Posts filed under 'Supply Management Best Practices'
May 15th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
There is no way I can keep up with Spend Matters type coverage of our conference. Just way too much else to do, and besides, does any one want to read me Twittering about myself?
D Bush is taking the stage to welcome to give the Iasta SOU
- about 30 minutes ago
Damn, that guy is good looking, stage presence like pro! - about 30 minutes ago
Yep, still profitable, new book, blogs, wikis..blah blah - about 28 minutes ago
Uh oh, his computer sucks, looks like Melissa forgot to disable the anti virus deep scan. - about 24 minutes ago
He’s announcing new products and service offerings, exciting stuff!! - about 20 minutes ago
I think he’s closing with a joke and dropped in a s*x reference - eeeee! - about 15 minutes ago
Whew, he pulled it off! - about 14 minutes ago
Nope, I don’t think so. Even though that is not going to add much value, our speakers did.
- F500 construction and engineering firm, Fluor Corp, spoke about how they successfully rolled out SmartSource to a large group of users over a period of 2 years. In the process, Fluor built an internal sourcing community and knowledge center.
- Our team gave multiple examples of how sourcing optimization should be used in every day sourcing projects. Truly opened some eyes and showed the power of post bid optimization with constraint scenarios.
- VP Procurement from a global transportation company gave a great overview of how they utilized SmartSource during a very complex merger, and subsequent cost reduction mandate over 6 months. Savings target of $43mm, actual $54.4mm.
- Charles Dominick, of Next Level Purchasing, spoke of the value of purchasing certifications. Specifically, he brought attention to the idea of raising the knowledge as a team, more than the traditional outlook of certifications being for the individual.
- Infosys discussed principles of global sourcing and how things like outsourcing and offshoring can help a company in their supply chain strategy.
Every one really did a great job. Infosys had some of the most content packed, dense PowerPoint slides I have ever seen. It was some what remarkable that some one was able to design a slide like that!
I am looking forward to seeing the feedback from the attendees. I think we took a lot of the feedback from last year and improved every where. Now, its sleepy time..zzzzz.
Entry Filed under: General, Spend Analysis, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology
May 13th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
During our training and workshop day, I co-presented with our COO, Jason Treida, on user adoption. We feel this is a critical topic that impacts every single user of sourcing technology. Not every company/user will have usage of functionality like reverse auctions or project management or optimization. However, every company will need to address the challenges of user adoption. Hence, our workshop was heavily attended.
To begin, it is important to realize that eSourcing tools are being implemented at an accelerating pace and,
**75% of respondents to a Purchasing Magazine survey in Nov 2006 said their organizations did not provide the training and help to ensure competency with online sourcing tools and techniques.
**Also, it was stated that CFOs were expected to increase the investment to eSourcing applications and in turn expected greater adoption and savings.
In our opinion, these facts mean that every company needs to invest in training and roll-out plans. Too frequently, it is thought to be “good enough” to just get web based training in the first month. This will only work out well, if your organization is deeply staffed with people that have eSourcing experience to go with the executive backing.
There are a variety of ways that companies can successfully roll out eSourcing. Most of which are provided by the eSourcing company, but are not required to come from the vendor. They can also be done by consulting companies or by internal teams. The key is to realize that someone needs to do it and manage it. Train the trainer, managed implementations and category management + training are successful strategies that are critical to success for different profiles of organization.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices
May 12th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
Today, I am downtown with our users conference, so apologize for the short post today. I will be presenting with Jason, in a workshop on roll out best practices. This is in addition to numerous other break outs that will be going on simultaneously. These include training and coaching on bid management, contract management, decision optimization and data categorization to improve management reporting, among many others.
We have a good crowd for the conference this season, but I really hate doing it in May, when every other conference is happening and we are coming off Mothers Day. We have been forced into this week, because of practice schedules at the track and the ISM conference. I know it affects attendance, probably by as much as 50%. Next year could find us in Chicago, where we will not be able to keep our corporate suite at the worlds greatest race track, but other advantages will counter that.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology, e-Sourcing Marketplace
May 9th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
There is still time to sign up for the second annual user conference. That is, if you are an Iasta SmartX user. This year, will again be held in Indianapolis, for a 3 day span on eSourcing best practices.
