Signs You’ve Outgrown Ad Hoc Procurement I knew something wasn’t quite right before we’d even opened the first spreadsheet. It wasn’t because anyone complained about suppliers. Nobody mentioned procurement. In fact, the business considered itself well run. Orders were being placed, invoices were being paid and production was moving. From the outside, everything looked perfectly […]
The Day Everyone Asked for the Template A few years ago, I spent some time teaching MCIPS, and there was one moment that cropped up on almost every course. We’d spend the morning working through Kraljic, Porter’s Five Forces or stakeholder mapping. We’d discuss why the framework existed, where it added value and how it […]
Procurement Strategy Outsourcing: When the Strategic Brain Sits Outside the Business Not every business needs a Chief Procurement Officer. Most need a procurement strategy. There’s a common misconception that if your business doesn’t have a Chief Procurement Officer, you’ll either need to hire one or accept that procurement is simply transactional. In reality, there’s a […]
The Real Cost of Not Having a Procurement Lead Procurement isn’t a cost. Not having it is. Most SMEs never make a conscious decision to operate without procurement leadership. It just happens. The Managing Director is focused on winning new business. The Finance Director is juggling cash flow. Department managers buy what they need when […]
How to Choose a Procurement Outsourcing Partner: Seven Questions I’d Always Ask Choosing a procurement outsourcing partner isn’t just about finding someone who can negotiate better prices. You’re choosing a business to represent your organisation, work alongside your people and build relationships with your suppliers. Get that decision right and you’ll wonder how you managed […]
Procurement Maturity: The Four Stages Most SMEs Go Through Most business owners don’t wake up thinking about procurement maturity. They notice something else first. Supplier costs keep creeping up. Contracts renew without challenge. Different departments buy the same products or services from different suppliers. Nobody is quite sure when key agreements expire. The natural reaction […]
Why Your Last Procurement Hire Didn’t Work, and What to Do Differently This Time The post-mortem nobody runs Most businesses that have tried full-time procurement and been disappointed do not run a proper post-mortem on why it did not work. The person leaves, the role gets quietly absorbed back into finance or operations, and a […]
Outsourced Procurement vs In-House: The Real Cost Comparison Most cost comparisons get this wrong before they start Ask a finance director to compare in-house procurement with an outsourced model and you will usually get a back-of-envelope answer. Salary on one side, monthly fee on the other, and a quick judgement about which looks cheaper. The […]
Procurement Operations Outsourcing: What It Covers and When It Fits The unglamorous half of procurement is where the leaks live When people talk about procurement, they usually mean the strategic end. Category strategy, big tenders, supplier negotiations, the deals that move the P&L in one go. That work matters, but it is not where most […]
From Theory to Action: Building a Procurement Strategy You Can Actually Use Most procurement professionals can describe the four quadrant model. Far fewer can tell you what they did with it on Monday morning. That gap, between understanding a model and running your category off the back of it, is where a lot of procurement […]