What’s been happening in the world of procurement?

Here’s your weekly digest of all-things procurement from some of the best industry sources on the web. Aren’t we good to you?

The last week has seen stories on the issue of carbon reduction in Belgium, the ‘rebirth’ of the US Manufacturing industry, and questions asked over the obsession of cost when it comes to procurement marketing.

Eyes down for all the news:

Skills for Procurement (USA)
• Ardent Partners’ Procurement Staff Competency Matrix developed with CPOs has identified a number of competencies for procurement professionals
• Cite ‘Leveraging Technology to Drive Business Value’ as one of the high important competencies from a CPO point of view

Read more at CPO Rising

Brand Procurement (UK)
• CPO of Rexam, organisation based in London, says that individuals should develop their own procurement brand to get ahead
• Alex Jennings offers 5 tips for developing your brand including ‘learning on the job’, ‘engaging with the business’ and ‘surrounding yourself with good people’

Marketing Procurement – ProcureCon Marketing (UK)
• Debate at ProcureCon Marketing highlighted that too many people are still focused on cost when it comes to Procurement Marketing
• Speakers proposed a different view that the primary focus should be working with the right people
• Diageo CPO also told delegates that cooperation between procurement and marketing was essential due to the complexity of marketing procurement
• Kevin Parke, indirect procurement director for Coca Cola Enterprises, also stated that procurement needed to look at the relationship in terms of adding value, rather than cost and price

Carbon Reduction (Belgium)
• AB InBev have pledged to cut carbon emissions in its Logistics operations by 15% by the end of 2017
• This will also save the organisation up to $200m

Read more at Supply Management

U.S. Manufacturing (USA)
• Much of the political conversations in the USA have stated a ‘rebirth’ of the US Manufacturing industry
• However, both Forbes and the New York Times have argued that the ‘rebirth’ is more of a hoax than reality
• The reality is more that this is a balancing of the industry after years of work moving to China and low cost companies

Read more at Harvard Business Review

Business Highlights
• Supplier Standardisation in Procurement – best practices outlined
• Improving the outcome of Government IT Procurement – success factors can include engaging the market early and developing a cost/outcome focused program IT strategy
• New paper available from Spend Matters on getting the most out of your procurement analytics

Read more at Spend Matters