Art of Procurement

There are some categories of indirect spend - think pest control, waste & recycling, industrial gasses and equipment rental - that cost more to source than they offer in savings. Rich Ham, CEO of Fine Tune, calls those ‘nuisance expenses.’ For a combination of reasons, they take so much time to manage, and result in so little savings (once they have been sourced for the first time), that they serve as little more than a distraction for procurement teams trying to function more strategically. The uniform industry is valued at $16B annually, and 3 national players account for 55-60% of the revenue in the United States: Cintas, Aramark, and Unifirst. As regional and ‘mom and pop’ players in this industry are gradually being assimilated into the big three, procurement organizations are going to have to completely overhaul their approach to this category. In this interview, Rich provides insight into the unique approaches and opportunities associated with this specific ‘nuisance expense:’

It is safe to say that we currently find ourselves in unprecedented times. Some of us will be impacted by the spread of the coronavirus more than others, but the likelihood is that it will affect all of us in some way. At Art of Procurement, we are going to be at your side for the duration, helping you prepare for the ‘unknown unknowns’ with practical advice on how you can mitigate the worst of the impact and turn your response into a competitive advantage. To that end, we arranged for a short-turnaround Sunday morning podcast recording with Jan Griffiths. As the former CPO of a tier-1 automotive manufacturer, now the Founder and President of leadership coaching consultancy Gravitas Detroit, Jan has weathered her fair share of crisis and uncertainty. She has come through all of it strengthened and determined to succeed, and she shares her insights with us about how we can do the same.

Everyone wants to have a positive social impact on their community or industry, but doing so also has to be a sound business decision. That is something that Paul Polizzotto instinctively understands. It has fueled and inspired his 30+ years as a social entrepreneur. As the Founder and CEO of Givewith, Paul is combining his desire to have social impact with his knowledge of marketing and advertising to create value for buyers, suppliers, and the world. Rather than being a soft, ‘feel good’ type of initiative, the Givewith process and principles are based on hard data and environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) analytics. Paul and his team know that the value of social impact has to be precise and undeniable if companies are going to get on board, and so they have made that the backbone of their approach to B2B commerce. In this interview, Paul explains how B2B transactions that were going to happen anyway, can be leveraged for social good: Buyers continue to negotiate the very best deal they can get, as well as competitive non-price terms Suppliers use their ability to advance their customers’ sustainability objectives as a sales and collaboration differentiator And if you happen to have a few ‘objections’ that come to mind as a pragmatic procurement professional - you’re not alone. We asked Paul the tough questions as well.

In this episode, AOP Host Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner (General Manager of AOP and Owner of Buyers Meeting Point) discuss their major take-aways from February’s podcast interviews and share their point of view on a new topic. This month they discuss how to manage a healthy ‘breakup’, managing relationships, responsibilities, and results at the end of a project

According to the Cimpress corporate website, “We manage our businesses in a decentralized, autonomous manner so as to ensure we remain close to our customers, focused and entrepreneurial.” Now go back and read that statement again – this time as a member of the procurement team supporting such a collection of businesses. Evert Karsen is the Vice President of Global Procurement at Cimpress. From his office in Switzerland, he leads a team of procurement professionals that support Cimpress’ multiple autonomous brands, including Vistaprint, Easyflyer, and BuildASign. They don’t have a mandate to lean on with internal stakeholders, but they don’t have a savings target either. That combination of conditions has made it possible for them to deliver a wide range of value types and build a services-oriented relationship with the business.

You are probably familiar with some of these terms if you have ever participated in a complex contractual arrangement: arbitrator, mediator, certified deal architect, even the “wise persons committee.” All of these titles refer to objective third parties that are brought in to help resolve high-stakes situations. Kate Vitasek, a member of the graduate faculty in executive education at the University of Tennessee, and the creator of the Vested model, has recently co-authored a whitepaper that takes the concept of the roles above and modifies it to meet the needs of ongoing, complex third-party relationships. A “standing neutral” is a form of alternative dispute resolution. It is different than the roles above in that a standing neutral is brought in before the conflict occurs; they are part of a contract’s governance structure. They are neutral, and mutually approved by the parties to the contract. Kate provides background and case examples to show: How, when and why two (or more) companies might bring in a standing neutral to facilitate contract governance? What impact the standing neutral role has on the relationship associated with the contract. That using the right standing neutral under the right circumstances allows companies to proactively prevent conflicts and misalignment that could rob both parties of intended value.

Procurement can no longer turn a blind eye to bad data. If we are going to leverage our data for advanced applications such as AI, machine learning, RPA, etc. we have to address data quality now - without spending more time or allowing it to become more fragmented.  Joe Yacura is a former CPO of organizations such as Fannie Mae, Bank of America and American Express, and is the co-author of the 3rd Annual Data Quality and Governance Study in partnership with Dr Rob Handfield and the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) at NC State. 

In this episode, AOP Host Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner (General Manager of AOP and Owner of Buyers Meeting Point) discuss their major take-aways from January’s podcast interviews and announce the official launch of Procurement, Inc., the new Art of Procurement framework for repositioning procurement as a strategic services business.

Procurement has always been fertile ground for tech entrepreneurs. We have pulled together some of the most compelling – and potentially disruptive – procurement solutions for a Special Startup Series. We will ask each entrepreneur questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action. In this podcast, we interview Rowena Ludwig, Chief Marketing Officer of TraDove, a social networking platform built to match and connect business buyers and sellers and blockchain payment solution provider. Discussion highlights include: How blockchain tokens can be used to facilitate B2B payment transactions. The security and information storage implications of a B2B blockchain v. a traditional one. Why social network-based technology is the most efficient way for global buyers and sellers to connect.

Procurement has always been fertile ground for tech entrepreneurs. We have pulled together some of the most compelling – and potentially disruptive – procurement solutions for a Special Startup Series. We will ask each entrepreneur questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action. In this podcast, we interview Pierre Laprée, Founder of Per Angusta, a procurement project pipeline and performance tracking tool founded in 2012. Discussion highlights include: The importance of investing in - and building up - procurement’s internal credibility through detailed performance management tracking. An acknowledgment that procurement teams carry a heavy workload, often multiple projects at one time, including a wide range of task types and activities. Why the challenge of ‘savings’ needs to be addressed as a process by both procurement and finance, not as an issue with procurement’s value proposition.