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AI in supply chain automation is gradually reshaping how core functions operate, particularly in procurement, warehousing, and logistics. Key Insight: The use of AI in supply chain automation is producing tangible benefits across procurement, warehousing, and logistics.
Most of the business networks were hollowed out by venture capitalists or purchased by opportunists. ” My problem is that we move through these hype cycles with little accountability for spending and with a major opportunity cost to not redefine work. Ontological frameworks enable constant learning and policy adaptation.
Enterprise procurement leaders are under more pressure than ever—juggling cost control, compliance, supplier risk, and internal complexity, all while trying to modernize outdated systems. AI, automation, and generative tools are redefining efficiency, allowing procurement teams to move from reactive to proactive decision-making.
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?
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.
Supply shortages resulting in empty shelves or parking lots of WIP inventory represent a spectre causing supply chain leaders to reconsider supply chain inventory practices. Opinion of just-in-time (JIT) as a practice has taken a battering and inventory is rising. Is supply chain inventory the problem?
If you’re evaluating procurement technology or exploring ways to drive more value from existing systems, chances are you’re looking beyond tactical fixes – you want a smarter, scalable strategy. Misaligned priorities across finance, legal, and procurement create friction that delays decision-making and reduces impact.
Deflationary pulses are important to understand in our current environment of widespread inflation and a recent commitment to tighter monetary policy to reign it in. I did a little digging to find out the specifics about excess inventory, the stated causes, and the potential implications. This talk of deflation caught me off guard.
This year supply chain leaders will celebrate thirty years of progress in supply chain management; but we have not made progress on one of the funamentals: inventory management. I think that it is time for us to take the litmus test and ask the hard questions, “Have our practices impacted days of inventory? I want to believe.
In May 2025, one in seven home-purchase agreements fell through resulting in the cancellation of 56,000 purchase contracts. Ask a procurement or transportation professional if they have a good demand signal and expect a laugh. A negative FVA increases cost, inventory, and risk. The ripple effects are pervasive.
Retail returns occur when a customer returns the purchased items to a seller in exchange for a refund, store credit, or a similar product. Returns come with plenty of challenges around logistics, inventory, and predicting volatile sales trends. 84% of buyers read the return policy before making an online purchase.
Supply chain management typically does not fit very well with procurement, which is a challenge at the best of times, and can be a disaster in difficult times. It is now a matter of planning the procurement system and the supply management system outside-in and then look at the true demand to minimize the latency.
I know that your primary focus is procurement. If S&OP efforts were that effective, don’t you think that we would have made more progress against inventory levels, margin, and growth? In part, this results in increasing swings in inventory in response to shifts in consumer demand as one moves further up the supply chain.
PwC reports that almost half of assets under management are held by investment firms committed to decarbonization. It was a rude surprise when I learned it would cost $100 to fill the tank. On our budget then, this felt like a fortune and fueled my interest in energy policy. Proper disposal can cause downstream issues.
In the realm of efficient procurement management, understanding the various types of procurementreports becomes paramount. These reports serve as navigational tools, offering insights into different facets of the procurement process.
By embedding analytics across logistics, sourcing, and fulfillment, businesses gain the visibility and foresight needed to stay competitive.Analytics-driven leadership is no longer a luxury; it’s the foundation of operational survival in todays volatile business environment. Analytics allows organizations to move beyond intuition.
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.
Shoppers coping with inflation have shifted buying habits , purchasing fewer goods and cutting back on big name brands in favor of cheaper alternatives. Behind the scenes, CPG brands are strategically balancing cost cutting measures with supply chain investments to ensure preparedness for continuing market shifts.
I am currently doing research on inventory management. In the research, I ask inventory planners to define resilience. Of the twenty companies interviewed, only one can answer the question, “Do you have a good inventory plan?” No technology in the market measures inventory health. Today, this is not the case.
Inventory, in this time of uncertainty, is the organization’s most important buffer to protect against variability. However, organizations are not good at managing inventory. Cash-to-Cash Metrics. Cash-to-cash is a compound metric: (Days of Receivables+Days of Inventory)-Days of Payables=Cash Conversion Cycle.
Procurement is a complex and dynamic process involving strategic planning and several stages of execution, from sourcing to paying and reporting. Supply chain management, purchase requisitions and orders, budget management, and three-way matching – all these processes are integral to procurement as a whole.
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. Keep reading to learn: What Is ERP in Procurement?
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.
In today’s fast-paced industrial landscape, managing spare parts and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) inventory is more than just keeping shelves stocked. It’s about strategic optimizationensuring availability while minimizing waste and costs. Improve cash flow by reducing capital tied up in inventory.
