Managing Relationships with Suppliers through Brexit Wins Loyalty and Trust for Procurement

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

It came as a shock to the world, when on June 24, 2016, citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union putting an end to a  40-year relationship. Known as “Brexit,” the aftermath of this step showed its mark in the money market, with the pound falling against the dollar. The repercussions of Britain’s exit from the EU, will be felt worldwide, as it’s the fifth largest economy in the world.

My Purchasing Center digs deeper into the much talked about exit of the UK, with Bindiya Vakil, Founder and CEO of Resilinc in a new podcast in which she examined the supply chain implications of Brexit.

Today we live in a globalized world where merchandise is multi-national and raw materials and parts used to make them originate in nations all over the world.  “For example, a typical car may have parts originating from as many as 30 countries,” Vakil says. “The rules and regulations that govern international trade are a critical element of supply chains and of particular interest to procurement professionals who manage these complex relationships.”

The Brexit vote could have quite an effect on the overall supply chain impacting each and every aspect of it.

As one of the more globalized economies, the UK makes up 4% of world GDP. In 2014, was the ninth-largest exporter ($503 billion in 2014) and the fifth-largest importer ($802 billion in 2014). As such, some serious issues  could arise for companies headquartered or manufacturing in the UK

From a procurement angle, more than 50% of the UK’s $500 billion in exports are bound for the European Union. With present account shortfalls at record levels, this fundamentally implies that the UK-based supply chain is profoundly reliant on access to the EU single market to sustain its vigorous financial health.

Qualms about the pound could bring procurement challenges, which will vary with a company’s dependability on the resources they source from  the UK. Deutsche Bank has cautioned that the pound could drop further, and threaten inflation levels may get to a 25-year high of 5.2%.

Suppliers manufacturing within the UK that don’t import raw materials, but export finished goods should be able to offer price reductions to customers.   At the same time, those that import materials and export may suffer monetary losses and falling gross margins as they may end up paying more for imported goods due to currency devaluation.

No wonder Brexit poses challenges. Acquiring affordable skilled labor is another concern. It may become more costly to hire, further squeezing margins for struggling businesses. As Vakil sees it, limited movement of labor is expected to play a large role in the availability of cheap and affordable labor and is a deterministic factor in Reslinc’s prediction of the decline of manufacturing activity within the UK. “In coming months, we expect most global companies with manufacturing facilities in the UK to consider plans to relocate operations in anticipation of upcoming labor shortages” she says.

On the other hand, UK exporters may no longer enjoy fast clearing through Customs.

“Brexit put trade deals into question, and what this means for many companies, is that their total landed cost will now be substantially different, if higher tariffs get imposed by the UK as a non EU member,” Vakil says.  “Once the new rules are implemented, in the mid-term, logistics professionals could expect greater customs clearance timeframes on products exported to the EU.”

Brexit Opportunities and Risks for Supply Chain

The vote presents opportunities and risks for supply chain. Key risks being the following:

• Component prices going up.

• Landed cost of products increasing medium term with new tariffs going into play.

• Cost of labor and other essentials increasing in an inflationary scenario.

• Suppliers going into financial distress.

Brexit may also open doors for supply chain and procurement professionals who understand the supplier base and supply chain mapping. For instance, some may now find EU markets more accessible, with minimal tariffs, as low currency rates might prove to be very advantageous to exporters. They can use this opportunity to lock in lower prices with suppliers, if possible and applicable, particularly for high spend components originating in the UK, Vakil says.

Wealthy companies with the financial wherewithal to withstand a few years of uncertainty are likely to find that many basically solid and vigorous UK businesses are abruptly excellent acquisition targets while the currency is  so favorable. Many Chinese, Indian and U.S companies on expansion sprees across Europe could benefit.

In summary, one must have thorough knowledge of the supply chain to sustain resiliency. To track performance, companies must know their tier 1 suppliers located in the UK and UK-based sub-tier suppliers they depend upon. Vakil suggests procurement professionals keep an eye on U.K.- based supplier and sub-tier supplier operational and financial metrics,  watching for early indicators of problems, particularly weak financials.

For critical suppliers, Vakil suggests preparing robust extenuation strategies and timeframes to implement them. Furthermore, “a very significant discipline in possibly rough times is to invest in strong supplier relationships: Resilient suppliers equate to continued supply. Customers who work closely with suppliers during tough times win their loyalty and trust”.

Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast, Brexit Risk and Opportunity: Understand Supply Chain

Eye to External Important Part of Procurement Role

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Each year, ProcureCon and My Purchasing Center honor six talented procurement professionals striving for outstanding sourcing and supply management results with the Excellence in Purchasing Indirect Categories Awards. The EPIC Rising Star Award recognizes a procurement professional who is new to the field of indirect and shows exceptional potential to grow in his or her career.

This year, the EPIC Rising Star Award goes to Kendra Lisak, Sourcing Manager at Amway. Lisak recently spoke with My Purchasing Center in a podcast interview. Lisak, who has a degree in supply chain management from Michigan State University, credits her education (that included three internships) with helping her to choose a career in indirect procurement. With Amway for nearly three years, Lisak currently supports sourcing’s partners in human resources on the temporary labor spend category.

She also serves as strategist for the global leadership team within procurement. In our interview, she shared three challenges facing procurement professionals responsible for sourcing temp labor. The first is the conflicting needs and wants of many individuals in manufacturing, planning, IT on Amway’s mile-long campus. The key, Lisak says, is ensuring the managed services provider is contracting with the right suppliers to meet the needs of the business. She also points out the need to track ever changing government regulations which may influence the company’s pay, position in the marketplace and contractual relationships.

“As you may know, the Affordable Care Act and minimum wage increases introduce complexity to the sourcing process,” she says. Another challenge–and possibly the biggest–is educating many individuals on the sourcing process for temporary labor. “I think of myself as the liaison between what Amway needs and how a supplier can rise up to meet those needs,” Lisak says. In addition to her demanding role at Amway, Lisak is actively involved with the Grand Rapids community including participating in Start Garden, which helps fund start-up companies.

She’s attended the Michigan Small Business supplier conference to, in her words, “understand what small businesses are available to us and how we can support the Michigan economy. “Having an eye to the external by bringing new ideas to Amway is an important part of my job in procurement,” she says. Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast, 2016 EPIC Rising Star Talks Temp Labor Sourcing Challenges Also see the My Purchasing Center article, 2016 EPIC Awards Recognize Indirect Procurement Value

– See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/mro-indirect/blogs/eye-external-important-part-procurement-role/#sthash.IocVyHcX.dpuf

One Version of Truth Enhances Supplier Relationship Value

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Contract life-cycle management provides procurement with one version of the truth, and, as such, helps organizations to see the real value of relationships with suppliers.

So says Samir Bodas, CEO of Icertis, in a podcast interview with My Purchasing Center.

In the podcast, Bodas recounts a list of challenges procurement runs up against as it partners with IT on certain corporate initiatives, such as contract lifecycle management. These are:

Fragmented systems and data
User adoption
Lack of integration
Lack of insight from analytics
Bodas also discusses the benefits gained from implementing and using contract lifecycle management systems by providing a quick sketch of principal processes used by organizations: sourcing, contracts and procurement. Contract management, he says, “bridges the fragmentation and brings together data across the enterprise.”

Finally, Bodas offers a series of success tips for procurement professionals:

Think of CLM globally.
Make sure the CLM system is easy to use, adopt and deploy.
Make sure the CLM system is integrated and receives support from the c-suite.
Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast interview, Contract Management Systems Bridge Fragmented Data.

-See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/technology/technology-blogs/one-version-truth-enhances-supplier-relationship-value/#sthash.ZF8G4BIP.dpuf

Payment Term Discount Calculator App Signals Green to Go

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Cost & Capital Partners, a management consulting firm, has developed a Payment Term Discount Calculator App for Apple and Android devices.

In a new podcast interview with My Purchasing Center, Tom Bokowy, Senior Partner, describes the new app and how it works.   First about the company: Cost & Capital Partners works with companies to help improve the results of negotiations and execute category strategies, Bokowy says. “I founded Cost & Capital seven years ago because I saw an opportunity for organizations to work strategically on supply chain challenges to generate value.

This allows me to combine strategy development and team development, my two favorite components of project work.”  Early payment discounts is a hot topic for procurement and supply leaders today and has been trending lately. CFOs have in full swing started realizing the value of strategic sourcing which implies that the procurement function is no longer seen as just transactional, but also a vehicle to help the organization achieve corporate monetarist goals.

