With inflation challenges and a looming recession, we have the resources procurement leaders need to get a jump start on 2023!

November Microlearning Event

On November 9, Angela Easterwood from Majel Partners and Elizabeth Zucker from The Hackett Group, will share how flawless category management can be leveraged to address today’s dynamic sourcing challenges. 

Join your sourcing, procurement, and risk management colleagues in this two-hour interactive virtual environment to be challenged with topics related to our industries!

Northeastern Regional SIGnature Event

SIG's Northeastern Regional SIGnature event is almost here! The event will take place in Toronto, CA and includes a fantastic agenda with some of the best thought leaders in the industry. The day will include an Executive Roundtable, General Session Speakers (offering training and practical, implementable tools), CPO Presentations, Analyst Overviews, SIG Talks and close with a networking happy hour.

Join us for this great day of networking and learning!

Power Hour Webinars

Analytics + Action = Results

Join LogicSource, Inc. and OneMarket's Jo Seed, Marissa Lindquist and Mark Flowers as they discuss the untapped value of an organization's data and empowering procurement teams!

SIG University Certified Supplier Management Professional (CSMP) program graduate Grzegorz A. Pioruński shares a different perspective on how to implement modern governance into a supplier-vendor relationship.

Some years ago, I heard someone who had not been exposed to significant processes and had no chance to consider all industry connections of a business event say: “Why must present-day everything be a project? This is just a task to do.” These words are the opposite of how I see modern governance in business and risk management.

If you take a closer look, anything we do is a kind of project, smaller or larger, but on nearly every occasion, we plan action, steps, workflow, risk, and expected outcome. Whether or not we are aware of this, this is a fact. Even such a simple task as going to a store to purchase a loaf of bread can be described as a project.

We do plan when to go (the store must be open), what to wear outdoors (depending on weather conditions), we do plan to have some money in our pocket (enough to pay, and not too much “just in case”), we do try crossing roads safely, we do expect to return home with the said bread. The deeper you consider it, the more details and sub-tasks you can recognize. Sometimes you do this on your own; on other occasions, you may like involving other stakeholders, whomever it may mean.

The same strategy we shall apply in business. The more critical the process or, the more significant business it is, the more risky your operation may be, and the more carefully you should prepare, perform and govern the project.

SIG University Certified Intelligent Automation Professional (CIAP) program graduate Ian Hrydziuszko discusses how the seperate stages of next level automation can be extremely useful to your organization.

If you've been to the grocery store in the last couple of months, you may have noticed that your total costs are far higher than before. Prices on items like food, housing, gasoline, and utilities have risen by over 9.1% over the last 12 months – a 40-year record, according to the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

Why is everything so expensive?

A lot is working against the global economy: 

• Covid-19 continues to affect manufacturing and logistics around the world. 
• The war in Ukraine continues to have an impact, especially on grain production for much of Europe. 
• The U.K. is facing unprecedented increases in energy price caps.

These combined events are the perfect recipe for supply chain shortages and drastic price increases.

All eyes on procurement

Businesses are facing uncertainties unlike ever before, causing CEOs to look closely at what is happening behind the scenes. Procurement is under scrutiny with central purchasing being pushed into organizations' spotlight.

One such question being asked of procurement is, "Do we have approved alternative sources of supply in place?" Building a diverse supply chain is key but not always easy. 

You might source goods or ingredients from various vendors for a product you manufacture. Still, all it takes is one ingredient to be delayed because of rigorous testing, approval processes, or even that supplier's supply chain for the whole operation to halt.

Recently, SIG had the pleasure of hosting AArete experts Tyler Higgins, Gaurav Joshi and John Marchisin and Duane Elmore, Chief Procurement Officer at The Pennsylvania State University for the July CPO & Executive Virtual Series. It was a very engaging discussion that lasted nearly two hours with tons of excellent takeaways. Let’s get into it!

Adapting Your Supply Chain for Diversity and Sustainability

The team kicked off the day discussing what has driven the rise of corporate ESG priorities. There are seven areas that they highlighted to explain this increase:

• Company Culture
• Employee Engagement
• Investor Activism
• Policy & Regulation
• Access to Capital
• Financial Benefits
• Consumer Demand 

These competing priorities oftentimes lead to many different approaches to accomplishing ESG initiatives. The Aarete team then walked through different approaches and experiences of ESG initiatives. They also shared successful diversity & sustainability programs. From Starbucks to The University of Penn, there are numerous ways to have success.

How to Transform the Buying Process 

Companies across all industries are setting ESG goals, and procurement leaders are at the forefront of executing those goals. Procurement leaders must balance these goals along with supply chain continuity during an inflationary environment. Having a ESG framework and a supplier diversity strategy is fundamental to transforming the buying process. Most organizations are challenged to find the right suppliers that can meet sustainability and supplier diversity goals. By incorporating KPIs for procurement, suppliers and adoption, you set the ESG goals up for long-term success.