A recent NSW parliamentary inquiry into the procurement practices of government agencies has examined the challenges small businesses face in securing contracts, while highlighting the measures that are needed to encourage them. Providing his evidence to the inquiry, NSW small business commissioner Chris Lamont hammered home the importance of the NSW government supporting and promoting measures that are designed to encourage small business participation. He said this would maintain a vibrant small business sector, ensure a diverse and competitive market, and give NSW taxpayers the best value f ..read more

Speculation surrounding the future of Qenos – Australia’s biggest plastic and chemical manufacturer – continues to grow, with hundreds of jobs at risk and supply chains set to feel the impact, especially in the plastic category. Following multi-million dollar losses over the past couple of years, attributed to high gas and energy prices, Qenos – which is owned by China National Chemical – has reached a deal to sell the company to property developer Logos, according to The Australian. This has led to speculation that Qenos is planning to shut down before the end of the year, with the company’s ..read more

On a new episode of the weekly podcast How to Get Unstuck with Helen Thomas, the prominent career and business coach is joined by Cynthia Chung, head of procurement at Vicinity Centres and previously Nandos,  to discuss making big decisions and stepping outside of your comfort zone to be a role model for others. Exploring Cynthia’s 20-year long career in procurement – which spans a number of diverse industries and huge efforts to encourage more varied representation in leadership roles – the episode features a number of key highlights, including: How having the courage to step forward an ..read more

Sustainability skills are coveted within the procurement and supply chain sector, with a significant increase in their demand across both permanent and contracting roles over the last six months, covering most major sectors, reports Cozens Mabel. In its latest quarterly newsletter, the specialist Australian recruitment firm says industry recruitment across permanent roles remained steady throughout the first three months of 2024, with higher than normal growth in January – typically a quieter month. The majority of new hires filled junior to mid level roles across all sectors, but the senior e ..read more

The region’s oldest, biggest, best and ONLY business travel conference returns for 2024 with a jam-packed program, providing a two-day deep dive into the travel category. Registrations are now open for the event, which takes place at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on 7-8 August, with the first 150 sign-ups attending for FREE. Delegates will hear from esteemed thought leaders in business travel, with a focus on the future. In particular, three historic and transformative changes that we see on the business travel horizon: our ‘travel tipping points’. Register today PASA recently surveyed a ..read more

In a new case that highlights a buyer’s responsibility for safety in their supply chain and not just on site, a transport and logistics company has been fined $140,000 following an incident that resulted in life-changing injuries. A 64-year-old truck driver was struck on the head and had both legs crushed by a 1.5 tonne pack of steel beams at an Arrow Worldwide warehouse in West Melbourne. The company was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last month after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety ..read more

Matthew King, Senior Manager at State of Flux, explores black swan events in supply chains, mitigating these events through supplier relationship management and building resilient supply chains. In recent years, the global supply chain landscape has witnessed an increasing occurrence of what Nassim Nicholas Taleb, in his seminal work ‘The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable’ defines as Black Swan events.  These events, characterised by their rarity, extreme impact and retrospective predictability, have thrust the world of logistics and supply chain management into a realm of u ..read more

Despite global uncertainty, supply chain disruption and geopolitical tensions, suppliers are feeling optimistic about the year ahead, according to Taulia’s newly released Supplier Survey 2023/24. The leading provider of working capital solutions, which is a part of SAP, conducted the survey of 11,968 respondents from 132 countries to uncover supplier behaviours.  Encouragingly, 85 percent of those surveyed said they feel optimistic about the year ahead (up from 60 percent in 2022) with 48 percent specifically focused on growth. However, inflation is still a top concern for 50 percent of p ..read more

Independent Senator David Pocock says growing Australian companies are being shunned in favour of multinational firms when it comes to winning government procurement contracts. He suggests sovereign Australian companies are missing out on their share of the government’s $70 billion procurement spend, saying the commonwealth government should be better at spending money, getting value for money and looking at things like retained economic benefit. Speaking to The Mandarin, Pocock said, “So investing in Australian companies – sovereign Australian companies – that are building up their capability ..read more

Why not bring the team along to a PASA Connect Big Breakfast event this winter with seven events in seven cities to choose from? A table for 10 people is just $935 or $715 for Connect members, including a hot breakfast and three super relevant  keynote speakers – and everyone is back in the office by 11:30am! The Melbourne Big Breakfast is on Tuesday 14th May at the RACV Club on Bourke Street, kicking off at 7:00am and including three top CPOs with three great stories to tell on current procurement challenges: Jane Holcombe, GM for Procurement & Property, TABCORP on ESG in practice ..read more