Examine why the Process approach to Procurement and Supply Chain Management is one of the few untapped opportunities for profit improvement.

THE CASE FOR ACTION

The traditional measures of driving business improvement through process redesign, organisational restructuring and enhanced marketing have been fully exploited.

• Costs in the field of procurement and the supply chain typically amount to 8 to 10% of turnover
• “best in class companies” have close to half the procurement processing costs of an average company
• Management teams have yet to recognise the benefits of how procurement and supply chain management can provide competitive advantage by creating a more agile, effective and responsive business.
• Procurement and supply chain managers unfortunately often do not have the standing in the company to influence the management team
• Management and software producers have invested significantly in software tools from customer relationship management to supplier relationship management and have high expectations that process initiatives and costs pay off.

PROCUREMENT PROCESSES


  Procurement and supply chain is a continuous   process that enables companies to synchronize and   optimize activities, assets and resources at   strategic, tactical and operational levels and allows   the business to be managed as a single entity.

• Where does the supply chain start and finish?
• Which procurement strategies are deployed by leading-edge organizations?
• What is the roadmap to moving to excellence?
• What are the core themes of world-class supply chains?-cost, service, risk, managing effective supplier performance and across enterprise cooperation.
• What are the key features of best practices?

ALIGNMENT
Procurement and supply chain’s contribution can only be maximised if it is fully aligned with the business objectives

• Are your procurement vision and objectives based on those of the business?
• Are the business objectives understood by all involved in the procurement process?
• Is there a review process involving management and  customers in place?

These questions will be addressed through a practical well- proven model for checking your company’s alignment. Action planning sessions will allow participants to discuss the actions they need to take to successfully move towards alignment. Examples from both private and public sector will be discussed

STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATION
The procurement value proposition: where procurement brings the greatest value, and an overview of the latest thinking on managing the value chain. Learn techniques to differentiate between goods and services in context to their importance to the business and potential for improvement.

• How is differentiation achieved and what are the benefits?
• Where are you most at risk?
• How does the supplier's view impact the choice of strategies?

E-PROCUREMENT
How will procurement change over the next ten years and what procurement staff can do to take advantage of the opportunities that will exist.

• Why the "hype"?
• Why is e-procurement important?
• Why are many companies uncomfortable about e-procurement implementation?
• Does e-procurement bring bottom-line benefits?

PEFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
Many companies have difficulty in measuring procurement  and supply chain performance and its contribution to the bottom line.

• What to measure?
• How to measure?
• Does bench marking play a part?

Self-assessment exercises to identify:
- Processes which need improvement
- Improvements offering greatest contribution
- Where limited resources should be focussed
- Quick wins

A diagnostic tool will be presented to help you compare the performance and processes of your own procurement operation with world-class standards. Learn to develop a Scorecard based on the output from the diagnostic tool.

In addition you will develop a simple personal action plan to drive your own contribution to business improvement.

MAKING IT HAPPEN!
MANAGING EACH IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE AS A PROJECT


  Converting knowledge into real action is a major problem for   many companies. The key is to manage each improvement   initiative as a project and set objectives that match   business needs.

• Why is it necessary to 'projectize'?
• How to reduce cost of your supply chains?
• Why is the contribution of cross-discipline teams important?
• Why should procurement initiatives deserve priority when competing for limited resources?

The management “progressive case study” will be brought to its conclusion during this session with Teams delivering their individual solutions and results

• Managing Directors & CEOs
• Chief Operating Officers & Vice Presidents
• Managers and executives with responsibilities for developing strategies and managing the supply chain from capital projects through manufacturing, marketing, retail and customer services.
• Anyone in staff or line covering sourcing, systems, finance and distribution