In addition, the terminal operators changed policies for chassis ownership which complicated unloading. Truck drivers report that maintenance issues are a constant nightmare. Manufacturers build “control towers” but there no network dial tone between parties to enable prescriptive analytics and alerting.).
Rising costs, supply chain chaos, and economic swings put businesses under enormous pressure to protect their margins. According to McKinsey & Company, procurement accounts for 50% to 80% of a company’s cost base. That’s why organizations zero in on strategies to achieve procurementcost reduction.
Small companies may also lack the resources to create a dedicated procurement team for proper sourcing and supplier vetting. Group purchasing organizations can be the perfect way for these companies to increase cost savings. Learn how they work, their benefits and limitations, and how they fit in with procurement software.
How will the policy be executed? I find that in this world of the global multi-national that procurement processes have become convoluted and increasingly complex. (In In my opinion, we have made procurement increasingly complex without adding value. How do they buy from you? Why does it matter to you? It is systemic.
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?
However, two decades later, there is still no technology solution to enable demand visibility or help companies use channel data to translate demand into an inventory, replenishment, or manufacturing strategy. The decline in inventory turns uses cash. My question is, “Why?” Background. Growth requires cash.
However, only 30% of CPOs claim they have achieved their cost-saving targets in 2023. One of the ways that procurement teams improve this figure is by tracking and improving the purchase price variance (PPV) metric. Why Is Purchase Price Variance Important?
They go over plans and analyze how they will affect inventories and distribution systems. They are in charge of making sure that any inventory shipping in and out of the department is handled with care and delivered in a timely fashion without unforeseen budgetary expenditures. Reports to upper management. Inventory Managers.
Procurement operations are no exception. In fact, 43% of GPOs that took part in the 2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey cited overall procurement risk had increased significantly as compared to 20% in the 2021 study. Keep reading to learn: What is an online procurement system?
Up to 62 percent want to purchase online and have the option of returning it in-store, and 47 percent want promotions and coupons available through their smartphone. Poor performance of new offerings leads to reduced profitability, reports McKinsey & Company. Maintain the “right” amount of inventory. GET YOUR COPY HERE.
More and more companies are acknowledging the importance of centralizing and optimizing their procurement operations. One of the ways to accomplish this is to establish a procurement team to streamline ordering by centralizing purchases and improving supplier relations. What are the duties of a procurement manager?
When it comes to the management of inventory in value chains, frustration abounds. Executive, after executive, lament, “They have purchased many technologies and sponsored many projects to reduce inventories, but they are not seeing results.” Inventory is the culmination of many business decisions.
Bowman, SupplyChainBrain The European Union is on the verge of rolling out a reporting regulation that promises to have a huge impact on businesses selling into the region. The DPP “represents a significant advance in product transparency and sustainability,” according to an EU report published in September of 2024. “As
Specific Business Process Support Areas This newest advanced AI technology aims to span all areas of the supply chain, to include procurement, manufacturing, maintenance, inventory management, sustainability, planning, and product lifecycle management.
The question arises: when to separate purchasing management tasks into an autonomous operational role and hire a designated professional? There is no universal answer to this question, as purchasing process, procurementpolicies, goals, and volumes differ not only in the industries but even from company to company.
Today, over 90% of companies have deployed ERP and APS, but as shown in Table 1, inventory levels have grown not decreased in over 80% of industries studied. And, while inventories in automotive have decreased slightly, this progress is primarily due to the shifting of inventory back to suppliers versus overall value chain improvement.
Disruptions like the pandemic, supply shortages, global trade barriers, high customer expectations and inflation all add tremendous pressure on the procurement process. Despite this, only 33% of businesses invested in procurement and sourcing technologies. Using ERP to improve purchasing transparency.
Category management is a procurement strategy that involves grouping similar products or services together into categories and managing them as a single unit. This approach can help organizations streamline their procurement processes, negotiate better deals with suppliers, and ultimately save money.
Subscribe Are Ghost Assets Haunting Your Inventory Control? This process involves tracking, managing, and optimizing hardware, software, and network components from procurement to disposal. By keeping tabs on each asset, organizations can improve efficiency, reduce costs, ensure compliance, and mitigate risks.
For some businesses – usually smaller or with a single-source purchasing flow – it may be sustainable to react to the immediate needs. However, growing organizations that face increasing complexity recognize the value of thoughtfully-planned and managed procurement. Office supplies would be an example of indirect procurement.
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