Procurement negotiations and a researched Sourcing Plan

Roger OakdenProcurement, Supply Chains & Supply Networks

International trade and your business

A Sourcing Plan is part of the process To stay in business, suppliers must keep selling to current and prospective buyers. Concurrently, Procurement must decide which supplier of an item is the ‘best’ and whether the ‘best’ is the right supplier. Procurement therefore requires a process which removes as much subjectivity as possible from the buying decision. Supply Planning is … Read More

Category Analysis is the first step in Supply Planning

Roger OakdenProcurement, Supply Chains & Supply Networks

supply market intelligence

Elements of Supply Planning Understanding your supply markets, which is called Supply Planning, is one of two critical roles of Procurement. The other is the Purchasing process. The process of Supply Planning was developed in late 1980’s, but it has not become commonly established in organisations – why? One reason could be that the positioning and process steps of Supply … Read More

Procurement initiatives in distorted supply markets

Roger OakdenProcurement, Supply Chains & Supply Networks

Collaboration in Supply Chains

Increasing industry concentration Increasing industry concentration results in less competition among suppliers, which can lead to more distorted supply markets. This change in industry structure may well require Procurement to review and modify accepted practices. A graphic provided in The Economist magazine compared the US market share of the largest four businesses for 893 industries, grouped into 15 sectors. The accompanying article … Read More

Know the best Procurement relationship with suppliers

Roger OakdenProcurement, Supply Chains & Supply Networks

Business people greeting each other

Supply Planning and relations with suppliers Improving relationships with suppliers which provide critical items for your organisation, is critical to having more effective supply chains; whether Procurement is part of a supply chain group or not. Supply Planning is illustrated in the diagram and is a structured approach to provide a foundation of how relationships can be developed and maintained. … Read More

Is there a real shortage of talent for supply chains?

Roger OakdenLogistics Management, Logistics Planning, Procurement, Supply Chains & Supply Networks

Sales and Logistics

Supply Chain talent skills and availability Recently, there have been articles concerning the available talent for supply chains – both the desired skills and decreasing availability of people with the skill set for particular roles. But this is not new; the situation has existed for some years and is likely to continue, because little has changed. For example, in November … Read More