CPOstrategy – July 2019

– Digital by default

Issue 4 / July 2019 / www.cpostrategy.com EXCLUSIVE

3 obstacles to digitally transforming your supply chain

We partner, we grow David Medori, Chief Procurement Officer at William Hill reveals how strategic procurement is aiding the global gaming giant…

P68 EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS

TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

THE #1 DIGITAL PROCUREMENT CONFERENCE ON THE PLANET

www.digitalprocurementworld.com

Welcome to the July issue of CPOstrategy Our cover story this month, features David Medori, Chief Procurement Officer at William Hill who reveals how strategic procurement is aiding the global gaming giant…

During 2018, 600 million bets were placed with William Hill, further establishing its reputation as a world leader in gaming. Employing more than 15,500 people in 10 countries, the 85-year-old bookmaker and games provider is continually innovating new and engaging ways to bet and game, whether in shops, sports books, online or mobile devices.

Leading a procurement function in this world-renowned brand and operating on varying platforms in differing geographies is no easy task, whether your requirement is software, hardware or professional services. William Hill’s Chief Procurement Officer, David Medori, is responsible for procurement of all third-party goods and services, covering indirect and direct procurement. We met up with David at William Hill’s brand-new headquarters in Tottenham Court Rd, London, to see how the procurement function is transforming under his leadership…

Elsewhere, we spoke to Edgar Lim, Vice President of Technology and Procurement at EnterSolar to explore how a sound procurement philosophy achieves growth in a “solar-coaster” market. Jon Hansen tells us the 3 obstacles to digitally transforming your supply chain and we also catch up with Tradeshift co-founder Gert Sylvest, and CPO Roy Anderson, who reveal how their global open business platform is transforming the future for buyers and sellers.

We also list the top 5 key influencers in procurement and reveal the biggest events and conferences from around the globe.

I hope you enjoy the issue!

EDITOR IN CHIEF Andrew Woods CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dale Benton Kevin Davies CREATIVE LEAD Mitchell Park SNR. PROJECT DIRECTORS Andy Lloyd Heykel Ouni PRESIDENT & CEO Kiron Chavda

– A ndrew Woods, Editor in chief content@b2e-media.com

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Contents

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WILLIA M H I L L

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CONTENTS

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

26 JON HANSEN: 3 OBSTACLES TO DI GITALLY TRANSFORMING YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN

40 ENTERSOLAR

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TRADESHIFT

80 EVENTS

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Frank Vorrath, Executive Partner: Supply Chain for Chief Supply Chain Officers and Chief Operating Officers, Gartner

Rache and M at clo ford G

LIST LAT

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SAM ACHAMPONG REGIONAL HEAD & GENERAL MANAGER, MENA A

el McElroy, Sales Marketing Director oud specialists CranGroup

Dr. Marcell Vollmer, Procurement Influencer and SAP Ariba’s Chief Digital Officer

Mike Dargan, Group CIO, UBS

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We partner, we grow WRITTEN BY A n d rew Wo o d s PRODUCED BY K i ro n C h avd a

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David Medori, Chief Procurement Officer at William Hill reveals how strategic procurement is aiding the global gaming giant… uring 2018, 600 million bets were placed with William Hill, further establishing its reputation as a world leader in gaming. Employing more than 15,500 people in 10 countries, the 85-yearold bookmaker and games provider is continually innovating new and engaging ways to bet and game, whether in shops, sports books, online or mobile devices. William Hill is a proud sponsor of many events and teams across a global sporting stage, and recently inked a deal with the National Hockey League in the US as the “Official Sports Betting Partner of the NHL”.

The UK business accounts for the majority of the brand’s business last year, but the share of its international revenues is rising as it continues to grow as a digitally-led, internationally diverse gambling company. In recent years, William Hill has become

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P R O C U R E M E N T E XC E L L E N C E – D A V I D M E D O R I

licensed to deliver online betting and gaming in Italy (2011) and Spain (2012) respectively and has been operating in the US since 2012 as more states look to regulate sports betting.

Leading a procurement function in this world-renowned brand and operating on varying platforms in differing geographies is no easy task, whether your requirement is software, hardware or professional services. William Hill’s Chief Procurement Officer, David Medori, is responsible for procurement of all third-party goods and 12

WILLIAM HILL

services, covering indirect and direct procurement. We met up with David at William Hill’s brand-new headquarters in Tottenham Court Rd, London, to see how the procurement function is transforming under his leadership.

“I thought I knew what fast and dynamic was before,” says the man with a proven track record in the procurement space featuring stints in Automotive, Financial Services and Retail, “But this is a different level. The marketplace is so dynamic, there’s so much aggressive competition and

there’s limited customer loyalty, so we have to be really, really competitive to be able to move forward.” The industry is highly regulated and compliance and reputation in this market is critical which is another point to factor in all sourcing activity.

