Art of Procurement

Brian Bancroft, the Vice President of Direct Procurement at The Coca-Cola Company joins me today as my guest on the Art of Procurement. The diversity of our conversation today matches the depth and breadth of Brian’s career. Brian has enjoyed multiple VP of Procurement and CPO roles at companies such as Kellogg's and Coca-Cola covering both Direct and Indirect spend, while also having P&L and operational responsibility for other business segments. Listen in to hear Brian’s perspective on a wide range of topics, from how to be successful moving between Indirect and Direct procurement, why global sourcing strategies are often setting buyers up for failure, and how working with procurement as a stakeholder shaped Brian’s approach as a CPO.

Today, Kelly Barner (Buyers Meeting Point) and I announced that we have founded a new entity to meet the strategic needs of forward-thinking procurement leaders. Palambridge brings procurement experts, technology, and intelligence together and makes them available on demand via a virtual platform. In this bonus podcast, I go beyond the press releases to share more details on the Palambridge journey, our ecosystem, the reason behind the name, and much more!   After we ran The Procurement Revolution in 2016, we wanted to create a lasting force for change. After much discussion and consideration, Kelly and I realized that nothing held more value than the network of experts and partners we built in preparation for the event - and that became the foundation for Palambridge. Palambridge is the culmination of a 15-year journey working across the procurement and outsourcing value chain, as a buyer, client and service provider, and the delivery model is one that I first mapped out many years ago. As a procurement leader, I was always frustrated that my ability to access the subject matter expertise that I needed to solve difficult problems was directly related to my ability - or lack of - to make long term investments in hiring, consultants, contractors or outsourcing firms.  Palambridge solves this problem, by taking advantage of the platform economy.  Our model is built to seamlessly deliver procurement solutions that bring together the best of the best under an on-demand, subscription based, commercial model. What does this mean for the Art of Procurement? I am excited about what today’s announcement means for the Art of Procurement.  Log on today and you will see a new site design with upgraded search capabilities.  But that is just the start.  I launched the Art of Procurement as a way of giving the procurement profession a voice, a way for us to work collectively to increase our impact on the organizations we serve. However, my ability to grow and expand the site has always been limited by my own bandwidth. In addition to co-founding Palambridge, I am honored that Kelly will be joining me on the Editorial team of Art of Procurement as we seek to build and grow a multi-format procurement insights platform.  Stay tuned for more information!

How does the role of procurement differ in a mission driven organization? Today on the Art of Procurement, I explore how procurement can help save lives with Brian Kyle, Managing Director of Strategic Sourcing and Contract Management at the American Cancer Society. Kyle shares his experiences of moving from a profit-driven to mission-driven organization, and the journey that American Cancer Society has taken to elevate the role of procurement from a sourcing to category management led organization - at zero incremental cost.

Today on the Art of Procurement I am joined by Kevin Giblin, Head of Global Sourcing & CPO of data analytics company Dun & Bradstreet. In today’s episode, I start by asking Kevin for his perspective on creating value beyond savings, and towards the end of our conversation Kevin gives some great advice to procurement pro’s looking to stand out from the crowd. However, the purpose of our conversation is for Kevin to share a real-life example of how to significantly increase internal client satisfaction, and how reducing stakeholder friction on transactional activities leads to increased early engagement on more value added projects.

Pardon the interruption! It has been a busy couple of weeks here at Art of Procurement Towers, and so I wanted to share details of a couple of new shows that have launched is week.   For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/evenbiggerideas http://thismonthinprocurement  

Today’s guest was the first ever interviewee on the Art of Procurement.  All the way back in Episode 2, Tania Seary, the Founder of Procurious, as well as procurement consulting firm The Faculty and recruitment company The Source, joined me to talk about all things related to the importance of creating a personal brand through social media. In today’s discussion, we focus on a couple of topics that both intertwine with each other.  First, I ask Tania for an update on how things are going at Procurious, and we both share our own motivations for following the paths that we have – in fact Tania turns the table on me by asking a couple of questions on why I started the Art of Procurement. We then talk about the notion of Procurement 4.0, which will be the focus of the Big Idea Summit, and the impact it is set to have on the way that procurement organizations of the future will operate. Areas we cover in today’s conversation include: Why a complete and up-to-date LinkedIn profile is so important – both in creating your own personal brand, and when you are looking to recruit others. Tania’s perspective on how Procurious has evolved over the past 18 months. How the sources that procurement professionals can use to access knowledge, information and thought leadership changing. Why knowledge alone is no longer power for procurement pro’s. The topics are Procurious members most interested in reading about. Procurement’s role in helping leaders think – and then respond to – the unthinkable. How Tania defines Procurement 4.0. Why Tania is motivated to look outside of the procurement profession for insights and inspiration that will help us to continue to grow. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/BIL2017 