CFOs and supply chain leaders apprehend that working capital and thus shareholder value can be directly affected by the procurement function. “We have seen many companies with initiatives related to extending payment terms in order to reduce working capital,” Bokowy says. “The problem is that most suppliers push back, or find ways to increase pricing to make up for the impact of the payment terms.

During negotiations, we have seen procurement struggle with evaluating a payment term and discount offered by the supplier.  The challenge is in identifying not only the cost savings, but also the impact on working capital.” Bokowy explains that as he watched buyers struggle with how to evaluate payment term discounts offered by suppliers, Cost & Capital Partners developed a tool for mobile devices that can be used to see not only the cost savings benefit, but also the impact on working capital from selecting these options.

  How it works: Procurement professionals put in the discount presented, the change in payment term days, the internal cost of capital as provided by corporate treasury, and the bill amount. The tool then mechanically let them know if the deal makes economic sense, with a green result for positive and a red result for negative. Bokowy adds that a CFO or treasurer would evaluate the deal the same way.

As Bokowy sees it, in negotiations, the side with the best and most accurate information typically gets the better deal. This comprises of intelligence about the supplier and industry, understanding cost drivers and access to tools like the payment term calculator to provide feedback immediately during a negotiation. Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast interview, In Negotiations, Accurate Information Results in a Better Deal

– See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/technology/technology-blogs/payment-term-discount-calculator-app-signals-green-go/#sthash.rPRcbqIS.dpuf

State of the Supply Chain: Cost Focus and No Chief Officer.

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Gone are the days when managing a supply chain to be cost effective was enough. Now, supply chains are big, global, distributed and occasionally disrupted.  That’s why manufacturers could use a Chief Supply Chain Officer, says Greg Kefer, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at G.T. Nexus, in a new podcast interview with My Purchasing Center.

As Kefer sees it, the only way manufacturers can have a strategic advantage is to have a leader with a holistic view of the supply chain to drive that vision.  Kefer is speaking to the G.T. Nexus State of the Supply Chain: A Research Report on the Top Issues Facing Industry Executives for 2016 and Beyond. Of the 250 manufacturing executives surveyed, 76% say their companies don’t have a representative from the supply chain in the c-suite.  “This tells me they’re still very cost focused and more exposed to pain when things go sideways,” he says.

“As disruptions crush them, and they miss opportunities to move into new regions, competitors will take share.” Other survey findings are less disappointing to Kefer, who expected to–and was able to–confirm anecdotes that show more manufacturers are outsourcing their supply chains. And the reason they outsource? It’s less costly.  “When you talk about supply chain, it’s really about working with a network of suppliers, transportation providers and financial institutions and all these different players in the world and coordinating that to be successful,” he says.

Going forward, Kefer suggests procurement and supply chain management professionals at manufacturing companies look beyond costs because relationships with suppliers are strategic and long term. “It doesn’t do a buyer good to force suppliers to drive costs down so they can’t afford to put sprinklers in their factory,” he says. “They don’t want to be a part of that.” On technology, Kefer notes his disappointment that supply chain visibility didn’t score higher with survey respondents.

“It plays into how we respond to a disruption,” he says. “An ability to see is a first move. Without it, you’re guessing and you can’t afford to do this.” Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast interview, Why Companies Need a Supply Chain Officer

– See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/logistics/blogs/state-supply-chain-cost-focus-and-no-chief-officer/#sthash.dAmxDfJD.dpuf

Adobe Initiative Moves Procurement from Pen and Ink.

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Adobe recently unveiled Adobe Document Cloud as a contemporary way for people to cope with documents they care about at office and home. Unknowingly everybody takes into use an enormous amount of paper in their routine lives in numerous tasks ranging from school permission slips, health insurance forms and more importantly procurement’s complicated documents and contracts. “So, at Adobe, we set out to change how people manage all that paper,” Conrad Smith, Senior Director of Global Procurement at Adobe, tells My Purchasing Center in a new podcast on Adobe Document Cloud, and how it affects procurement professionals.

Document Cloud is built around the latest version of Acrobat—Adobe Acrobat DC—and is designed to act as a repository for all documents. It lets people create, review, approve, and track documents across all their devices—at their desks and on their phones. It also possesses a feature called eSign; an e-signatures offering, so people can sign and send documents from any device, on the fly.