When David started in May 2018, he found a procurement function that he described as ‘traditional’. Now, procurement is firmly on the board agenda. “William Hill worked on a broad transformation strategy and one of the initiatives was to implement a strategic procurement function. That’s how my role came about.”

David categorises his procurement into GNFR (goods not for resale) and direct procurement. “Technology, Marketing & Sponsorship, Gaming & Content, Business Services and Facilities Management. We’ve got almost two and a half thousand shops in the UK, so they need to be maintained.” David and his team cover the entire William Hill operation. In the direct space, he has responsibility for gaming and content.

“Gaming could be the actual physical machines that you see in the shops,” he explains. “Online, will be games from big software developers or from smaller agile development houses.

There’s content, which is all the sports streaming data as well. So, there’s a lot to be bought.”

William Hill was undergoing a transformation in business strategy when David joined and so it was imperative that procurement was transformed to complement this. “I did a complete review of the current structure and how we were integrated into the business using the feedback and my own technical assessment. Then, we moved towards what the business needed from procurement. We needed to make sure we were aligned w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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This means that users can start to benefit from next-generation technology while BT provides all the support they need. This makes life much simpler, as it enables businesses to enjoy a single, integrated solution that can be deployed rapidly, with just one service desk for features such as WAN, SD-WAN, the network, LAN, WLAN, security and professional services. This is all provided by BT: a single, trusted security

Ultimately, with SD-WAN, businesses can become faster, smarter and more efficient.

Users in different locations are linked together and can manage and share files quickly and collaborate more easily. With BT’s tried and tested change process, network adjustments can be made easily at any time.

to the business strategy, so I did a fit-versus-needs analysis, in terms of where we were and where we wanted to go. I restructured the whole department.

It was a big change in terms of function branding and marketing, roles, responsibilities, job titles and job descriptions.” But this was just the very start.

Following the departmental restructure and subsequent recruitment, David set about defining a new vision, mission statement and strategy for procurement. “I did an offsite workshop with the team and consulted various different stakeholders in the business to create and develop a new overarching vision, which is simply: ‘We partner, we grow.’ This vision drives everything. We partner with our stakeholders and suppliers. We have a growth mindset as a team while in parallel helping to grow the group’s top and bottom lines through driving innovation from our supply base. The strategy is then built around four key pillars: the team itself, because that’s the driver for everything we do; the suppliers, stakeholders, and processes/ systems. A huge amount of detailed work has gone into developing each of our four strategic pillars (team, stakeholders, suppliers and process/systems/ automation). The function is now firmly embedded into the business. It is strategic and partnership driven with all 3rd party initiatives flowing through Procurement, which is now very much a value add function. We’ve only been in place for just over a year – we have transformed.”

The biggest challenges in transforming procurement at William Hill were linked to stakeholder 16

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perception, because the previous iteration wasn’t considered strategic. “The way we were perceived wasn’t great, so it was changing that perception to what I would call now, a dynamic, partner-led procurement function. We are now part of the functional teams and sought after, more than just procurement. We are a part, and key member, of those teams.”

Injecting a huge dose of “personality” into the newly formed Procurement team and allowing that personality to flourish as part of stakeholder management has been key to Procurement becoming integrated into the functions.

A PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION One of David’s first requirements was to capture and use the available data in a pro-active, more automated and meaningful way. There was some data in the function, in terms of spend, but it needed to be put into an analytics formula to provide good insight intelligence to Category Managers and Heads of Category. That wasn’t done on day one because the planned systems

by David inherently take time to 18

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implement. “I didn’t want any blind spots in the procurement team. In terms of systems, I’m embarking on a new procurement-to pay-system that goes live this year. The second piece is a source-to-pay suite covering contract management, supplier information management and full sourcing module.”

Procurement success at an enterprise like William Hill clearly comes down to numbers: pounds, dollars,

whatever the local currency is. David and his colleagues are saving money and significantly ahead of target.

From the beginning of 2019, there has been a step change improvement in both savings, cash flow and cost avoidance. “We’re ahead on all those metrics,” David explains, pleased with the progress made through stakeholder engagement and innovation.

“Where I and the team have really landed well, isn’t just doing great solid

procurement and category management – we still need to do that, as that’s our bread and butter – but it’s more around the innovation and how we create new ideas, identify best practices and bring real innovation from the marketplace straight into the business. We have started to have a different dialogue with the stakeholders and have implemented quite a few of those different initiatives. One of the many things kicked off, was a w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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A SURE BET

Digital technology for dynamic and rapidly changing industries Most enterprise organisations have complex technology landscapes, and more choice than ever before. External market pressures from competitors and the resulting pace of change place increasing demands on IT. IT no longer supports the business, IT is the business.