The structure was overwhelmingly approved last year, and will be repeated and improved with the feedback we received. Monday is all day training with a large number of workshops to focus on particular functionality or strategies. Tuesday is a combination of round tables and presentations, which will include some great topics from outside speakers. Finally, Wednesday is a networking day out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fortunately, weather looks like it will be pretty nice, after a very rainy last few days here.
Two of the speakers that I am looking forward to include Infosys and Next Level Purchasing. Infosys will be discussing global procurement strategies and the values of outsourcing. Charles Dominick, of blogging fame, will be presenting about the value of purchasing certifications.
I will have a couple posts next week about these. I am looking forward to kicking this off, we have a lot of new faces in attendance this year.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology, e-Sourcing Marketplace
May 8th, 2008
Sean Delaney - Iasta UK
Well I couldn’t resist this…especially since I was once one of these buyers. What is more interesting for me is that having crossed over to the “other side”, the negotiating styles used by the supermarket buyers (Tesco’s etc) certainly sounded very familiar.
When showing these tactics to Duncan Bullivant, the Chief executive of Henderson Risk Group, a seasoned hostage and kidnap negotiator, the article writes “even he was surprised”. Duncan then goes on to say ”not only do I recognise the phrases, I recognise all these tactics in every aspect of business I have done in the last few years.”
The tactics and behaviours during negotiations have evolved over the years from being more physical, to more psychological. For example, not long ago there was the story of one buyer, who used to attend meetings with a water pistol, and fire water, at the supplier, if the supplier didn’t meet his demands. Is this procurements’ equivalent to water boarding?
One strategy is called the “clock face” which involves 41 sequential steps as the buyer seeks to coax the best price out of the supplier. Tactics include threatening to de-list the supplier (which in reality could lead a supplier going out of business), threatening to go over their head to their bosses, play good guy and bad guy, deliberately misunderstanding something, and just when you think you may have made it, the final stage is the partnership stage. This is where suppliers may be deliberately left to feel the odd one out, before bringing them back into the fold.
Tired? Well, I certainly was after reading it! Quite clearly those more sophisticated suppliers will prevail and there is already evidence of this. Furthermore, as the supply base consolidates, and they become equally sophisticated, an impasse will inevitably be reached. With raw material prices rising so rapidly, I think this may be the final tipping point in relations.
However, back to negotiation techniques used, I can’t help feel that there is a serious case for the automation of the negotiating process. How much more sophisticated can one get? I would argue that in the future, it is imperative to keep it simple. Capacity constraints, and the securing of scarce resources, are going to be the key sourcing variables.
Entry Filed under: Global Supply Issues/Risk, Optimization, Reverse Auctions, Sourcing News, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace
May 2nd, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
I am leaving tomorrow for St Louis and this years ISM conference. This is one of the better conferences for procurement, with a large attendance and a traditional exhibit hall. Generally, there are about 2000 attendees and over 100 vendors. As in years past, eSourcing and supply management dominate the vendor capabilities. In years past, over 30% of the booths have been supply management software companies, this year is very much the same.
Obviously, there is a strong demand from both the attendees and the vendors in this space. The benefits are very tangible and desired, hence the continual presence.
Iasta has an exhibit booth (#328) and I look forward to meeting as many practitioners, as possible. Please make an effort to come by and introduce yourself to me or our other executive leadership.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace
May 1st, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
Recently, I wrote a blog about the up-swell of support for procurement to get involved with the legal spend. From the same publication that I found that article, there was a follow up, which added even more detail to the topic.
Fortunately, the author ended on a very high note with great analysis. In the first half, however, I had my doubts that it was going the right direction. There was repeated commentary which seemed to paint procurement as unsophisticated, not capable of understanding legal services.
As example:
“How do you measure the troubles the company didn’t experience?” says Hackett. “How do you prove the value of, ‘We didn’t have an SEC investigation this year’?”
Procurement or purchasing employees who are not part of the legal department may find it difficult to appreciate or even understand those values. They may also find it hard to differentiate between a straightforward legal task that could be performed by most corporate lawyers and one that requires involvement by a trusted legal adviser who may be familiar with the company’s legal needs or who has particular expertise.
