In this age of disruptions, businesses must move faster and become more agile; therefore, Procurement requires responding more responsible accordingly to businesses needs, whilst looking forwards to put on the table the discussion around collaboration.
The significant escalation of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI,) which bring down much of the usual Procurement workload, are external drivers indicating that we must redesign our current roles if we want to enhance real value. It implies collaborative-working with leading suppliers who can back up the necessity of being groundbreaking, adaptable and agile.
Another significant advance concerning the future of Procurement is the ever-increasing significance of the agenda over sustainability and purposeful business, which yet increases importance to the collaboration requirement.
Can Procurement move away from just savings?
This question seems to be the principal commitment of Procurement. Professionals will still matter, but robots are quite right when supporting Procurement jobs and savings; for this reason, if we are looking to enhance human value, we need to focus on other practices.
Why is it convenient to implement Sustainable Procurement?
Sustainable Procurement or "Procurement with a purpose" refers to the implementation of certain norms and processes; also known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) meeting your company-specific requirements and those of your stakeholders, such as buying assets, supplies or services.
It considers several factors like price, functionality, availability, and quality, all found on the entire-life-cycle of a product or service.
The essential drivers of Sustainable Procurement are: social, economic and environmental. These insights encompass a rather assortment of issues, extending from deforestation and climate change to modern slavery and supporting diversity in our supply chains (SCs). At the top of these initiatives works call for collaboration. It often demands at least three varieties of collaboration.
Three forms of collaborations
· The buyer can sometimes take action that does not necessarily have consequences for the supplier and demands on their agreement. It could be done by just placing a clause in your typical contract; for instance, “no pesticides please,” requiring only a simple answer from the supplier, like “yes.” It requires collaboration among buyers and suppliers or SCs.
· The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) becomes a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) who must interconnect internal shareholders, in particular, the financial bearers in your enterprise, the factory supervisors, or those who use products or services the suppliers provide daily; and the ones who must reinforce and are lined up to any schemes, if they are to be successful.
· We are starting to observe collaboration within several organisations, even among competitors working in sync, whether that is among miners in the developing world, plastics recycling, or initiatives to improve the life of farmers.
Adding up: successful collaboration requires both, soft-behavioural skills like judgment, empathy and listening, but also technical competences over planning, project management, data analysis and technology with platforms now supporting collaborative actions.
Technology can be a crucial component to sustain our accomplishment as individuals, our different roles, and as professionals. It can be useful when we take this collaborative-mindset forward in business matters “to do good” to our corporations, our suppliers – and in some way, to the planet. Are you implementing in your company a Collaborative Procurement process?