Moving on to the latest buzz–e-signatures, a partnership with Dropbox, and innovation delivered to subscribers of Acrobat DC. While talking about this tremendous initiative with My Purchasing Center Smith said that Adobe has introduced some significant new capabilities for subscribers. “We made eSign more powerful than ever, with features like workflow automation for business processes, such as high limit procurement card requests and approvals,” Smith said.

As he sees it, it’s quite helpful when people sign an agreement with their own name or signature as it feels like more of a commitment to follow the rules than when they simply click ‘accept’ or some other button. Adobe has also incorporated digital signatures into eSign, which allows users to verify a document’s authenticity and integrity. It allows users to confirm the identity of each signer and that the document hasn’t been altered in transit.

Talking specifically about Adobe’s milestone partnership with Dropbox to make it easier for users to work with PDF files in Dropbox, Smith said: “We’ve integrated our applications so that users can access and act on PDF files stored in Dropbox directly from within Acrobat and Acrobat Reader, and save them back automatically to their Dropbox accounts. And Dropbox users can open, edit and save PDF documents in the Adobe apps directly from Dropbox services and apps. It’s desktop only for now, but we’ll be adding these capabilities and more to iPhones and iPads soon, and Android devices next year.”

Another benefit of an Acrobat DC subscription is new innovations and enhancements for subscribers on a rolling basis. As promised, Adobe delivered features like tabbed viewing, more “Photoshop magic” with camera-to-PDF conversion, and more to Acrobat DC subscribers. This initiative of Adobe means that procurement can now easily move from a pen, ink and paper process to a fully integrated contract process. Almost every person or business involved in drafting and implementing contract documents reaches a point where they convert it to PDF and send it. Inevitably it’s printed, signed, scanned and emailed back, where it might be printed, signed, scanned and archived. Now procurement can skip all that administrative headache and work the whole process electronically. “

Smith exclaimed, “For us at Adobe, we implemented eSign at the tail end of our contracting process re-engineering.  We invested huge efforts to take as many days as possible out of the process.  We had spent almost a year sorting through various challenges and had cut the contract process in half.  When we shifted to eSign, we were able to remove 10-20% from the process time.”   Conclusively, the new document cloud is completely revamped and includes some very cool efficiency tools like ‘send and track’ and eSign to name a few.

Acrobat is a great app and fill and sign allows quick and easy transition from whatever paper you might have to a quick/easy electronic version than can easily be emailed to your kid’s teacher, coach, or whoever sent that paper form. If procurement teams aren’t already using electronic signatures they are missing a great opportunity to quickly improve their operations with minimal cost.

Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast, Adobe Procurement Leader Tests New Products     – See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/technology/technology-blogs/adobe-initiative-moves-procurement-pen-and-ink/#sthash.4HpqnQrY.dpuf

Procurement “Very Important” in Product Design at Emerging Companies.

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Ask Pat Meagher, Executive Vice President of Product Realization at Riverwood Solutions, about the role of sourcing and procurement in the product development process and he doesn’t hesitate to respond.   “Riverwood Solutions and our experience shows sourcing and procurement are a very important and integral part that needs to be enacted during the design phase,” says Meagher, whose former role was acting CTO at Flextronics.

In a podcast interview with My Purchasing Center, Meagher offers a quick example of what typically happens: An emerging company puts together a prototype using parts sourced from local suppliers then expects a large manufacturer in China to build the product. The manufacturer will not be familiar with any of the suppliers and will have to resource all the parts and requalify testing to make sure the parts from the suppliers in Asia are equivalent. This adds up to time and duplication from having to revise the product.

“At Riverwood Solutions, we like to drag supply chain discussions all the way up to the design process with real sourcing guys to make sure engineers use real sources for materials in products from day one,” he says. “That’s fairly obvious to us, but you’d be surprised how often it happens, especially in emerging companies. Everyone thinks it comes later. We think it has to come from the get go.” In the podcast, Meagher describes the company’s capabilities as well as his role working with emerging companies to navigate complexities of the product life cycle and help speed time to market.

He also shares his thoughts on what he sees as a trend: A return of hardware manufacturing. “Start-ups are building products that are combinations of hardware, software, firmware and other system elements,” he says. “There’s lots of activity, different from what we’ve seen in the past 10 years.” That is, new products introductions which came mainly from the software industry.

Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast, Hardware is Back! Procurement Role Integral to Design – See more at:

http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/electronics/blogs/procurement-very-important-product-design-emerging-companies/#sthash.esyT4t79.dpuf

Xchanging Exec on the HfS Procurement-as-a-Service Blueprint.