Merely looking at costs is not always the best way to choose outside counsel, Hansen says. Procurement employees who don’t have a legal background are often unable to differentiate between attorneys and may ultimately outsource to a new attorney without the skills and trust required for the job, simply on the basis of lower costs.
“A procurement group is not capable of differentiating between top players,” Hansen says. “They don’t understand that their skill sets need to be separated, and are also incapable of differentiating between top and bottom players.”
Of course, we all know this is not the case and procurement has many very sophisticated methods of analyzing bids to make valid comparisons. If a company is large enough to have sourcing possibilities in legal services, they have surely heard of RFPs or eRFx technology (and probably use them). These concepts are easily accounted for by asking the questions and assigning the proper measurements. Weighing price and non-price factors are methods that have been used by sourcing teams for a long time.
Ultimately, the article takes a turn for to a very constructive discussion, with excellent tips for managing sourcing and legal teams as one.
“It’s clear that corporations are increasingly looking at ways to save money, and law departments are cost centers and need to be managed as cost centers,” Friedmann explains. “A forward-thinking general counsel should look to the purchasing department for help.”
While procurement or purchasing department involvement with hiring outside counsel can lead to tension, savvy general counsel shouldn’t ignore the purchasing department’s interest and expertise. Rather, in-house counsel should work together to balance the company’s cost-cutting needs with their preferences for outside counsel.
General counsel should look for ways to quantify legal services that will steer the procurement department toward measuring results, not just costs.
For instance, some law departments look at comparative savings in the industry in general or at outside counsel savings effected by better practices or better technology, Hackett says.
Some large companies even have created a position within the law department whose sole responsibility is to oversee outside counsel costs, retention rates and savings maximization. Such a position — particularly when filled by a member of the law department — can cut costs while ensuring that the company’s legal needs are adequately met and outsourced to the right people.
Unique and creative ways of procuring outside counsel services such as online reverse auctions and e-billing, both of which are slowly being introduced, might also help cut costs, yet can yield the same level of service to which law departments are accustomed.
As the article states, many procurement groups see a lot of juicy, low hanging fruit, when they peer into the marble floored legal offices. Handling these services correctly, is critical, but very possible and the results should be highly beneficial.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices
April 29th, 2008
Michael Lamoureux
I enjoyed the recent article over on Global Services by the title of Wrecking Ball that noted that implementation of new operating models requires the corporate equivalent of wrecking an old building in order to build anew, yet few corporate managers are trained to swing the wrecking ball carefully, communicate in the most effective way to employees, and prepare for the fallout.
As the author notes, for many corporate change managers, preparing to communicate with employees is the last tick in the box. Too many managers assume that the responsibility can be offloaded to HR or the internal communications department when the reality is that only the managers who understand the scope - the work, employees, internal customers and potential impacts - can effectively swing the wrecking ball and manage the inevitable issues that are going to arise from a major change.
Furthermore, communication preparation should begin at the strategic planning stage, not at the beginning of implementation. This is the best time to prepare the right message - which must be clear, factual, and consistently communicated. Employees need to understand the reasons for change if they are to embrace them. As the article notes, simple oblique statements such as “we need to be competitive” can sound like corporate code for increase executive compensation - and is not going to be very inspirational.
Once the core message is drafted, it’s time to list all the affected stake-holders, determine who realizes the rewards and who pays for the gains, and develop a plan to address their specific concerns. This will require targeted messaging to them on top of the basic message. Be sure to plan for the inevitable backlash, and craft appropriate responses as well.
Once the messaging is worked out, you can work out the roadmap and implementation plan as you know you will be able to start delivering the right messaging to the right stakeholders at the right time. This plan should include performance incentives as productively tends to decline precipitously immediately after a major change is announced. It should also include a plan for dealing with voluntary attrition, as some people will get nervous, fear for their jobs, and seek new employment elsewhere. And, of course, constant communication that addresses all of the concerns as they arise.
Entry Filed under: General, Project Management, Supply Management Best Practices
April 23rd, 2008
Michael Lamoureux
Another good article in the recent edition of CPO Agenda is Collection Action by Nick Martindale. (It should be no surprise that I’d pick up on this one, as I’ve been known to preach the “Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate” mantra - see parts I, II, III, IV, and V, for example.)