I have always sought out the Deloitte CPO Survey as a leading indicator on the health of the procurement function and just a couple of days ago, Deloitte published the results of their 2017 Survey.   Today on the Art of Procurement, I am joined by Lance Younger. Lance is the Head of Procurement and Sourcing Consulting in the UK, a Partner of Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations Practice, and a co-author of the report that accompanies this year’s survey findings. In today’s conversation, we go beyond the numbers to identify some of the trends, challenges and opportunities that look set to shape the procurement profession in 2017. Areas we cover in today’s conversation include: The headline findings of the report, such as: 79% of procurement leaders continue to focus on cost savings The growing importance of risk management as a procurement priority 60% of procurement leaders do not believe they have the internal capabilities to deliver on their vision The increasing role that procurement is playing in helping organizations deliver top line growth. The juxtaposition between more and more procurement leaders wanting to increase business partnership, while the value levers being used are increasingly short term. Key characteristics of high performing procurement organizations How procurement outsourcing is struggling to maintain traction, and why changing workforce trends and the increase in the freelance economy are providing procurement leaders with new, innovative, delivery models. Why some leading companies are moving back towards a decentralized procurement delivery model. The expanding nature of procurement’s role in an organization. Why the clock is ticking to transform procurement’s value proposition (and why we do have time yet to make the leap). What do C-suite executives look for from their procurement teams today. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/deloitte2017 

My guest today is Drew Polin.  Drew is the president of OpDecision, a company that helps organizations reduce their wireless spend, specifically without having to go through the upheaval of switching out their service providers. Our conversation today is split into two parts.  First, we talk about gainsharing. It's a commercial model that I have been very skeptical about in the past, as I think it can incent the wrong behaviors, and can become a way for service providers to take advantage of less sophisticated buyers. OpDecision uses a gainsharing model, but with a twist. I think that if you are considering any time of gainsharing engagement, you should listen in to Drew’s lessons learned. We then move into wireless, where Drew shares some of the tips and strategies that you can use to make an impact on your wireless spend here in 2017. Topics that we discuss include: • Tips on how to structure gainsharing engagements so that they incentivize the right outcomes, and result in win-win deals. • The major areas of wireless spend, and how the category is evolving • How wireless carriers make their money in 2017. • Top pain points for out of control wireless costs. • Why international wireless costs are set to plummet. • Supplier dynamics in the US wireless market and the impact that has on pricing. • Why you are leaving money on the table is you only review and agree wireless pricing as part of your contract negotiations. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/wireless2017 

Today’s Art of Procurement interview is a real treat.  It is chock full of actionable insights on how we can position our careers, and our organizations, to fully take advantage of digitization and its impact on what, and how, we buy. My guest is Bill Huber.   Bill is an active participant in the procurement community and I have followed his career for some time.  Bill has worked as a practitioner – most recently as Chief Procurement Officer of Wachovia - as a service provider as head of IBM’s procurement outsourcing offering - and as a consultant and advisor.  Today, Bill is a Partner at Information Services Group (ISG), responsible for Digital Platforms and Solutions. Areas we cover in today’s conversation include: Has Bill’s experience as practitioner, service provider and advisor changed his perspective on the procurement value proposition? Why many procurement organizations have become the enemy of differentiation. What procurement can do to have maximum impact on an organization. Why changing metrics matters – especially to those companies that achieve real transformation… and where procurement can start. What does “digital” really mean? What will the impact of digitization on what and how we buy? Will technology render much of procurement redundant, and where should we focus to change our value proposition? How can procurement align with the digital economy:? New ways of segmenting spend, so that you can focus on what is truly material. Options for accessing capability, so that retained teams can focus only on what makes their business a competitive advantage. Rethink contracts and contractual SLA’s to ensure they are fit for purpose and incent all parties to focus on the delivery of outcomes. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/billhuber

“We never put our own priorities first. If I save money and diminish my stakeholders ability to succeed, then I am counter productive and they are not going to use me again.” – Greg Antoniono, Anthem Today on the show, I am joined by Greg Antoniono.  Greg is the Sourcing Director for Marketing at Anthem, one of the giants of the US Health Care industry Over the course of the last eight years, Greg has taken his marketing procurement group on a journey from having very limited influence to being a key partner with a direct line to the Chief Marketing Officer. In today’s show, Greg and I discuss the key steps and learnings that he, and Anthem, took on that journey. Areas we cover include: The major steps that enabled Anthem Marketing to become a trusted partner to their business stakeholders. The importance of executive level support. Why you should never put your own priorities first. Why Greg believes why products or services should not be immediately labelled as commoditized when they historically may have been so. The biggest disruptions impacting marketing stakeholders at the beginning of 2017. Why Anthem embraces small businesses and start up’s – including making direct investments – as a way to identify and facilitate supplier-led innovation. Greg’s biggest learnings on the journey to date – including the need to evolve to remain relevant, align, and recognize where you can add value. For more information, visit: http://artofprocurement.com/anthem