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

In essence, procurement functions have been distilled in most establishments, contrary to the organizations severely operating the old fashioned way; reliant heavily on photocopiers and abundant filing cabinets of day by day fading contracts in order to get the job done.

The procurement subcontracting market has advanced knowingly since 2013 since Horses for Sources propelled its first Blueprint, casing 14 service providers, The firm recently published its Blueprint on Procurement as a Service, which looks at how the market and service provider capabilities have evolved since 2013, and evaluates 18 different service providers on elements of execution and innovation.

This new report looks very meticulously at the fruition of procurement services from its legacy outsourcing roots in lift and shift mega-deals, together with strategic sourcing consulting, to the progressively available As-a-Service solution models offered nowadays. The latest HfS Procurement-as-a-Service Blueprint describes the transition of service providers into the As-a-Service economy, Doug Fullenkamp, Vice President of Business Development at Xchanging, tells My Purchasing Center in the podcast, What the Blueprint on Procurement as a Service is All About. “Horses for Sources is a research firm focused on global business services, digital transformation and outsourcing, and publishes in-depth research called Blueprint Reports, which look at various business practices and innovations,” Fullenkamp says.

“Xchanging was promoted this year from a ‘High Performer’ to the ‘Winner’s Circle’ in recognition of the recent transformation in our procurement business, and our transition to an ‘As-a-Service’ provider. I know you spoke briefly with my colleague, Dave Bowen, about this transformation a couple months ago.” To listen to the interview with Bowen, download the podcast Xchanging Introduces Procurement as a Service.

Talking specifically about Procurement as a Service, there has been a major shift in the business landscape over the past few years in companies in the hunt for services over products – some people are calling this the “as a service economy.” The procurement industry is no exemption.

Procurement as a Service fundamentally syndicates people, technology and knowledge as a managed service. Procurement is profoundly relied upon to supply bottom line upshots, but it habitually faces exterior compressions like globalization, skills gap and nonexistence of capability. Procurement as a service can aid, dismiss and accomplish some of these stresses, since PaaS solutions can be attuned reliant on where a company wants supplementary provision. PaaS also helps commerce manage the intricacy of the procurement process and relieve interior staff of its load, consenting them to emphasis on their core business goals, Fullenkamp adds.

Planning ahead, procurement mavens should be equipped for superior technology implementation all around. This is the cloud era, and on-demand technologies are being espoused at an unbelievably debauched rate by businesses of all sizes. To elaborate on this, Fullenkamp says, “At Xchanging, for example, we’ve already invested millions in the development of MM4 – a seamless procurement platform that combines sourcing, purchasing and intelligence in a single, end-to-end procurement solution. The technology is available to customers on a PaaS revenue model. The investment has already been made – customers simply need to share the benefits. PaaS makes it easy for the customer, and as long as vendors can continue to make the job of procurement less cumbersome and more productive, I imagine the demand for PaaS will only continue to grow from here.” Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcasts: What the Blueprint on Procurement as a Service is All About Xchanging Introduces Procurement as a Service.

See more at: http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/technology/technology-articles/xchanging-exec-hfs-procurement-service-blueprint/#sthash.3N5dlBeY.dpuf

Perspective on the New Amazon Marketplace for Procurement .

Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Amazon recently introduced a marketplace for suppliers. The company says Amazon for Business offers suppliers benefits of e-commerce expertise, visibility for product catalogs and access to customers. My Purchasing Center reached out to one of our sources to learn what the new marketplace might mean for procurement.

Amazon is leveraging relationships with suppliers, offering procurement a one-stop shop so to speak, Paul Noel, Senior Vice President, Procurement Solutions at Ivalua, tells My Purchasing Center in the new podcast interview, “What the Amazon Business Marketplace Means for Procurement.” Making the marketplace available to suppliers will help reduce their costs and their increase sales, all good things, he says.

For procurement leaders who don’t have a procure-to-pay system with good controls over how internal customers purchase indirect goods and services, the marketplace may work, Noel explains, especially since Amazon “has some generic controls and various payment options.” Procurement teams using a P2P system probably don’t want to give up the customized controls they have currently, he says.