The article starts off by noting that collaborative buying has yet to recover from the hefty blow that it was delivered in the nineties, after a number of GPOs quickly sprang into existence, and then failed even quicker, and that Group Purchasing Organizations are going to have to overcome some formidable obstacles if they are to grow and succeed.
One of the major problems with the original GPO model, which is still used by many of the GPOs still in the market today, is its myopic focus on cost savings. Organizations join because they think that volume-based buying will allow them to get their office supplies, energy, and contract labor cheaper, but end up saving very little and then develop a bad taste for the GPO model. Furthermore, many suppliers loathe GPOs because they believe that the whole point of a GPO is to compress prices and choose the lowest-priced supplier, and this means that it’s often hard to get your best suppliers to bid on the collective contract.
Just like Procurement needs to focus on total value on each and every buy they make, a GPO also needs to focus on total value on each and every buy they make on behalf of its customers. They need to look at the supplier from all relevant angles - cost, capability, service, and value-add. However, even more importantly, the GPOs need to encourage and enable their members to collaborate and share knowledge and best practices so that their interaction with the GPO does more than just save a few dollars on outsourced categories. With the right GPO, a member company should gain as much value from networking opportunities and shared knowledge as it gains from the cost savings associated with having a third party manage select spend categories.
Entry Filed under: General, Project Management, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace
April 21st, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
Spend Matters Publishing recently wrote a fantastic analysis of a rapidly growing area of focus from practitioners and vendors. It is available for download, from its sponsor, Archstone Consulting.
I will not rehash Jason’s points in this paper, it is well worth downloading. I will say that I can corroborate virtually everything he has stated. This is a massively growing area for Iasta, and likely all eSourcing companies that can work with F1000 sized companies. Integrated services components are critical to success of a coordinated eSourcing roll out. Some times, companies have the internal experts and bandwidth to pull this off, some times, they think they do, and most times, they do not.
To add to his statements with my own experience, companies generally need a standard set of dedicated resources:
- Tactical: This implies just having some one to execute sourcing projects that are teed up, but do not have the necessary bandwidth to complete. This is generally short term and very quantifiable.
- Categories/Assessment/Advisory: Here the company needs more than people to use software to complete tasks. Many times it involves a team of people that are loaded into a particular category or location with a specific savings target, as the goal. There is a large amount of data collection, strategy and execution needed and the time frame could be 1-6 months.
- Process transformation: Much more involved than the previous levels, with less structure and a goal being conceptual, rather than finite. This again is a longer term strategy, but well worth the investment, if the sourcing organization has no..well, organization.
I make a habit of speaking to the leadership of our clients on a regular basis. One thing I can be very confident in, is that no one has extra resources. Procurement staffing is an area that will not go away and based on the results that we have provided, it is one of the absolute locks for ROI.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace
April 17th, 2008
Agatha Degasperi - Iasta Europe
I took part in a webcast this week entitled “Bringing Contract Management into the 21st Century – 5 Principles Every Procurement Executive Should Know” sponsored by Procurement Leaders.
It is quite clear that Contract Management is starting to add real value to companies. Problem is, too many are still stuck in old practices that result in a lack of visibility, control and inability to manage compliance. I thought it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the key takeaways from this hour long webcast.
What is CLM:
CLM stands for Contract Lifecycle Management and refers to a technology platform(s) that can manage the full lifecycle of a contract (i.e. All governing activities of how contracts are used) which are:
a) Contract Drafting
b) Contract Negotiation
c) Contract Storing and Repository
d) Contract Compliance and administration
e) Contract Renewal
f) Contract Optimization
What are the advantages of implementing CLM (summary of presentation given by Andrew Bartels of Aberdeen Research)
Phase 1 - Contracts reside within one single repository – making it easier to search, analyze and increase visibility into renewals. Already here, there are major cost savings to be had!
Phase 2 - Ability to generate reports and analyze current data – this helps identify duplicates, inconsistencies, and any other potential risks/issues with ongoing contracts
Phase 3 - Automatic contract creation – this helps only use legal staff for critical tasks and shorten the contract cycle times.
