Category Management

Jun 15, 2013

Applying Porter Five Forces Analysis to Drive Category Management Insights

In the past two or three weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of organizations seeking to drive insights into their supply markets, as they attempt to… 

Apr 15, 2013

Coaching Suppliers and the Implications of Doing So

“Supplier Relationship Management” is a term that’s thrown around a lot in procurement, and generally assumes that the relationship with the supplier is “managed” by the buyer.  This doesn’t leave… 

Apr 10, 2013

Jason Busch's Thoughts at the Coupa Conference

Jason Busch from Spend Matters gave another great speech at the Coupa INSPIRE conference in San Francisco which I attended last week.  As an aside – Jason started Spend Matters… 

Apr 3, 2013

Sub-tier supplier risk continues to be a challenge

The issue of sub-tier supply risk continues to be a challenge in many of the companies we work with at the SCRC.  For example, one large company has experienced big… 

Feb 22, 2013

Procurement: Getting Back to the Basics

I’ve been speaking to a number of procurement executives lately, leading to some interesting discussions around risk, category management, shared services, and a lot of other high level concepts that… 

Dec 4, 2012

The Global Economic Outlook: Jason Schenker's Soothsayings…

Jason Schenker spoke at the SCRC conference today and spoke about his forecasts for the global economy. The global economy is expanding, albeit at a modest pace. US GDP and… 

Aug 18, 2012

More About the "Influence Model"

My last post was on the influence model applied to product design for the supply chain, following an interview with an engineer.  A prior post a few months ago also… 

Jul 11, 2012

Airbus, Boeing, and CAT Discover Supplier Integration Comes Down to Hard Work

The article in today’s WSJ refers to the new approach being used by Airbus and Boeing to “integrate” suppliers.  Supplier integration and collaboration are terms that are thrown around a… 

May 17, 2012

The Paperless Office: Pipe Dream, Procurement Mandate, or Sustainability Boondoggle?

In today’s cost-cutting environment, many procurement and category management teams are sharpening their pencils and looking at ways to reduce indirect spend in areas such as printing, document management, and… 

Apr 25, 2012

SCM Talent Management: Creating the Next Generation of Superheroes!

Our upcoming SCRC meeting  (April 30-May 1 in Raleigh, NC) is one that I am sure will peak a lot of interest in today’s supply chain professional.  The theme of…