The Amazon system may not offer this. Instead, it offers a one-stop shop for the long tail of suppliers. “If you are small or mid-sized and have not invested in your own system, Amazon offers one through their supply-side approach,” Noel says. “If you do have a system, Amazon can help with the long-tail suppliers.”

Noel points out another implication: Procurement leaders may see Amazon as an option over some P2P systems.  For those looking for a solution that offers a supplier network, “you may see an alternative in Amazon that’s more viable because they have more underneath the hood and they have a much larger reach with their suppliers,” he says. Listen to the My Purchasing Center podcast, What the Amazon Business Marketplace Means for Procurement, and let us know what you think!

How to Get to Cleverer Purchasing Decisions

By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi

Effective and efficient automation of supply management and Procurement functions can yield fruitful results. Automation facilitates supply management and procurement professionals to make wise decisions through enhanced tools and visibility. It is definitely a reliable substitute for time consuming and costly manual tasks.

ISM Services Director for the Institute for Supply Management and ADR North America Jim Barnes talks about technology and automation of supply chain and procurement and the interesting trends that follow in an interview with My Purchasing Center.

Accurately forecasting is almost unreal in today’s volatile market. Procurement and supply chain organizations are immensely pressurised with the burden of providing purchased materials and assemblies on time, all the time, in order to meet customer demands. Faced with sometimes uncertain market forecasts; procurement frequently over buys requirements creating excess inventories. And here comes the role of technology in the day to day responsibilities of supply management professionals.

Technology has traditionally been a productivity enhancer by taking paper transactions and digitizing them which can help professionals to buy as per need and avoid surplus inventories. “This has occurred in Procure-to-Pay processes for many years and recent trends of supplier portals are furthering the progress of P2P applications, Barnes says.   “Today, the ability to leverage emerging technologies such as Big Data, 3D printing and the Internet of Things (IOT), is giving brand new insights into supply chain performance improvement and the ability to make step changes to manufacturing efficiencies. All these emerging technologies can have a positive bottom-line impact.”

Technology has so far changed the way supply management professionals accomplish their objectives to a great extent. When it comes to old-fashioned procurement and payables jobs, some specialists believe that nearly half of those jobs will evaporate in the next five years due to the automation of Procurement and Supply Management functions. The significant skills for supply chain professionals, and organizations in general, to exhibit now and in the future will be far more than merely processing requisitions and purchase orders. Organizations will need to focus more on how their procurement and supply chain professionals can add value to their respective supply chain.

Barnes further tells My Purchasing Center that, “Skills such as business acumen, sales and operations planning and supplier relationship management are critical right now to the ISM clients we serve. These are not new in supply chain and procurement but there is a greater emphasis on them now.  “For example, when it comes to business acumen, one of the questions that came up is whether the focus would be more on skills needed before you start working in the profession, or skills you should be gaining after starting in the profession that will help your team moving forward,” he says.

Sales and operation planning is always going to be important because this can lead to cost savings. And with better relationships with suppliers, procurement can improve its collaborative efforts with them to provide better value. The companies that work to improve their suppler relationship can be light years ahead of the competition.

When asked what a does a future marked with 3D Printing has in store for procurement, Barnes says that, though 3D printing impacts the conventional procurement process, it is likely that shipping, trucking and logistics in general will continue to be just as important as it is today.   For some companies will find that 3D Printing is the answer to components or tools that have a long leadtime or unpredictable availability.

But the problems that 3D Printing creates in intellectual property rights cannot be ignored. Besides that, quality is one of the biggest concerns. “You can also lose your intellectual property easily when the design is distributed prior to manufacturing, resulting in a hit to your brand,” Barnes says “Any perception of poor quality can permanently damage a long-term relationship with a client.” Big Data is another innovation that’s affecting supply management.

For Big Data, it is about the capability to leverage in-memory computing to analyse plant performance in a fraction of seconds; and then applying those insights regarding best practices across the enterprise.  The challenge is that many companies struggle with cleaning up the data and governance going forward, so sorting through a mass of garbage can produce less than optimal results.

In an industry where profits are tight and manifold departments often requisition items numerous times a day, it completely makes sense to automate procurement and supply management. An automated solution helps to reduce costs, save time, improve accuracy, enhance supplier performance and ensure compliance. The consequence is more streamlined manoeuvres, cleverer purchasing decisions and augmented control over the supply chain. Download the My Purchasing Center podcast, Deciphering 3D Printing for Supply Management Professionals