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Fragmented systems, rising cost pressures, and shifting risk profiles are making it harder than ever to manage procurement effectively. But what does it actually take to regain control and build a procurement strategy that’s both resilient and scalable? How do you begin developing a procurement strategy?
Fragmented systems, rising cost pressures, and shifting risk profiles are making it harder than ever to manage procurement effectively. But what does it actually take to regain control and build a procurement strategy that’s both resilient and scalable? How do you begin developing a procurement strategy?
As supply chains become more interconnected and risks more dynamic, traditional procurement tools fall short. AI agents offer a smarter, faster way to manage sourcing, risk, and spend across the entire procurement lifecycle. What’s the technology behind autonomous procurement agents? You may also have heard of Agentic AI.
As supply chains become more interconnected and risks more dynamic, traditional procurement tools fall short. AI agents offer a smarter, faster way to manage sourcing, risk, and spend across the entire procurement lifecycle. What’s the technology behind autonomous procurement agents? You may also have heard of Agentic AI.
In this type of environment, traditional procurement software and manual processes are insufficient – and many procurement teams are looking to artificial intelligence (AI) for answers. Key Takeaways Understand the potential impact of AI – including Generative AI & AI Agents – in procurement.
Enterprise procurement teams face growing pressure to deliver strategic value – managing supplier risk, ensuring compliance, and supporting sustainability – all without sacrificing speed or control. This blog explores the most common challenges in digital procurement and the capabilities that matter most.
A disruption at any point in the global logistics network including the average of 12 touch points from shipment packaging to final delivery can prove disastrous for profits, service levels, customer loyalty, and other key metrics. With the global e-commerce market predicted to reach $8.1 billion to $23.07
Procurement and supply chain management are often used interchangeably—but in practice, the lines between them can blur in ways that create real friction. Misaligned priorities, siloed systems, and unclear ownership can directly impact key performance indicators like cost savings percentage and procurement cycle time.
Traditionally, procurement has been a process weighed down by manual tasks, fragmented systems, and endless paperwork. Today, procurement is undergoing a transformation. While procurement teams have long worked to add strategic value, Artificial Intelligence (AI) amplifies their impact.
For most CPOs and CFOs, deciding on the right purchasing setup — centralized or decentralized — is no small task. Each model has its perks, and choosing the best fit can feel like walking a tightrope. Keep reading to learn: What is centralized purchasing? What is centralized purchasing?
The formula for OTIF is: Measuring a supply chain against OTIF metrics is a key strategy that helps decision makers attach a tangible value to the success of their fulfillment and allows them to determine key strategies. Establishing standard benchmarks for services and innovations in fulfillment centers is crucial in this context.
Advanced supply chain planning software leverages these probability distributions to optimize inventory targets, balancing service levels against carrying costs with mathematical precision. However, this approach ignores real purchasing behavior, such as customers buying complete sets of four tires.
Procuring transportation for freight is much different than any other procurement category. Transportation procurement needs to support both customer service and a company’s internal supply chain goals. One master of freight procurement is Kyle Masters. Procurement ran a request for proposal event.
Advanced supply chain planning software leverages these probability distributions to optimize inventory targets, balancing service levels against carrying costs with mathematical precision. However, this approach ignores real purchasing behavior, such as customers buying complete sets of four tires.
Next Steps: Start to model demand based on market data to align the organization on baseline demand. Resist the temptation to place deeper analytics on top of existing data models. Instead, rethink the model and the approach. Out of desperation, they turned to the use of descriptive analytics.
A majority of warehouses report labor shortages, and more than 50% cite this as a significant business challenge that is only worsening. For example, Manhattan Associates’ WMS now includes “Action Assist,” an AI-powered chat interface that helps floor workers access SOPs and diagnostics instantly.
Companies often push aside procurement compliance to focus on more pressing issues. No wonder—procurement often gets tedious and burdened with time-consuming processes. However, ignoring procurement compliance is like ignoring a ticking time bomb. Scroll down to find out: What is procurement compliance?
At each company, there is a relationship between the metrics of growth, margin, inventory, customer service, and asset strategy. For the purpose of this article, I will use Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) as the proxy metric to discuss asset utilization.) Understanding this relationship requires modeling. (A A Case Study.
Ivalua Spend Management Insights [ivory-search] 3 Powerful Ways Procurement will Drive the 2030 Saudi Vision Transformation May 30, 2023 | | Procurement Strategy by Sara Omer What is the Saudi Vision 2030 Program? Procurement and supply chain teams will play a crucial role in making this vision a reality.
Wikipedia In 2014, I was exploring methods to publish what is now the Supply Chains To Admire report. The use of orbit charts allowed me to see the patterns of performance at the intersection of metrics over time. We purchase data from Y charts. (A We have archived corporate reporting from Y charts for 1982-2023.
Businesses often use it in retail and purchasing. Category management isn’t just another procurement trend. It’s a way for companies to group similar goods or services (like IT infrastructure, facilities, or raw materials) and manage them holistically instead of handling every purchase in isolation.
Simply by searching for a pair of shoes within an intuitive user interface, users are given a seemingly limitless amount of choices each with prices, photos, measurements, and any other metric a shopper could desire. Worse yet, their responsibilities are far more important than purchasing a pair of sporty sneakers.