We enable our customers to Source, Transform and Manage their clouds and data centers, building platforms for existing applications and future digital services.

Public clouds are favoured for their low cost of entry, low maintenance and easy scalability, but for large established organisations, integrating public cloud means adapting security, governance and legacy systems into a whole new IT model – and it’s a complex business.

For most enterprise IT customers, cloud will not replace the need to run private data centers, but it will change what the line of business and software developers

expect: instant availability, low cost and more flexibility. Computacenter help customers enhance and refresh their traditional data center infrastructure with simplified, optimised, secure and compliant solutions.

We are data center experts. We help to modernise expensive legacy IT and design the next generation data center at scale, built and deployed from our Integration Centers across the globe.

We cut out the complexity by helping develop a strategy and roadmap, apply best practices for operations and enabling migration at scale.

We call this Digital Power Achieving the goals to deliver against a digital strategy whilst modernising the legacy is complex. So how can Computacenter help your organisation balance the competing priorities, achieve your objectives and power your business?

Enterprises know that public cloud is an enabler to support their digital transformation. But if wrongly managed, it can end up being an expensive and complex undertaking. Public cloud for enterprise is no longer just about adoption, but approach.

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We help our customers develop a strategy and roadmap to run public cloud at enterprise scale and implement it according to our ‘best-architected framework’ to meet their requirements.

We scale public cloud benefits across the enterprise using our migration factory: a completely governed process to transform workloads throughout the enterprise.

We apply best practices across our customer’s public cloud operations to meet their needs and gain control, building the best foundation to scale public cloud while optimising operations.

Computacenter are working with William Hill to identify savings across their global software estate, focusing on spend optimisation and supplier rationalisation.

Delivering a significant amount of savings in year 1 within the data center environment, we are now extending our focus into the networking and security arena to identify consolidation opportunities and understand William Hill’s complex licensing estate, with a view to industrialise even greater savings over the next 12 months.

With deep software lifecycle management capabilities, Computacenter are working with William Hill to advise on best practise around process, policies and procedures, to help drive long-term sustainable savings, increase better visibility and control and mitigate risk.

COMPUTACENTER AND INTEL For over 30 years, Computacenter and Intel have been collaborating and helping organisations accelerate their business. As a Platinum member of the Intel Technology Provider Programme and one of the key partners of Intel for solutions delivery, Computacenter offer the full spectrum of Intel based products such as the 2nd Gen Xeon Scalable Processors and the Intel® Optane™ DC

persistent memory. With solutions across the data center, public cloud and multi-cloud, Computacenter can support organisations to utilise the latest Intel innovations to drive new possibilities in the business.

COMPUTACENTER’S 9TH ANNUAL GAMING TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR In collaboration with our key vendors, we will also hear from the Head of Cloud & Infrastructure at William Hill who will be talking about their journey to cloud, how they are bringing the organisation on the journey with specific references to key milestones and the technologies that are being used

Computacenter is a leading independent technology partner, trusted by large corporate and public sector organisations. We help our customers to source, transform and manage their IT infrastructure to deliver digital transformation, enabling users and their business.

Computacenter is a public company quoted on the London FTSE 250 (CCC.L) and employs over 15,000 people worldwide. www.computacenter.com

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“ What really takes procurement to a level of excellence, for me, is innovation. It’s doing stuff which helps the business gain competitive advantage” DAVID MEDORI Chief Procurement Officer William Hill

major supplier optimisation program.

This was mainly around technology but has since been launched in facilities management too; bringing all our partners together and discussing, in an open forum, our objectives, challenges and what we’re trying to do as a business in terms of strategy. This has helped accelerate innovation, consolidation and ultimately driving incremental savings. What really takes procurement to a level of excellence, for me, is innovation. It’s doing stuff which helps the business gain competitive advantage and for me that’s not doing things the same old way. It’s doing things in a better way, if there is a better way. You need to take yourself out of your comfort zone and bring that best practice in-house.

That is what would constitute excellence and behind that, you need to have a highly driven, motivated 22

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procurement team as well.”

A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT With an enterprise as large and vast as William Hill, there are plenty of challenges to the procurement function related to building functional capability in different geographies. “We’re brown field here (Europe), but we’re green field in the US, with regards to procurement,” David explains. William Hill is also busy eyeing up new acquisitions as seen in the recent purchase of Mr Green, an online gaming company, based in Malta and Sweden. w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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The procurement team is centralised but is also site and category specific to ensure full integration with the varied stakeholders and functions across Leeds, London, Gibraltar, Malta, Krakow, Milan, Madrid, Las Vegas, New Jersey and Manila. “If I look at the US, that’s a completely green field procurement site for us, where we are building capability very fast.

I developed a complete global function, buying on behalf of the Group’s requirements. We’ve moved from a model where we were global, to a global function with excellent local sourcing ability in different markets.

