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Art of Procurement

Learn from Procurement Experts. Host Philip Ideson talks with thought leaders who share the trends, strategies and tactics that you can lever to elevate the role of procurement - and your career.
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Art of Procurement
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Now displaying: Category: procurement
Jun 21, 2021

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics.

 

For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data – data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage. 

 

In this episode, Kelly Barner and Magnus Bergfors, Global Business Director of Basware, discuss the evolving role of procure-to-pay in helping procurement satisfy business objectives while also improving the internal user and supplier experiences.

  • How to ensure that any P2P implementation or digitalization project delivers what the business needs over the long term
  • The barriers to supplier adoption and what additional requirements are being added through efforts to bring small and diverse suppliers into the enterprise supply ecosystem
  • How CPOs should approach P2P in the coming years, and how they should evaluate their success
Jun 14, 2021

The bi-annual Deloitte CPO Report has been a source of insight and information for procurement leaders for years. In the last report, released in 2019, the core topic was mastering complexity. Little did Deloitte - or the participating CPOs - know, the whole world was about to get a crash course in mastering complexity.

Ryan Flynn is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting and one of the co-authors of the 2021 CPO Report: Agility serves as the solution to an increasingly complex procurement landscape. Their research and the resulting report focus on top CPO priorities, talent, risk and suppliers management, and what allows procurement leaders to be “agility masters” in today’s complex business landscape.

Jun 7, 2021

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics.

For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage. 

In this episode, Kelly Barner and Pierre-Francois Thaler, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, discuss the different scopes, organizational models, and ways of tracking, certifying, and reporting on investments in sustainability.

  • The current state of sustainability initiatives and what large enterprises can do to scale their impact
  • How procurement can use metrics and scorecards to ensure that investments in sustainability are recognized from the end consumer to the boardroom
  • Whether risk mitigation is a natural outcome of sustainability programs and how technology can carry these efforts successfully forward into the future
May 31, 2021

Procurement has been swept up in nearly non-stop change for the last two decades, and yet, we continue to talk about the need for transformation? Is this due to their failures or their successes? In Conrad Snover’s opinion, it is a little bit of both.

Conrad Snover is the President of ProcureAbility and he was joined by Betsy Pancik, their Vice President of Customer Success, for a recent AOP Live session. They believe that how procurement is structured can either help them achieve overall business alignment and an improved customer experience, or can slow processes down and hold them back from delivering full value. 

In this AOP Live-based session, Conrad Snover and Betsy Pancik answer live audience questions about:

  • What a procurement operating model is and how that aligns with procurement’s organizational structure
  • The evolving requirements of procurement talent and how the available skill sets may need to change during and after transformation 
  • Which transformational concerns can be addressed - and even advanced - by selecting the right procurement operating model
May 24, 2021

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics.

For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage. 

Every two weeks between April and July 2021, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner will speak with senior level executives at Sievo, riskmethods, Basware, supplier.io, and EcoVadis - companies at the forefront of the procurement data revolution. Listeners can also download the ebook behind the podcast series in the Links section below.

In this episode, Kelly Barner and Neeraj Shah, CEO of supplier.io, discuss the new sense of urgency many companies have around supplier diversity programs and the data management requirements that creates.

  • The diversity-specific transformation journey many (especially large) companies have taken and what has changed
  • Procurement’s responsibility to the suppliers that are brought into the bid process through supplier diversity outreach
  • The role that spend analytics data plays in advancing supplier diversity and tracking progress against states goals, both internally and in publicly-released reports
May 17, 2021

The book “Profit from Procurement: How to Add 30% to Your Bottom Line by Breaking Down Silos” was recently published by Alex Klein, Simon Whatson, and Jose Oliveira of procurement consultancy Efficio. To mark the official release, they invited AOP Founder and Managing Director Philip Ideson to moderate their virtual book launch. 

In this podcast conversation, the co-authors discuss the key themes of the book which was written to help inspire action and provide a roadmap for readers to increase profitability through the levers of strategic procurement. 

The key themes of the book highlighted and discussed by Philip, Alex, Simon, and Jose are:

  • Why challenging times - such as a pandemic or a global recession - represent the best opportunity for procurement to draw attention to their capabilities
  • The importance of using the right language when procurement talks to the business, aligning our thoughts with their objectives
  • How procurement can address ‘value beyond savings’ while still acknowledging that savings is important
May 10, 2021

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics.

