Art of Procurement

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Purchasing has always been finally responsible for quality, cost, and delivery, but with some of the global challenges we’ve had in the last five years, purchasing has mutated into supply chain, and we have taken over a lot of those responsibilities.” - Stephen Tonks, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Fujikura Automotive Europe Procurement and supply chain are usually designated as two separate functions within organizations, each with different lines of reporting and operational structures. As procurement’s role has evolved and the value they bring to the business has expanded beyond sourcing or cost and into strategy, purchasing and supply chain are becoming more intertwined than ever before. To understand the relationship between purchasing and supply chain and what this means for the evolving role of procurement as a key strategic partner and relationship facilitator for the business, Philip Ideson spoke with Stephen Tonks, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Fujikura Automotive Europe.  Stephen emphasizes the importance of purchasing and supply chain being constantly aligned and focused on the overall goals, challenges, and needs of the business as a whole.  In this episode, he discusses:  How purchasing and supply chain can support each other and find greater alignment to deliver more value for the business The importance of relationships, both internal and external, to supply chain health and transparency How procurement can leverage customer insights and relationships to drive business value and optimize the supply chain Links: Stephen Tonks Subscribe to This Week in Procurement  

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“The most successful procurement teams have a strong ability to articulate what they’re doing in the context of overall business objectives.” - Aaron Addicoat, Senior Manager at Deloitte  We live and work in a time characterized by global supply chain disruptions, inflationary conditions, the pandemic, and a war for talent. As a result, procurement has come under increasing pressure to “do more with less,” and deliver value in areas where they have not traditionally made direct contributions.  To better understand the evolving nature of procurement and, in particular, what distinguishes the highest performing teams or, “Orchestrators of Value,” from the rest of the pack, Deloitte made this the focus of their 2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer survey.  Philip Ideson recently spoke with Aaron Addicoat, Senior Manager, and Ryan Flynn, Principal, both from Deloitte, about Orchestrators of Value and how procurement teams can adapt their strategies to increase performance and drive more impact.  In the episode, Aaron and Ryan discuss:  How procurement Orchestrators of Value outpace their peers in terms of savings, performance, and relationships How communicating procurement’s value proposition increases their reputation and influence within the business  Key areas of focus for procurement moving forward, including operating models, talent strategies, and digital maturity Links: Aaron Addicoat on LinkedIn Ryan Flynn on LinkedIn 2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Today, if we’re recruiting fresh talent, the right resource pool is not available. That talent incubation is not happening, which primarily means we need universities recognizing procurement as a discipline and making sure that individuals acquire a certain level of skills and are ready to be injected into the corporate setup.” - Nishish Saxena, Head of Terminals Procurement, India and Middle East, Maersk For years now, procurement has often been seen as a back-office function responsible for finding and managing suppliers and cutting costs, and not as a strategic superpower that can support the overall goals and growth of the entire business.  In part, procurement’s ‘perception problem’ and reputation as an undervalued and misunderstood function has to do with the way talent is, or isn’t, developed and how a lack of institutional and educational support is doing a collective disservice to procurement leaders and the discipline as a whole.  Philip Ideson recently spoke with Nishish Saxena, Head of Terminals Procurement, India and Middle East, at Maersk, about his personal views on why procurement is so often undervalued as a strategic partner. In this episode, they discuss:  The evolution of procurement’s value creation potential beyond supply chain and cost management How educational institutions can help establish procurement as a critical strategic business discipline and stop the perpetuation of misconceptions about their value potential The core skill set procurement needs to strengthen their capabilities and elevate their brand Links: Nishish Saxena on LinkedIn  

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

In this four-part special series, host Philip Ideson speaks with members of the LavenirAI team about the current and future impact of AI on procurement. In each episode, they explore key aspects of the topic to prepare procurement for the changes to come, and for the changes that are already here.  In this fourth and final episode in the series, Philip Ideson speaks with Clive R. Heal, Founder and CEO, and Bill Michels, Chief Commercial Officer, both from LavenirAI, to bring all the concepts discussed in the series together and consider the overall impact AI is and will have in shaping the future of procurement.  Key topics include:  How AI will change procurement-stakeholder and procurement-supplier relationships The rise of virtual reality, augmented reality, and conversational AI in procurement How procurement can embrace a new AI-powered reality Links: Clive R. Heal on LinkedIn Bill Michels on LinkedIn [POD] Special Series: AI-Empowered Procurement  

In this four-part special series, host Philip Ideson speaks with members of the LavenirAI team about the current and future impact of AI on procurement. In each episode, they explore key aspects of the topic to prepare procurement for the changes to come, and for the changes that are already here.   In the third episode, Philip Ideson is joined by Bill Michels, Chief Commercial Officer at LavenirAI, to talk about how procurement can leverage automation to be more successful. Key topics include: Embracing automation to achieve next-level efficiency and stronger data sets Stronger predictive analytics, forecasting, and planning through automation The rise of data scientists and automation specialists as key players in procurement Links: Bill Michels on LinkedIn [POD] Special Series: AI-Empowered Procurement  

Bill Michels, Chief Commercial Officer at LavenirAI, joins the podcast to discuss the impact of automation on procurement and the skills needed for success. They cover topics such as the most valuable skills for procurement, where to invest in skills development, and the impact of AI on job functions and hiring.