We’ve met this by putting head count in geographically and operating to a new policy, process and way of working. That linkage sees us come together as a team on a regular basis.

We’ve achieved a lot around synergies, particularly the acquisition of Mr Green, and we’ve done a huge piece of work in terms of the integration, working with suppliers and implementing synergies through key negotiations driving incremental savings.”

Clearly, partnerships with suppliers and our internal partners are integral to the procurement strategy at William Hill. “We have a vision of: ‘We 24

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partner, we grow’. We want our partners to grow with William Hill, and to develop partnerships fostering cost down and innovation rather than just transactional supplier relationships. We segment the supply base and conduct extremely robust thirdparty risk assurance on a monthly basis across multiple metrics.” David

has also implemented a Supplier meetings revolve around ensuring Management Framework for procure- SLAs are met but also drive new ideas, ment and the business, illustrating innovation, and savings/revenue practical best practice driven from generating opportunities. his previous knowledge of best pracDavid and his team are tice in the Supply Chain when he gained his David Medori PhD in this field. The Cheif Procurement Officer QBRs and service review William Hill

David Medori, a bilingual (English/ Italian) strategic Procurement leader with proven delivery of procurement transformation, vision and strategy delivering multi-million-pound savings for multinational corporations across a number of industries: Sport Betting and Gaming, Retail, Financial Services and Automotive.

Received The Institute of Management Consultants’ (IMC) National Award for Designing an Innovative Supply Chain Performance Measurement System. Acknowledged industry expert on Commodity/Derivatives/Risk Management.

Category Managed Technology, Utilities, Marketing & Digital, HR & Professional Services, Financial Services and Distribution/Import. Presented at high profile conferences and published work in prestigious business publications.Â

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“ We have a vision of: ‘We partner, we grow’. We want to grow with the partners, developing the partnerships rather than just transactional supplier relationships” DAVID MEDORI Chief Procurement Officer William Hill

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implementing more strategic supplier relationships, adding more value by driving the right commercial deal that enables a more digitally led and competitive solution; a recent example being the tearing up of an existing agreement which wasn’t enabling the right behaviour or investment from the supplier or William Hill to transform its Digital Retail offering to ultimately the detriment of both parties. “The new negotiated deal encompasses a completely new digital solution that will transform the Retail betting shop experience while also saving millions of pounds.

This was initiated, led and implemented by Procurement. The ability to develop compelling business cases driven from our category strategies and sell to the business is fundamental to the new procurement strategy and team. This has enabled a step change in the performance and perception of what good procurement can really do. This is global procurement now at William Hill.�

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3 obstacles to digitally transforming your supply chain WRITTEN BY J o n H a n s e n

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JON HANSEN Procurement Insights

t the end of May in Montreal, Canada, at the SCMA 100th Anniversary Conference, I had the privilege of being part of an international panel of experts talking about the future of procurement.

To say that it was an interesting 60-minutes would be both perfunctory as well as a failure to do justice to the many great insights that were shared by the panel with the full capacity audience.

My contribution, as is usually the case, was based on a combination of research data, and a first-hand experience, including countless interviews with industry thought leaders and top executives. In short, when I talked about the 3 main obstacles to digitally transforming an organisation’s supply chain, it was not the result of a heuristic exercise born in isolation.

These obstacles are very real, and in one of the instances is a long-standing issue that like the proverbial chickens has come home to roost.

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CLEAN IT UP During a recent conversation I had with Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management Rob Handfield, he made the statement that the paucity of clean data is a major issue for the majority of organisations.

More to Rob’s point, you cannot transform your supply chain digitally if you do not have clean data, and the lack of clean data has been an ongoing problem for some time.

THE CHALLENGE IS: HOW DO YO U C L E A N T H E D ATA ?

Suggesting that it was "tantamount to trying to catch a speeding train while still packing for the trip," Rob went on to say that you cannot stop your procurement function to “allow” yourself the time to address the problem.

This sentiment was one that was recently shared by the former Head of Procurement and Exchequer Services for the government of Scotland, Helen Mackenzie. In the comment, she made about a post I published on LinkedIn Helen wrote: “If we had time to clean our data we'd be a lot further forward than we are. That's the dilemma here, isn't it? Where's the 32

short-term payback from investing in data cleansing? How much cleansing actually needs to be done to enable the analytics to work?”

Perhaps this is the reason why Rob had suggested that the development of an Artificial Intelligence tool to both facilitate and expedite the data cleansing process would be a great breakthrough.

A B S E N T O F S U C H A B R E A KT H R O U G H , W H AT A R E T H E OPTIONS? Bob Sievert who is the CIO for the National Association of State

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tool that can facilitate the strategic selection and cleansing of data will, in conjunction with better governance, help to solve the problem.