For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage. 

 

Every two weeks between April and July 2021, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner will speak with senior level executives at Sievo, riskmethods, Basware, supplier.io, and EcoVadis - companies at the forefront of the procurement data revolution. Listeners can also download the ebook behind the podcast series in the Links section below.

In this episode, Philip Ideson and Heiko Schwarz, Founder and CEO of riskmethods discuss the complex web of data, automation, and human skills that are required to proactively monitor and manage risk worldwide from one central location.

  • Finding the optimal balance of automation and human ingenuity in the fight against risk
  • The two sides of the ‘risk management coin’ that can help procurement better monitor risk and build out enterprise resilience
  • The multi-tiered conversations that every corporate leadership team needs to have (and have again) to establish their detailed risk appetite
May 3, 2021

Marketing has always been a difficult category for procurement to bring under management. In the earliest days, it was placed beyond our scope, and more recently, the lack of alignment with the business around ‘value’ versus savings has created an impasse. As a result, marketing operations spend (including branded merchandise, print, and point of sale) have fallen victim to fragmentation, maverick spending, and underdeveloped category strategies. 

 

In this episode, which is based on a recent AOP Live session with Phil Schoonmaker, CEO of SupplyLogic, we discuss the current state of the marketing supply chain and how procurement can assess their baseline environment using both quantitative and qualitative data.

  • How procurement may have been missing out on the opportunity to have a greater top line impact by defining the marketing spend category too narrowly
  • The importance of achieving total price transparency across suppliers for specific product and service categories
  • How Phil sees leading procurement organizations giving control back to requestors in the marketing category
Apr 26, 2021

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics.

For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage. 

Every two weeks between April and July 2021, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner will speak with senior level executives at Sievo, riskmethods, Basware, supplier.io, and EcoVadis - companies at the forefront of the procurement data revolution. Listeners can also download the ebook behind the podcast series in the Links section below.

In this episode, Philip Ideson and Sievo Co-Founder and CEO Sammeli Sammalkorpi discuss procurement’s expanding mandate from the business and how - with the help of quality data and analytics - they can deliver above and beyond expectations:

Why it has been so difficult up to this point to get a solid grasp on procurement analytics

The evidence suggesting that humans and automation will be working in partnership for a long time

How procurement can manage and benefit from the data ecosystem that surrounds them

Apr 19, 2021

At Mastermind LIVE Spring 2021, Art of Procurement had the opportunity to bring together a visionary panel of procurement leaders to discuss the urgency of the present moment and what can and should be done to support corporate growth. The panel included: 

  • Adam Brown, Senior Manager of Procurement Transformation & Head of the Procurement Garage at BT
  • Amy Fong, Vice President, Sourcing and Vendor Management for Everest Group
  • Keith Browning, Managing Director, Supply Chain Management at Delta Air Lines
  • Keith Hausmann, Globality’s Chief Revenue Officer
  • Reunan Varene, Global Head of Procurement at Dropbox

Facilitated by Philip Ideson, this discussion-based session was focused on procurement’s sense of urgency as we pursue a growth agenda, the need for supplier collaboration and mutually beneficial third-party relationships, and the strategies and technology that will empower procurement to scale. While we heard some reflection on the challenges of the past year, most of the discussion was forward looking, taking procurement’s capabilities today and building on them.

In this episode, which was recorded live at Mastermind LIVE Spring, Philip asked the panelists about:

  • How they each define growth - both in terms of how they are developing procurement’s capabilities and in how that empowers them to contribute to the corporate top line
  • Ways procurement can better communicate and demonstrate their top-line, value-oriented investments to the rest of the business
  • The absolute criticality of partnering with suppliers while seeing them as much more than suppliers: current customers, potential customers, and/or sources of differentiation and market expertise
Apr 12, 2021

Procurement’s organizational structure is as important as the processes and technology they use. Their operational model has to position them to deliver what the company needs most - requirements that may not remain fixed. When the business needs something different from procurement, their structure will have to evolve as well.

