%), their technology (20%) and their processes (18%). 

“Procurement has become a much more strategic part of every business, but a lack of digitalisation is preventing many teams from realising the potential value of their spend and suppliers. UK businesses need to take a smarter approach to procurement and move away from managing processes over email, phone, or paper, to instead capture everything digitally. This will help businesses identify opportunities to innovate, collaborate and grow revenues, giving them the chance to build better products and services that will differentiate them from the competition. Digitalising procurement creates an all-encompassing view for businesses, helping to create a competitive advantage that will see them soar past digital laggard competitors,” concludes Saric.

To download the full report, “Gaining the advantage in challenging times – why businesses need to digitally transform procurement now more than ever”, please visit: https://info.ivalua.com/uk/report-competitive-advantage

“…when you think about supplier diversity initiatives, small business procurement initiatives, it’s really about driving economic impact. And it’s really the small businesses that drive economic growth in any economy”.