Procurement Officials (NASPO), and one of the key players in Virginia’s successful eVA purchasing initiative, suggests a “clean slate” approach. Specifically, using a filtering mechanism to assess the strategic importance of the data to determine if it warrants cleansing. What this suggests is that the vast majority of an organisation’s current data may not be valuable simply because it exists.

Bob’s approach – at least in part, addresses Helen’s “how much” question. It also speaks to the AI opportunity to which Rob referred. An AI

T H E TA L E N T G A P In an interview I did last year with Microsoft President Kevin Peesker, he talked about the growing talent gap and emerging technologies. While Kevin isn’t the only executive with whom I have spoken about the challenges that many organisations will be facing when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, his platform for voicing said concerns are larger than most from the standpoint of creating awareness.

Creating greater awareness is important because there is a dramatic, and some would suggest seismic shift taking place regarding the skill sets that the future workforce will require. Especially as we move to an era in which technology is redefining the way we work and live.

The supply chain world is not immune to said changes. Unlike some professions, however, the digital age represents a tremendous opportunity for procurement professionals to expand their role and w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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“ Creating greater awareness is important because there is a dramatic, and some would suggest seismic shift taking place regarding the skill sets that the future workforce will require�

JON HANSEN Procurement Insights

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influence within their organisation.

Ironically, and as it relates to the talent gap, the obstacle we face is not one of technical reluctance but one of attitude and perspective.

Back in 2007, I wrote an article in my Procurement Insights blog talking about a CPO Agenda roundtable discussion that took place in the UK. At this roundtable which featured CPOs from different global organisations, one of the more notable comments came from an executive who said: “one strategic business thinker with the right skills and capabilities is worth 10 or 12 of your normal, run-of-the-mill purchasing people.”

The digitisation of the supply chain has eliminated the need for the “run-of-the-mill” purchasing professional. Procurement is coming of age as it is transitioning from a transactional role to a strategic one in which new skill sets are required to capitalise on digital technology.

An example of a new skill set is the need for procurement people to take the lead with the data cleansing process. Much like the marketing department taking the lead by determining the best technology to enable a better consumer interface, w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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cleansing data is not solely an IT function. Procurement needs to own that and other strategically important initiatives that fall outside of the traditional job description.

Unfortunately, acquiring these new skill sets is not happening as quickly as it should. This slowness is due in part to current workforce resistance to change. Another contributing factor is leadership’s inability to redefine the procurement department’s role and traditional metrics for measuring its value to the organisation.

Issues with workforce resistance will resolve itself with the progressing generational shift and their related comfort with emerging digital technology. But, the bigger issue is with organisational leadership in that the companies who fail to change their existing mindset will not attract top procurement talent, let alone retain the talent they have. Not having the right people doing the right things at the right time will continue to be a big digital transformation obstacle for these organisations.

RISKY BUSINESS In my previous article in CPOstrategy in which I examine the proliferation of 36

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personal IoT devices and the movement of the procurement function beyond the cloud to the edge, security is the third and final obstacle to be overcome.

To better understand the full nature of said risk, I will direct you to read that article. What I will add is that while the pace at which technology is advancing may be unsettling, it is a reality that must be faced if organisations hope to harness the power to realise the full digital promise.

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KNOWLEDGE IS DOING There is a saying that “knowing is half the battle.” Understanding the obstacles to transform your organisation’s supply chain is half the battle. But knowing is not doing.

WHO WITHIN AN ORGANISATION SHOULD BE RESPONSIB L E F O R T H E D O I N G PA R T ?

Unlike any time before, the functional silos that have traditionally defined the roles of the CIO, CFO, and CPO no longer exist. At least not in a way with which we are familiar. Once again, refer to my earlier reference to how marketing is taking the lead in the selection of customer-facing technologies. In that instance and according to a Gartner report, CMOs will spend more money on technology than CIOs. What this means is that driving the digital transformation of the supply chain is up for grabs. It is up to procurement professionals to take up the banner of transformation and claim their right to lead their organisations into the brave new digital world.

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“There is a saying that ‘knowing is half the battle’. Understanding the obstacles to transform your organisation’s supply chain is half the battle but knowing is not doing” JON HANSEN Procurement Insights

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The philosophy of procurement WRITTEN BY D a l e B e n to n PRODUCED BY H ey ke l O u n i

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EDGAR LIM, VICE PRESIDENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND P R O C U R E M E N T, E X P L O R E S H OW A S O U N D P R O C U R E MENT PHILOSOPHY ACHIEVES GROWTH IN A “SOLARCOAST E R ” M A R K E T

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ENTERSOLAR

ince 2005, EnterSolar has established itself as a trusted, single source for corporations looking to advance towards clean energy. In the years since, it has become one of the largest commercial solar developers in the United States. EnterSolar’s value proposition is built around longterm relationships with clients to enable a seamless transition to solar while navigating a volatile pricing market. Key to achieving and delivering on this value proposition is the company’s procurement process

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and most importantly its procurement philosophy. This is where Edgar Lim, Vice President of Technology and Procurement, comes into play.