Robert Bonnar is currently the Global Procurement Director at SHV Energy, but he has worked in procurement in a number of industries. As he puts it, “I did cars, drugs, booze, and now energy.” But even that colorful description doesn't capture the breadth of his experience. He has also focused in a number of procurement disciplines, including direct and indirect procurement and supplier-enabled innovation.

In this conversation, Robert speaks with Host Philip Ideson about:

  • Whether it is possible to bring innovative or high-performing suppliers from one vertical to another, and what procurement needs to do to help them succeed
  • His perspective on how to manage the complex puzzle of qualitative KPIs, quantitative KPIs, and data quality
  • How procurement can use access to information to ease the burden placed on stakeholders and shorten the time to results
Apr 5, 2021

According to the Procurement 2021 Pulse Check by WNS Denali and ProcureCon Europe, only 9% of CPOs are satisfied with the current level of stakeholder alignment in their organization. 

9%. In 2021.

I was so surprised by that number that I decided to dedicate this episode of the podcast to it.

In this podcast, we’ll explore the differences between what the alignment journey and the corresponding operating model changes mean for small, mid-sized, and larger companies, as well as the solutions to be considered. As you listen, think about how aligned YOUR procurement function is with the business and what you might do to address it.

Mar 31, 2021

In today’s fast-paced world, imagery is just as important for communicating meaning as the words we use. That is why the Mastermind LIVE Spring logo includes a clock with its hands set at 5 minutes until midnight. 

This is a moment for urgency - but not panic. The business world needs leaders, and the AOP team firmly believes that those leaders are currently in the ranks of the procurement profession. Stepping up to lead is a serious decision, not one to be taken lightly. That is why we have built a very purposeful agenda for our spring event, one that will inspire you, help you feel the strength of the community, and prepare to take action.

In this special podcast episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner and joined by Gravitas Detroit President and Founder Jan Griffiths, who will be the MC for Mastermind LIVE Spring on April 13th and 14th from 10am - 1pm ET.

Listen in and you will hear:

  • The AOP leadership team’s perspective on this specific moment and how we plan to supporting you and your journey through the speakers, panels, and topics we have chosen
  • Which sessions or speakers Jan, Philip, and Kelly are most looking forward to and why
  • How to access all of the sessions, either live or on demand, for free through the rest of the month of April
Mar 29, 2021

Profitability is more important than ever — and procurement leaders are more strategic than ever. Procurement is no longer just a cost center, a spender of money made by others in the enterprise. With the right tools and methodology, procurement can maximize every dollar of profit and discover every dollar of cost savings, positioning them to be critical drivers of the bottom line today - and into the future..

Adam Brown is Head of the Digital Garage at BT Procurement and a Senior Transformation Manager. In this podcast, based on an AOP Live session produced in partnership with Suplari, Adam talks about the expansive opportunities for value creation available to CPOs and procurement teams who have the vision to seize them. In response to questions from a live audience, Adam also explores cross functional collaboration, technology integration, and the measurable impact procurement can have on shareholder value.

He answers questions such as:

  • If procurement is trying to think forward into the future, how can we build a roadmap that helps us reach the outer extent of what’s possible.
  • How can procurement leverage data visibility to support our internal influence without becoming a roadblock for others that need access to our data?
  • What is the best way for procurement to reconcile the speed required for innovation and the typical (slow) pace of change seen in most large enterprises?
Mar 24, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Simon Geale, Managing Director of Suppleye.

Mar 23, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Jody Rowe, CEO of Promitheia.

Mar 22, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Adriano Garibotto, co-founder of Creactives

Mar 18, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Gregg Antenen, Executive Managing Director of Vistio.  Unlike the other providers in our series Vistio is not directly focused on procurement, but is a tool that procurement can help our stakeholder use in the call center category.

Mar 17, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Stephanie Lapierre, Founder and CEO of Tealbook. 

Mar 16, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Anders Lillevik, Founder of Focal Point.  

Mar 15, 2021

Today’s podcast is part of a special two-week series, our second annual sponsored StartUp and Growth Series, where we aim to shine a light on the early stage and growth companies who are changing the way that leading procurement teams are driving outcomes that truly align with corporate objectives.

We will ask an entrepreneur from seven different companies questions about what gap in the market their solution addresses, how they differentiate their technology and what their tools look like in action.  It’s a great way for you to get to know those who are leading the way.