Phase 4 - Contract repository integrated with existing transaction systems – this clearly is the ultimate, long term goal of CLM. Where there’s a real time ability to verify that pricing is compliant & meets agreed service levels every time purchases are made – leading to greater conformity of contracts.
Key considerations for successful implementation
a) Aim for some early wins. In other words, don’t try to take on too much in one go. While the ultimate goal is to get all contracts on the system, it is best to go with a phased approach. To prioritize, the key variables to consider are: contract size and degree of activity (start with the contracts driving transactions as these are the renewals you don’t want to miss!)
b) Have a clear system & tool in place for importing existing contracts: ensure the technology you choose accounts for this and establish a system for importing the contracts. Many companies opt to have temps work on this so buyers aren’t bogged down with low value tasks. Furthermore, this step tends to take much longer than expected, so it is good to prepare the resources!
c) Develop best practices around how contracts will be set-up, structured, the verbiage that will be used and the controls that will be in place to manage the contract templates.
d) Maximize buy-in by involving all regions, relevant business units and stakeholders early on in the process. Particularly those close tot he market who are being directly impacted by the lack of visibility and compliance with contracts. Having some early wins with these groups can help serve as a “pull” for those less willing departments.
e) Consider assessing the potential cultural/attitude obstacles to adopting the tool and tackle this early on.
Some other interesting stats presented were that geographically, US appears in the lead of implementing CLM, but Europe is close behind & gaining ground. While the ultimate goal is to reach this phase 4 of integration with transaction systems, the majority of the companies currently find themselves in phase 1: Document Repository. The good news is that there is already tremendous value & ROI to be had with just implementing the first phase, as the increased visibility given will already create savings by helping to not miss renewals and minimizing other possible savings leakage from a lack of contract compliance.
Entry Filed under: Contract Management, General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology
April 14th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
Sourcing Handbook from Iasta.com, baaaby.
Occasionally, a new resource comes along that is really worth spending some time on. A few weeks ago, Iasta Publishing Co, completed its first publication of original work. Most of which is written by Sourcing Futurist and Supply Chain Guru, Michael Lamoureux, who maintains his own blog and is a regular contributor to ESF and ESW.
This is not your typical vendor marketing schlock or PowerPoint clip art. This is a real book, packed with hundreds of pages of powerful best practices content on sourcing and sourcing technology. We decided to release this as an e-book first, with plans to publish in hard copy soon, for easier reading. I am currently working on some ISBN needs, cover design and printing requirements to officially put this on Amazon for purchase.
The e-Sourcing Handbook is a modern guide to Supply and Spend Management Success which utilizes and enhances strategic sourcing technology and best practices. Covering the full spectrum of the e-Sourcing cycle, the handbook helps you understand not only what spend analysis, e-RFx, e-Auction, decision optimization, and contract management are, but where and when to apply these technologies for maximum benefit.
Building on the resounding success of the e-Sourcing Wiki and the e-Sourcing Forum and Sourcing Innovation blogs, the handbook takes the concept of open access to knowledge and best practices one step further by compiling the best information on e-Sourcing to appear on all three public information sources into one definitive source. Furthermore, by mixing content from factual and informative wiki articles with blog postings that are both controversial and opinionated in an innovative manner, the juxtaposition of the two in the handbook allows the reader to see where the boundary lies between information and advocacy. It is the goal of the authors that, through this ground-breaking effort, the reader will gain a better understanding of e-Sourcing and how to take their supply and spend management efforts to the next level.
You may download the e-book version FOR FREE,
from the Iasta website.
Entry Filed under: Analysts/Research, General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology
April 11th, 2008
Oscar Pacheco - Iasta
Companies spend an enormous amount of money on buying services, including temporary labor, consulting, cleaning, relocation, accounting, security, legal, financial, and on and on. Usually these services are not “direct” cost items and have not traditionally been managed by the purchasing organization.
That has been changing, according to a purchasing.com article, How+Why you should be buying Services.
There are many valid reasons to include services as part of the spend that is managed by purchasing, including of course saving, but that is often not the paramount reason. The article discusses numerous good ones such as reduction in number of vendors, spend consolidation, standardization of services, and cost avoidance.