A technical engineer by trade, with a passion for sustainability, Lim worked his way through the ranks from engineering right through to leading maintenance operations and divisions, learning everything he could about solar along the way. For Lim, he feels it created a “white collar/blue collar” combination of experience, which caught the eye of EnterSolar.

“I was brought in initially as a technical director wearing multiple hats,” explains Lim. “But I was also shadowing Peyton Boswell the Co-Founder and Managing Director, where I would attend a number of meetings with vendors; watching and observing how he nurtured those relationships with vendors and understanding the role it played in the growth of the business.”

After close to a year, carving out a procurement function to his role piece by piece, Lim was made Head of Procurement and charged with dealing with all vendor relations.

This is where he feels his strong engineering background, coupled with 44

ENTERSOLAR

managing operations, enables Lim to be successful in navigating this complex and ever-changing industry space.

“Every other month it seems there’s a new product and each one claiming to be better, cheaper and faster than its predecessor,” he says. “It’s exciting and challenging because you need to understand how to sift through all that noise, work out what’s real and pinpoint technologies that would be a good fit and bring the best value to our clients.”

EnterSolar is both a developer and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company and so it w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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goes without saying that procurement forms a significant part of the company’s operations, particularly when it comes to executing a project on time, on budget and up to standard. But while it is central to EnterSolar’s value proposition, the global procurement space is rapidly evolving and becoming a key business driver in any business across multiple industry sectors.

Lim has seen this impact his role firsthand. “I find myself sharing and telling the story of our procurement philosophy more and more with teammates

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ENTERSOLAR

on the front lines and other business developers. I’m being brought in more on meetings or conference calls with buyers from finance or technical backgrounds,” he says. “Our combined knowledge and experience allows us to communicate in a language that we all understand so that we can translate what we do into something that can add value. This will continue to be very important, bringing that technical know-how and infusing it into our procurement decisions, so to speak.”

E N T E R S O L A R P H OTO V O LTA I C SYST E M - A M A ZO N

Negotiation is crucial to any business interaction and so this shared language is key and Lim recognizes that he has to try to understand the best interests of all parties involved in order to formulate and figure out a win-win scenario. This approach starts at the very top and Lim has the support and the trust from them to deliver his procurement philosophy and drive growth for the company.

This, Lim recognizes, has been instrumental not only in enabling his own journey, but that of others. “What

they have been incredibly good at, is putting the right people in the right positions so they can shine,” he says.

“With me, they didn’t just see someone who would come in and do the job, they saw someone that would use that as a stepping-stone to do bigger and better things for the company and take on greater responsibilities.” This is particularly the case in an industry, which he describes as a “solar-coaster”, where Lim has had to deal with a number of challenges out of his control such as policy risk and w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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“ I T H I N K TO H AV E S U CC E S S F U L LO N G -T E R M R E L AT I O N S H I P S , H AV I N G A W I N -W I N M I N D - S E T I S I M P E R AT I V E ” EDGAR LIM V P, Te c h n o l o g y & P r o c u r e m e n t EnterSolar

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trade tariffs. “The fact I’ve been able to deliver value and maneuver certain headwinds has built trust in me,” he says. “In turn, it’s given me more rope to do what I need to do for the company.”

Lim has a key procurement philosophy, one he has developed and implemented within EnterSolar through years of understanding and learning from his peers and from connecting with the global procurement space.

His philosophy is a simple one: find synergies and operate in a paradigm of win-win with clients and vendors.

“I don’t think it’s a zero-sum game.

It’s a non-zero-sum and everyone’s out to do well for themselves, to do well for their company,” he says.

“This is more important in the solar industry because there are only a few key vendors that you want to continue doing business with. When our clients are purchasing a solar system or getting into a contract for a power-purchase agreement, you know, buying power for long periods of time, they’re investing in us. Simply put, it’s a long-term investment.”

“That’s the same mind-set that we want to have with our clients and with our vendors. The only way to nurture and maintain successful 50

ENTERSOLAR

long-term relationships is to have a win-win mindset. ” As part of his role, Lim must “sift through the noise” as to what is happening in the market from a technology perspective. This becomes a task of trying to strike the right balance between implementing Edgar is a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) PV Installation Professional and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology George W. Woodruff School, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Edgar Lim VP Technology & Procurement Edgar manages all procurement efforts for the organization and nurtures key vendor partnerships. After spending more than a decade working in the industry, Edgar specializes in solar design optimization, best practices, energy simulation, procurement strategies and technology evaluation.