In today’s episode, I speak with Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO of HICX.  

Mar 8, 2021

Good negotiation skills are fundamental to procurement. They allow us to maximize value while simultaneously building resilient, low-cost supply chains. But now that procurement is moving towards collaborative partnerships with our suppliers, many are concerned that reducing direct competitive pressure will inadvertently allow higher pricing.

Cost transparency allows procurement to balance collaboration and negotiation. By focusing on the primary material and service cost drivers of what is being negotiated, and using trends and should cost modeling, it is possible - and effective - to have fact-based pricing discussions with suppliers. Procurement can keep their prices in line with supplier costs and preserve the relationship by acknowledging the need to allow them overhead/gross margin and building both into the model.

In this podcast, based on an AOP Live session, Rod Sherkin, Founder and President of ProPurchaser and a former CPO, answers live audience questions about:

  • Whether procurement needs to take their relative size and buying power into consideration when using should cost modeling to manage a spend category
  • If there is an approximate or ballpark overhead margin percentage procurement can use when building a first-pass should cost model
  • How to introduce should cost models with incumbent suppliers where they have not been applied in the past
Mar 1, 2021

If you are relatively new to the field of procurement, there is a good chance you’ve never experienced an auction first-hand. With all of procurement’s focus on moving towards value and away from cost-only decision making, that’s understandable. Unfortunately, however, auctions are a valid tool in procurement’s vast toolbox, and in many cases we may be dismissing them - and their potential in a negotiation - without sufficient evaluation of the opportunity. 

Jacob Gorm Larsen is the Head of Digital Procurement for Maersk and the author of the newly published book, “A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement: How to Maximize Impact with e-Sourcing and e-Negotiation.” From his perspective, an auction is simply “an online, market-driven negotiation, based on total value and with commitment.” That’s certainly not something procurement should take off the table when the conditions are right.

In this conversation, Jacob and Host Philip Ideson discuss:

  • The history of auctions as part of the longer timeline of procurement technology development
  • How and when to use auctions to create maximum value for the business
  • How to improve communications with suppliers so that both parties achieve their goals and to promote the creation of a lasting relationship
  • The ways procurement organizations can structure themselves to ensure they get maximum ROI from their investments in technology
Feb 25, 2021

Traditionally, procurement has been focused on driving corporate profitability by putting pressure on suppliers, rationalizing specifications, and managing demand. While these strategies have delivered some benefits to the business, their diminishing returns came at the cost of procurement’s internal reputation. As procurement’s focus turns to top-line growth, they will have to change more than just their strategies and tactics before they can be successful.

This podcast is the last in a 4-part series focused on how procurement can contribute to efforts to restore corporate growth. In this episode, Host Philip Ideson shares why a focus on growth is so important to the future of the procurement profession before concluding the podcast series by sharing some of his key takeaways from the first three episodes.

In this episode, Philip wraps up the series by considering points such as:

  • Why procurement doesn’t need to fix how we are perceived, so much as we need to address the attitudes, styles, and behaviors that have led to that perception
  • How procurement can pivot to a focus on corporate growth, and what we need to understand about our organization before knowing which actions to take
  • The opportunity associated with a partnership between procurement and sales, and which corporate KPIs this will allow procurement to contribute to
Feb 24, 2021

The pandemic has caused a rethink of many past assumptions, from just in time inventory to offshored supply chains. Moving forward, leaders need to avoid jumping from one extreme to the other. Traditionally accepted priorities such as efficiency and cost containment suddenly must be assessed against the risk involved. Success will increasingly depend on how well organizations strike the optimal balance among such priorities.

This podcast is the third in a 4-part series focused on how procurement can contribute to efforts to restore corporate growth. In this episode we welcome Alex Saric, Ivalua’s Chief Marketing Executive. For over 15 years he has evangelized spend management, shaping its evolution and working closely with hundreds of customers to support their digital transformation journeys. 

In this episode we will look into:

  • What risk factors are most critical and how can procurement best manage them?
  • What strategies can best minimize the tradeoffs between risk and growth?
  • What can procurement / supply chain leaders learn from investors by taking a portfolio view of supply chain risk?
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