Art of Procurement

In this episode, AOP Host Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner (AOP Content Director and Owner of Buyers Meeting Point) discuss their major take-aways from March's news, industry topics and podcast interviews. In March, Louis Bastone (Indirect Category Manager at ASML) talked about making the move into procurement from another function or later in one's professional career. Sammeli Sammalkorpi (co-founder of Sievo) provided some grounded advice about AI, making clear that if we want it to generate real results, we have to apply it wisely. Finally, David Loseby (author, Soft Skills for Hard Business) reminded us that as long as people are still at the heart of business, we need to be aware of our choice of language, their perspective on decisions, and the impact of small decisions compounded over time. Don't miss out on upcoming opportunities to connect with us in person at ProcureCon, Ivalua NOW, Ariba Live and the upcoming SIG Summit. We also have two AOP Live sessions scheduled in April, one with Kris Koneru at Infosys and one with Anthony Clervi at UNA. Make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to receive notice once those events are open for registration. This month's discussion topic comes from a Harvard Business Review Article: 'Digital Transformation is Not About Technology'. It reminds us that our technology may have changed, but implementation and adoption challenges remain the same – especially for organizations that are trying to significantly change and improve their operational capabilities.

In a era when we emphasize the importance of 'soft skills' in the face of the hardest business challenges, the human element is impossible to ignore. While most of us tend to focus on developing our own interpersonal skills (or the absence of desired interpersonal skills in others), an equally important element is behavior. What are people doing and why? If we can understand behavior, we are in a far better position to deliver results and build sustainable relationships. I'm joined today by David Loseby, FAPM, FCMI, FCIPS Chartered, FRSA - CPO of Aquitaine Strategy Limited, Global Board of Trustees Member of CIPS, advisor and author of 'Soft Skills for Hard Business' (2018). He has spent 25 years at the senior executive/director level driving value and change through procurement, organizational transformation and change management in the public and private sectors. As David explains, the importance of remembering what while we all expect others to exhibit 'rational' behaviors, rationality is in the eye of the beholder. In cases where we think others are acting against their or the enterprise's best interests, it is likely that we either do not have access to the same information they do, or that they are interpreting that information differently than we are. Getting to the root of that disconnect is the most effective way to address unexpected behaviors and achieve alignment.

Automation can only be as good as we program it to be. If we want innovative, industry-leading support from emerging technologies, we need to be informed about the potential applications of AI and machine learning. I'm joined today by Sammeli Sammalkorpi, Co-founder of Sievo, in a discussion that was driven by the engaged audience that joined us for February's AOP Live session. We gathered questions in advance and fielded spontaneous ones during the event rather than wading through a conventional slide-driven talk on AI use cases. One topic everyone kept coming back to was how to know when you are ready for an investment in AI and whether procurement is a good use case. According to Sammeli, there are an increasing number of examples of how AI and machine learning add value in procurement. They include spend classification, capturing supplier information from public sources, and parsing the key terms from lengthy, complex contract documents. Automation can be implemented as a pilot project or an enterprise-wide effort, and it can improve legacy processes as well as parts of the business that have been deliberately re-worked to leverage the unique advantages of AI.

We often discuss the impact that procurement talent has on current results and the role it will play in determining how our function evolves in the future. The procurement community is vibrant, diverse and defined, but we need to remember that some of our best future team members are currently either in college or working in other functions. How we represent ourselves to them will determine how soon and how willingly they join our ranks. I'm joined today by Louis Bastone, Indirect Category Manager for ASMC, a manufacturer of chip-making machines in the semiconductor industry. 9 out of 10 times when you ask someone how they ended up in procurement, their answer involves some an unexpected career twist. Not Louis. He took procurement courses in college while pursuing a degree in Integrated Supply Chain Management. In this interview, Louis shares the role that creativity, enthusiasm and influence have on performance and job satisfaction as well as our elevation from tactical to strategic work. He also provides interesting insight into the entrepreneurial appeal of working in procurement and how newcomers can balance an affinity for their adopted function while not losing the critical edge of a broad, cross-functional point of view. As Louis explains, we're all on a journey. How far we get is mostly a matter of perspective. His advice is to focus on the professional experiences you want to have rather than the title you're hoping to get.

In this episode, AOP Host Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner (AOP Content Director and Owner of Buyers Meeting Point) discuss their major take-aways from February's news, industry topics and podcast interviews. In February, Andrew Daley (Edbury Daley) described the importance of conquering risk aversion when we scope out and fill open positions. Jens Hentschel (FIVIS Partnership) reminded us of the danger of "toiling away" at a tactical level while missing the big picture. Finally, Matt Clark (Corcentric) described the positioning challenges being faced by accounts payable organizations as well as the company's recent acquisitions: Source One Management Services and Determine. Don't miss out on upcoming opportunities to connect with us in person at ProcureCon and Ariba Live, or the latest on the AOP Live schedule – including the free download on Building a Procurement AI Game Plan based on February's session with Sievo. This month's discussion topic was driven by the findings of The Hackett Group's 2019 CPO Agenda Report: Building Next-Generation Capabilities. The existing gaps between what procurement believes is important from a skills development perspective and what the enterprise values (and why) may be a quick read, but it deserves a lot of thought.