” At that time, the sales organization used more point-of-sale data than their competitors, they had an impressive and innovative IT team, and their supply chain processes were what I considered best-in-class. This week, the organization reported that net sales decreased 2 percent to $19.5 General Mills is an example.)
As an old gal, with over forty-years of supply chain experience, writing this report for ten years taught me many lessons. I find in the orbit chart analysis that 45% of companies in the report are unconsciously incompetent. For example, in Figure A, we share on orbit chart on how Sanofi is underperforming the industry.
Supply chain efficiency is the cornerstone of success and involves the effective management of processes, resources, and technologies from procurement to production, transportation to warehousing. In the automotive sector, manufacturers are simultaneously reducing inventory costs and delivery times.
What is procurement? In simple terms business procurement is the process of locating and acquiring goods and services from external sources for the business to use. Procurement activities include planning, sourcing, and negotiation, along with risk management, legal and value analysis. Procurement in 2021 and beyond.
She knew the company was innovative; after all, Coupa created a new software enterprise category: business spend management. This technology allows businesses to unify their procurement, expense management, invoicing, payments, sourcing, contract management, and spend analysis processes and reporting. What an opportunity!”
With the global market expansion and deepening supply chain complexity, the roles of procurement leaders have evolved from tactical to strategic. Nowadays, procurement departments not only focus on the day-to-day buying operations but also search for the most efficient ways to go about them. How often do purchases happen?
In this guide, we’ll explore what cost efficiency is, examples, and best practices on how cost efficiency can make your company more competitive and profitable in today's fast-paced economy. Keep reading to learn: Cost-efficient vs. cost-effective: What's the difference?
Data analytics can be applied to virtually any supply chain process, and analytics hold great value in managing retail supply chains. Defining retail needs is not an easy process, but data is king and can help companies sift through the needs and wants of customers, reports Arthur Zaczkiewicz of WWD.
Self-driving supply chains are an example. On the technology front, optimization is deeper, and the evolution of artificial intelligence enables more flexible sensing and modeling. There is no magic ball on design: the organization’s reporting structures vary by culture and size. Supply Chain Reporting Structures.
So argues Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight , a retail platform that uses AI analysis of consumer feedback to predict demand, determine pricing thresholds and model scenarios around, for example, differing tariff levels or supply chain bottlenecks. He adds that it’s no wonder that only 15% of U.K.
In recent years, the overall state of Procurement has been bolstered by increased proficiency, expanding engagement, and a growing direct impact on operations. And they’re not the only ones—other department heads are also increasingly budget-conscious, creating a new opportunity to partner with procurement for better budget management.
The award, based on beating the industry peer group on rate of improvement on the key metrics of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) while outperforming their peer group, is tough to achieve. The orbit chart below illustrates L’Oréal’s performance at the intersection of two metrics.
Let me give you an example. Improve visibility across the networks that operate in self-serving business models. For example, change the business models so that Ariba must interoperate with GT Nexus, E2Open with Elemica, MPO (Kinaxis) with Nulogy, etc. A purchase order changes many times and needs synchronization.
Within this setup, an ERP procurement module helps companies make purchases and manage suppliers. Numbers speak louder: According to Procurement Tactics’ top procurement trends in 2025 , 83% of CPOs prioritize digitization. Companies want to move beyond traditional methods and adopt a more innovative approach.
Regardless of what laws politicians enact, customers want their purchasing dollars to go to those who behave responsibly. So, what does this have to do with innovation? Climate-driven Manufacturing Innovation. Clearly, there’s a big opportunity to both cut costs and demonstrate environmental responsibility.
Examples include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Warehouse Management (WMS_ or Advanced Planning (APS). The IT taxonomy for visibility is supply chain analytics. As you implement supply chain analytics and use control theory with well-defined reference data with clear bands for control, process improvement ensues.
In earlier articles in this series on GenAI we have discussed its benefits and how it differs from other forms of artificial intelligence, as well as how in future these will converge to create highly sophisticated solutions, not least in procurement. Procurement, too, is vulnerable. Not the least of these are the cybersecurity risks.
I am a big believer in procurement getting involved as early as possible in new product development based on all the market knowledge available. The worst-case scenario is product engineering developing a new product, selecting a supplier and then telling procurement to get on with negotiation. How often do your purchase orders change?
The chief procurement officer (CPO) is a senior executive responsible for developing and implementing their organization’s procurement policies, procedures, and strategies. Making sure these purchases are of high quality and compliant with relevant laws and regulations also falls under the CPO’s responsibilities.
following the reporting of fourth-quarter results. This is despite the strengths of the recent purchase of Optimity. For me this is a good example of why traditional supply chain planning techniques are not sufficient in a volatile world. In short, there is no substitute for visionary leadership. Manhattan Associates.
In the midst of the seeming chaos many brilliant minds have been working in overdrive to develop innovative solutions to many of obstacles that lie in our way. These are just a few of the countless and amazing innovations we hear about on a daily basis. At the same time, start a frank discussion about which metrics matter right now.
” The industry is in a groupthink, largely missing the opportunities for breakthrough innovation. Almost two decades of reporting. For example, Monster Beverages beats Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, while Celanese outperforms Dow Chemical. Demand latency is the time cycle to translate a channel purchase to an order.)
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