What is most interesting is that the process of tackling services spend is similar to direct spend, but the approach to sourcing needs to be different. Aspects such as quality, requirements, and quantities are not easy to determine, and are often based on stakeholders opinions rather than hard facts. This may make these areas harder to source but it is worth the effort. Develop a process, use the sourcing tools available and go after services spend.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace
April 9th, 2008
David Bush - Iasta
If you are in procurement and in the retail industry, you have benefited from a large focus of attention recently. Aberdeen has released a new report, Business Intelligence in Retail: A Best-in-Class Roadmap for Performance Improvement, which deals with improvement on spend under management. And AMR, is having a retail research bonanza in 2008, with the most recent, Sourcing Revs Up Retailers, recently coming out.
These are great reports for the specific industry mentioned. In particular, AMR describes the differences of the retail environment for sourcing:
- Sourcing scale—A retailer often designs and sources tens of thousands of new products or SKUs every year, with sourcing changes across multiple seasons adding to the complexity.
- Consumer centric—Consumer-driven sales place significant demands on the sourcing process, especially in the area of quality assurance and social responsibility.
- Process and systems complexity—Retail sourcing processes and systems tend to be more complex than those found in other sourcing environments.
They mention that this industry is moving into integrated PLM, product design, visibility and collaboration and vendors need to support this functionality. I see this transformation taking a long time, as many retailers are still trying to get a handle on these parts one at a time. However, the point is valid and most companies should be looking long term for advanced, integrated technology.
Entry Filed under: Analysts/Research, General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology
April 8th, 2008
Michael Lamoureux
The Supply Chain Management Review recently ran an article on Maximizing e-Sourcing through a Center of Excellence where they noted that software alone is not sufficient — organizations must have the knowledge and policies in place to support these tools. The article then says that, because of this, leaders today are establishing Centers of Excellence (CoE) to fully capture the value and savings from e-Sourcing technologies.
As per the article, a Center of Excellence is a small center-led group of sourcing experts who focus on standardizing processes, leveraging technology, capturing best practices, sharing knowledge, and streamlining activities. The model allows the flexibility to tailor purchases at the local level while leveraging corporate spend for strategic categories and commodities. (For a more complete definition of Center Led Procurement, as well as the benefits that normally accompany it, see my three part series: Part I: Introduction , Part II: Center of Excellence, and Part III: Best Practices).
The article also proclaims the benefits that often accompany a CoE and points to an Aberdeen study that found that the savings performance of an organization that has established a CoE is typically 39% better than its competitors. Furthermore, the organization is 32% more likely to have employed advanced sourcing strategies, 54% more proficient in their usage of e-Sourcing technology, and 25% ahead of their competition when it comes to maverick spend.
Considering that other studies from other organizations have reported similar results, there’s no arguing that a well designed and properly executed center of excellence gets results. However, I have to wonder how much is due to the center of excellence and how much is due to the mindset of excellence. It’s not the center that achieves results - but the people. It’s not the technology that the center employs - but the people who use it. It’s not the processes that the center recommends - but the people who
employ them. The mindset to apply best practices, processes, and technologies and be best in class resides in people.
Furthermore, if you have a team that has the mindset, do you really need a physical center? Many organizations like to “centralize” their “center-led” procurement organization in a single location - but considering the global talent crunch, is this really a good idea? First of all, your best talent is probably distributed globally - and many of them probably aren’t going to want to relocate (half-way around the world). Secondly, with the increasingly global nature of business, you need talent distributed globally to help your global teams understand the best practices, processes, and technology and properly apply them. If you think that once a year training sessions in a central location is enough these days, you’re trapped in the past. Thirdly, you can’t always aggregate demand across disparate divisions when each division could be making slightly different goods for different markets with different regulatory requirements. Sometimes demand just has to remain distributed.
Thus, I have to ask whether a Center of Excellence is the answer or if what you really need is a Team of Excellence. Furthermore, do you really need this team centralized in the same office, or can they be distributed out across your global purchasing organizations? It seems to me that if they have a Mindset of Excellence, this is all you need. Furthermore, since you’ll have one or more experts in each of your divisions, it seems to me that not only will you have increased adoption of the mandated processes, technologies, and best practices, but that you’ll get even better performance across the board. Now, it’s true that you’ll need networked persons to pull this off, but hey, it’s the noughts. Get used to it.
Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices
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