Thought leader: How to get early supplier involvement right
Procurement Leaders Blog
by guestblog
1d ago
For many procurement and supply chain leaders, it is standard practice to involve suppliers early when developing new products and services. But does it work? Early supplier involvement is a term that has evolved since the 1990s, when the world discovered that Japanese automotive OEMs such as Toyota and Honda outperformed their competitors in terms of design quality and time-to-market. Part of the explanation was the then famous ‘Toyota Production System’, an approach to organising manufacturing and logistics efficiently and without waste. Moreover, Toyota, in particular, had set up ingenious ..read more
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CPO Crunch: Think intelligently about artificial intelligence
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
3d ago
Question: What’s driving your thinking when it comes to the rollout of artificial intelligence in procurement? Is it the efficiencies that might be gained from harnessing the technology? How about the insights that might be available? Or is it more fundamental, such as the potential new business models that might become possible? Or – whisper it quietly – the risks you face from not thinking about it at all? Whatever’s going through your mind, as we kick off our Americas Procurement Congress 2024 in Miami this week, the topics of digitalisation and the ongoing march of AI are front and centre ..read more
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CPO Crunch: What does the future hold?
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
1w ago
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how procurement, R&D and sustainability were being rolled under one leadership at Mars Wrigley. It’s a fascinating blueprint for how procurement is being viewed as a catalyst for sustainability – supporting the strategic involvement of suppliers in product development while embedding ESG across core business, and I’ll be watching developments with interest. Separately, a call I had the privilege to facilitate last week provided another insight into how global organisations are evolving their thinking about how best to embed sustainability throughout the ..read more
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CPO Crunch: New model armies
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
2w ago
Hands up if you’re either thinking about, have recently been through or currently undergoing a procurement operating model change. I have a suspicion – if you were to play the game – that a lot of virtual hands would be reaching for the sky right now. Why? Anecdotally, I’ve had several conversations with CPOs recently that have landed on the issue, which is one sure indicator, but another stronger indicator was last week’s CPO community call on the subject. Now, get 50 CPOs on a call entitled Redesigning operating models to deliver enhanced value and the chances are those 50 CPOs will hol ..read more
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CPO Crunch: Just add R&D
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
1M ago
A few weeks ago, a LinkedIn post from one of our members provided a tantalising and hopeful glimpse into the future.  This might be a bold claim but when Amanda Davies, Chief Procurement & Sustainability Officer at Mars Wrigley, announced that she was adding R&D to her remit to become Chief R&D, Procurement & Sustainability Officer, it provided a welcome reminder of the opportunity we have as a function. Amanda is only one individual working for one organisation but, as a statement of how procurement’s role might evolve in the coming years, it was powerful and logical. And ..read more
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CPO Crunch: The procurement culture club
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
1M ago
The well-worn adage of culture eating strategy for breakfast has been around a few years.  Attributed decades ago to one of the gurus of modern business philosophy, Peter Drucker, it’s a motto that argues that even the shiniest, most creative plans are worthless unless people feel empowered.  Drucker’s principles underpin the approaches of just as many CEOs and business leaders today as they did when he first floated his ideas in the mid to late 20th century. And one of the most foundational concepts relates to humanocracy, to give it a modern, on-trend label.  The idea is ..read more
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CPO Crunch: It’s not easy being green
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
1M ago
If you live in the UK or keep on top of the British news agenda, you may have seen a story over the past few days concerning a political party announcing a U-turn on its signature green investment policy. What was said? Sir Keir Starmer, leader of opposition Labour party, announced that its flagship £28bn/year green investment pledge would be reduced to £15bn/year, of which only £5bn would be new money. The reasoning Starmer gave was the current economic climate and, specifically, the increased cost of borrowing would make servicing any additional debt unpalatable and politically challenging ..read more
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CPO Crunch: Averting crises and improving your CEO’s state of mind
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
1M ago
It can be draining just reading about the chaos brought about by global risks that continue to hit the headlines; from Houthi Rebel strikes in the Red Sea to ongoing speculation about Chinese intentions towards Taiwan, to the potential fallout from “the year of elections”. That said, being on the sharp end of having to respond to some of these events is a different matter entirely, and it’s a situation that many in the Procurement Leaders community find themselves in constantly. So it was that we hosted a reactive CPO Connect call last week to explore the Middle East crisis, the potential impa ..read more
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CPO Crunch: A rewarding time
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
2M ago
As we, and more than 40 CPOs from our global community of leaders, embark on the process of judging the World Procurement Awards 2024, it was a privilege to look through many of the entries before our panel of experts get stuck into the process this coming week. It’s reassuring and inspiring to see both the impact being made by procurement, but also the passion with which those working in the function are going about their business. Hundreds of entries, across 14 categories, illustrate just how deeply procurement executives care about the work they do. This shouldn’t be a surprise. Entrie ..read more
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CPO Crunch: Get involved, early
Procurement Leaders Blog
by David Rae
2M ago
Procurement Leaders’ CPO community will gather next Thursday to discuss the concept of early supplier involvement – a simple idea that formalises how key suppliers are involved early enough to contribute maximum value to a buying organisation’s strategic initiatives.  Those procurement functions pursuing a deliberate supplier-enabled innovation programme will see the early involvement of suppliers as a positive thing. Entire supplier events are executed to make this happen and relationship management structures put in place to govern it.  And it makes sense. If suppliers are contribu ..read more
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