Purchasing professionals are constantly being tasked to do more with less. There is an ever-growing savings goal and an unmanageable number of suppliers/categories to be responsible for, in addition to improving long-standing contract savings and service-levels, benchmarking results on current contracts and overall market trends, and satisfying end-user stakeholders’ priorities, unique needs and goals. Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) can narrow the scope of priorities for procurement as they take on and deliver on the most important value drivers.
⏰ Total Read Time: 7.5 minutes
Ara Arslanian was named a 2020 Pro to Know by Supply and Demand Chain Executive for the sixth time overall. Arslanian was chosen for his thought leadership in supply chain management and dedication to expanding the scope of the group purchasing organization (GPO) model to deliver more effective solutions to direct and indirect procurement groups.
Myths pervade our existence. Some people think you need to drink eight glasses of water every day. But in reality, you should just drink when you’re thirsty. Others think that if you shave your hair, it will grow back thicker and darker. Nope, that’s not actually something that happens.
The point is, when you fall victim to a myth, you might find yourself making some questionable decisions.
Technology is responsible for bringing about many of the changes the manufacturing industry is currently experiencing. Each day, it's becoming more evident that business processes will soon be primarily technology-driven and that technological trends will impact different sectors of manufacturing and supply chain management.
Below are nine of the major technological innovations and practices that are predicted to redefine commerce and greatly impact the future of supply chain planning – as well as logistics and supply chain management and the manufacturing industry.
Network with your purchasing peers to uncover immediate, strategic returns and increased performance.
Procurement often finds that they are working in a silo, disconnected from their stakeholders and lacking prudent visibility into overall company goals. When the opportunity to connect with others in the purchasing world arises, procurement can learn tools and best practices that will help guide them out of their silo so they can operate more efficiently, spend more strategically, increase returns and perform at a higher level.
Learn how one Supply Chain Executive transformed his supply chain in less than a year; effectively securing and improving his company's competitive position through supply chain performance visibility.
How PepsiCo is edging out the competition by strategically developing programs, groups and a supply chain centered on women.
Finding suppliers that check all of the boxes on paper is imperative, but that's only the first step in establishing strategic supplier relationships. These are the types of partnerships that will align with your company's supplier improvement strategies. However, they only develop if you take the time to make sure they function for all parties involved.
This is why managing supplier relationships is a gradual process of nuanced relationship development and maintenance.
“There is a new technological institution that will fundamentally change how we exchange value,” says Bettina Warburg during her Ted Talk on blockchain and it’s growing importance in trade and the economy. Blockchain is the latest way we as a society are trying to lower uncertainty about one another so that we can exchange value. As we’ve evolved throughout history, we’ve built formal institutions like banks, governments, and corporations, all to facilitate trade with confidence. Blockchain is the next generation of enabling trade with increased levels of assurance.