The Accounts Payable team play a key role in the success of procurement. The data that they extract from supplier invoices determines the accuracy of our spend analytics (and therefore our strategic insights) and the capture of the cost savings we claim (and thus procurement's ROI). Today's guest on the show is Matt Clark, President and COO of Corcentric. Corcentric's research shows that, despite the importance of Procurement and Accounts Payable alignment, the vast majority of groups still operate in silo's. And this is costing a typical company up to 60% in savings leakage. In today's conversation, I seek to better understand what keeps an AP Leader up at night, and how a procurement leader can translate this understanding a more collaborative relationship that elevates the impact of both groups. We recorded our discussion just a couple of days after Corcentric entered into an agreement to purchase procurement SaaS provider Determine. In our interview, I also ask Matt to share details behind Corcentric's strategy to continue to grow their end-to-end procurement capabilities.

Recruiting and strategic sourcing actually have a lot in common – even beyond the role that risk appetites play in decision making. In both cases, the sooner you get a specialist or expert involved, the better stated your requirements will be, and the better the outcomes you can achieve. It can also be hard to break free from historical approaches to meeting needs, whether that means escaping the pull of an incumbent supplier or looking beyond a traditional candidate profile. I'm joined today by Andrew Daley, a founding Director, and leader of the procurement practice at Edbury Daley, a recruiting company specializing in the spend management, spend analytics, payments and supply chain finance markets. Andrew has shared his talent and recruiting insights with us in several AOP pods, including Episode 8, The Strategies & Tactics You Need to Secure Your Dream Job in 2016, and Episode 76, The Rules of (Procurement) Attraction. In this interview, we discuss how the risk-averse nature of hiring managers is limiting the potential impact of procurement organizations and why our role definition and hiring processes need to be rethought.

We're all positive that digital automation is the right way forward for procurement, but why? Are we pursuing progress for its own sake or to achieve an expanded range of procurement contributions? Put more simply, what do you plan to do with the time freed up by smart automation? I'm joined today by Jens Hentschel, Founder and CEO of THE FIVIS PARTNERSHIP, a consultancy and training company based in London. With the FIVIS team, Jens focuses on the importance of customer-centricity in procurement transformation and skills development. According to Jens, much of procurement is missing the big picture – toiling away in tactical isolation when a mindset shift is critically needed. Rather than trying to carve out a bigger role by taking on more tasks, Jens advocates for procurement to make an investment in meaningful connections. While we know the raw materials being purchased, if we do not also understand the needs of the end consumer, our impact is limited. In this interview, we discuss why customer centricity is so important, and why it is also so difficult and likely to be overlooked by 'too-busy' procurement teams.

This month, AOP revives and reimagines 'This Month in Procurement' as an informal monthly discussion of podcasts, news and trends. In this episode, AOP Host Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner (AOP Content Director and Owner of Buyers Meeting Point) share their secrets for surviving the unceasing onslaught of procurement content and discuss their major take-aways from the month's podcast episodes. In January's podcasts, we heard from Charlotte de Brabandt and Yannick Blattler about generational differences while Sarah Scudder addressed entrepreneurship and category expertise and Joanna Martinez gave us positive food for thought that is much needed in today's disruptive world. January also brought news of an innovative new approach being implemented by the State of California: Procurement Innovation Sprints. Will this change allow procurement to focus on objectives rather than specifications in the supplier evaluation process? Only time will tell.

We constantly read about disruptive change affecting companies and entire markets. The source of that disruption is always positioned as the hero - but what about the other characters in each of those stories? What if you are living through change that is not of your own making? I'm joined today by Joanna Martinez, Founder of Supply Chain Advisors, LLC and author of the new book, A Guide to Positive Disruption: How to Thrive and Make an Impact in the Churn of Today's Corporate World. Joanna is hardly new to Art of Procurement. She has appeared with me twice before, in Episode 59, 'An Introduction To Value Based Procurement' and again in Episode 66, 'Where To Look To Generate Procurement Driven Value'. Between those two conversations and the one you'll hear today, there is no denying that Joanna's vision for procurement (and, in fact, life as a whole) extends far beyond tactical methods and measurements. In this interview, we discuss the difference between change and disruption, look at the simple ways you can make a positive difference in your own career, and face the fact that each and every one of us must learn to "embrace the churn".