Art of Procurement

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 Tarmo Saidla, Co-Founder and CEO of ProcurementFlow, a collaboration and work management platform founded in 2019. Discussion highlights include: The challenge of combining consistent purchase approvals and oversight with buyer convenience and speed While a lot has changed in procurement, the need for a centralized team and streamlined processes has not abated How, much like with Excel, companies are unlikely to ever get distributed buyers to stop relying on email for requests and approvals

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 Stephany Lapierre, CEO of Tealbook, a master supplier data management platform founded in 2015.  Discussion highlights include: The glaring investment between procurement’s investment (to date) in technology versus the investment in the data that runs through that technology. How increasing the quality of supplier master data can actually reduce the friction associated with changing procurement software providers. Why machine learning may help procurement make the leap from understanding who their suppliers are to recognizing the total value those suppliers can offer.

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 Edmund Zagorin, the Founder of Bid Ops. Bid Ops is a sourcing enablement platform founded in 2018. Discussion highlights include: Where the majority of time is invested in a sourcing process, and how that can be streamlined without sacrificing results Separating ‘the market’, which is effectively a generalized abstraction, from the effective market that determines a buyer’s true optionality How the length of a negotiation can either favor the buyer or the supplier

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 Arvid Fredin and Nils Lundgren, the team behind Spendency, the self-proclaimed “easy to use” spend analysis solution founded in 2015.  Discussion highlights include: Why ‘ease of use’ is both the most important and the most difficult sell How their belief in democratizing access to advanced analytics is reflected in Spendency’s reflects the commercial model and company structure  The advantage associated with embedding process-based thinking into a tool so that workflows do not have to be rolled out heavy-handedly to users

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 Alan Holland, the Founder and CEO of Keelvar. Founded in 2012, Keelvar provides the automation procurement needs to achieve speed, while also increasing adherence to best practices. Discussion highlights include: The power and resource efficiency of combining optimization and automation The critical differences between intelligent automation and robotic process automation (RPA) The business case for applying optimization technology to large or analytically complex spend categories

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 Paul Gurr, Managing Director at Provalido, an online platform for tracking savings that was founded in 2013. Discussion highlights include: The strategy (and feasibility) of taking a ‘best of breed’ approach to building a procurement technology portfolio The continued need for procurement to emphasize and invest in clean, high quality data The direct connection between tracking and process/purchasing transparency

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 Sam Jenks, Chief Marketing Officer at Kodiak Hub, a supplier relationship management platform founded in 2015. Discussion highlights include: Why supplier insight has to be based on both robust scorecards and data analytics. That (believe it or not) Excel continues to be Kodiak’s biggest competitor. How this is the time – even according to well-known consulting firms and CTOs – to be an early adopter and partner with a startup

Despite their reliance upon legacy systems, manufacturers are all about efficiency. This, combined with the pain caused by those same legacy systems, is finally starting to build momentum for procurement digitalization – especially among larger manufacturers. Sundar Kamak is the Global Head of Manufacturing Solutions at Ivalua, and his background in manufacturing is largely concentrated in the aerospace and automotive industries. In this podcast, he shares his perspective on the move towards digital procurement in the manufacturing space as well as the overall trends he has observed. Sundar provides additional insight on topics such as: · The limitations of ERP systems in the face of inter-enterprise collaboration projects · Going beyond balancing cost, quality and supply assurance to drive competitive advantage · Closing the gap between product development and strategic sourcing, especially in the case of direct materials · Continuing movement away from the use of Excel in favor of increased speed and collaboration

If 2019 was the year of emerging technology hype, then 2020 holds the potential to be the year that we turn our attention to the work that needs to be done to derive concrete value from that technology: blockchains included. In late 2019, Remko Van Hoek, Clinical Full Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Arkansas – Sam M. Walton College of Business and a Member of the CSCMP Board of Directors, co-authored a book titled Integrating Blockchain into Supply Chain Management: A Toolkit for Practical Application. He and his three co-authors were looking to combine the understandable enthusiasm for distributed ledger technology with the knowledge we have about emerging technologies of the past. Their goal: to provide actionable insight and realistic use cases. In this conversation, Remko answers questions about: The use cases he and his co-authors had the opportunity to study and what they learned from those leading companies The role of third party advisors in blockchain pilots and implementations How to increase the likelihood of success with a blockchain pilot project, including project scope, partner selection, and setting internal expectations

As we begin to wind down for 2019, Art of Procurement host Philip Ideson shares the three themes that are at the forefront of his mind when considering the health of the procurement function and the opportunities that await in 2020.