Edgar started in the industry by working with a startup residential solar company in Los Angeles where he learned the art of solar design and engineering. He eventually went on to lead their Engineering Department and played a role in quadrupling their installs per month within a year. Edgar then went on to be part of a large-scale solar development firm based in New Jersey where he worked on multi-megawatt solar projects and gained tremendous experience in all aspects of solar design and engineering. While there, he worked on engineering ground-mounted, roof-mounted and parking lot canopy systems. He proceeded to lead the firm’s Operations and Maintenance team to ensure proper preventative maintenance and maximum uptime of their solar portfolio.

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“ I T H I N K I N TO DAY ’ S WO R L D M O R E T H A N E V E R , H AV I N G I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A RY K N OW LE D G E I S C R U C I A L TO STAY O N TO P O F T H E G A M E ” EDGAR LIM V P, Te c h n o l o g y & P r o c u r e m e n t EnterSolar

what’s right for the company and staying ahead of the competition.

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, Lim believes that a healthy dose of skepticism and due diligence will remain key to achieving this. “In a perfect world, you’re always in equilibrium. But entropy, will always find its way into the environment and taking some risks is important for any procurement professional,” he says. “That sense of skepticism is definitely present but at the same time, we’re not letting it hold us back from being on the forefront of what’s up and coming, what’s new. For me what’s key is really digging deep and 52

ENTERSOLAR

understanding what the advancement is and what it entails, and how it affects the manufacturing process and the supply chain. This helps to de-risk the decision a little.”

A lot of responsibility rests on Lim’s shoulders, and he knows it. Having established a level of trust that allows him to drive the company forward through informed decision making and philosophy, Lim continues to educate himself as much as possible through global conferences in different industries and encourages any procurement professional in any industry to do the same. “I think in today’s world more than ever, having

interdisciplinary knowledge is crucial to stay on top of the game. Because I think the companies that are able to learn from other industries and see how they do things are the ones that are going to be ahead of the game here,” he says. “Get a picture of some of the tools that other CPOs are using that we’re not and see what’s available and how they’ve added value to these different organizations. Then explore how these tools or processes could be aligned with what we’re trying to do and if there’d be value in implementing them.”

Over the course of his career with EnterSolar in particular, Lim has

achieved great success in implementing a procurement philosophy that drives value and growth for the company. He attributes this to an internal drive to continue to learn and continue to challenge and this is something he looks to bring to EnterSolar more and more. “I want us as a business to de-centralize some of our decisions in an effective manner. To help all departments think a little differently in a way that can be shared with others. So that different people can take on different parts of procurement responsibility,” he says. “In order for us to grow we need everyone to grow their skills and mind-sets with regards to procurement so that there’s no threshold limit that we place on ourselves.”

“I always believe there are two circles: the circles of influence and worry. I think having a lot of personal growth has helped me to increase the circle of influence and reduce the circle of worry. This is something we can all achieve.”

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Digital by default 54

WRITTEN BY E l l i o t t Fra n c i s

T R A D E S H I F T C O - F O U N D E R G E R T S Y LV E S T, A N D CPO ROY ANDERS ON, RE V E AL HOW T HEIR GL OBAL OPEN BUSINESS PL ATFORM IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS 55

GERT SYLVEST (LEFT) Co-Founder & CEO Tr a d e s h i f t ROY ANDERSON (RIGHT) CPO Tr a d e s h i f t

radeshift was founded in Denmark in 2010 by Gert Sylvest, Mikkel Hippe Brun and Christian Lanng. The trio’s ambition was to connect organisations across the world with an open business platform capable of transforming the way buyers and sellers interact by digitising and connecting every process. With over 800 staff based in 13 countries worldwide, Tradeshift helps businesses connect with all their suppliers digitally; remove paper and manual processes across procure-to-pay; seize early payment discounts to save money and buy what they need while managing supplier risk.

Sylvest’s vision is clear: “Marrying social technology with hard transactions will change the way the world thinks about business and finance, and allow us to bridge major digital divides.”

T

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TRADESHIFT

T H E T R A D E S H I F T P L AT F O R M Our platform allows you to run applications to meet the needs of what you're doing when you're doing it,” explains Tradeshift’s CPO Roy Anderson. “Different roles, such as advertising, legal services, facilities or engineering, have different requirements, requisitioning means and connections to their suppliers.

“ M A R R Y I N G S O C I A L T E C H N O L O G Y W I T H H A R D T RANSAC T IONS WILL CHANGE T HE WAY T HE WORLD THINKS ABOUT BUSINESS AND FINANCE, AND ALLOW US TO BRIDGE MAJOR DIGITAL DIVIDES ” GERT SYLVEST Co-Founder & CEO Tr a d e s h i f t

They want a system that works for them. Tradeshift creates a user centric model - versus a procurement centric or IT centric model - providing different tools for different skillsets.”

Tradeshift’s platform can connect the dots digitally offering a breakthrough in use-ability. “The key element of procurement is penetration,” he adds. “Getting all of your customers

on board is a lot easier with this user centric tool.”

Anderson’s career path included the role of CPO at MetLife where he managed close to 20,000 suppliers. With just a few hundred of those automated, his resources were tied to managing the risks and costs of unconnected services tied to an IT-centric model. Today, he identifies w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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three areas where Tradeshift can drive transformation in procurement…

The aforementioned deep penetration of connectivity with suppliers digitises the supplier base. Secondly, the platform allows for user centric applications. With the penetration and platform established the third key benefit for users is access to a growing marketplace of products and services. “It becomes something that can work for a CPO very effectively,” he maintains. “You can tie into the Tradeshift marketplace and be able to buy your product at your price, and use the services without having to do the enormous work of setting up and running through the business case and the IT resource plan and the implementation efforts.”

I N N O VAT I O N Since 2010 Tradeshift has been targeting the Fortune 5000 companies and branching out to cover the whole Source-to-Pay cycle, moving inside organisations and onboarding employees for accounts payable automation, and increasingly for procurement alongside services offered via the marketplace. This innovation has helped define the 58

TRADESHIFT

company’s strategy on AI, blockchain and IoT. “We started to implement Machine Learning and AI back in 2012 and created CloudScan, an industry first scan and capture for the accounts payable process. What differentiates those who profit from Machine Learning is the ability to solve the network layers. Being a cloud-based network platform, we have the ability to learn from both the individual company’s best practice - procurement, invoice approvals, product classification - and how it works across the network. This has helped us develop automatic invoice coding and approvals based on existing patterns.”

CHALLENGES “It’s always an educative journey,” believes Sylvest. “We’ve been approaching things from a new angle since we went 100% network first in the cloud. Customers that are successful on our platform buy into the bigger vision... When we use apps on a phone, everything is connected by default. Companies get that. After 40 years there is only one way to go, greater digitisation of the supply chain and the collaboration between w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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BUILDING ON THE BLOCKCHAIN

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“I like to think of blockchain as

an order to get that calibrated. So

Velcro,” reasons Tradeshift CPO Roy

now, no menial conventions, the IoT,

Anderson. “The fact that I have a

the Blockchain, and the RPA are

supply chain, and that chain has lots

working together to fix the problem

of elements/ suppliers… There are

before it starts.”

many pieces of inspection equipment:

This process could be used to monitor

transportation, warehousing, distribu-

temperature sensitive items in transit.

tion… At every level, there are compa-

Then, with the addition of AI, Sylvest

nies putting out bids, doing contracts,

explains that a vehicle’s planned

getting purchase orders and invoices,

route could be modified. “AI starts

and sending insurance certificates and

adding that intelligence, which is way

terms of conditions; meanwhile SLAs

too much data for any one person

and metrics are all embedded. And

or group of people to figure out. But

layer, after layer, all of it invisible,

the AI churns through and finds solu-

unknown to the end clients, because

tions that are going to streamline

they don’t have that digital nature.”

your supply chain, reduce the errors

“Once we create a scenario in

and improve the output thanks to the

Tradeshift where all these suppliers

digital data in the process.” Anderson

are digitally connected, they can now

adds that with all the data elements

start to send digital data from their

in place a circular supply chain is

contract process, or means of action

achievable, and with that greater

process, or inspection process, up to

sustainability. “AI is going to help

the Blockchain. This means when a

us reengineer products so they are

piece of equipment starts to fall out

easier to review, remanufacture and

of calibration, the IoT embedded in it

recycle. This approach to a more a

can send an alert to the Blockchain.

holistic cost structure is exciting and

RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

something that we’re talking to our

could actually see that and send out

customers about.”

TRADESHIFT

“ W H E N W E F O U N D E D T R A D E S H I F T , W E C H O S E T O M A K E ALL OF OUR INTERFACES OPEN SOURCE FOR THIRD PARTIES TO DEVELOP SERVICES” GERT SYLVEST Co-Founder & CEO Tr a d e s h i f t

companies. The challenge for them is to embrace ways of breaking down data silos to leverage the benefits of AI. Big players like Google and Facebook are driving this and putting out their technology as open source and using engineering communities to develop this at breakneck speed.

The issue lies in how you adapt and use the technology, so most enterprises today are embarking on that learning process to make sure they reap the benefits.”

A U T O M AT I C S U C C E S S The automation of e-invoicing has been a resounding success for the company. Tradeshift Pay is now utilised globally by hundreds of businesses and was recognised in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Procureto-Pay Suites in 2018. “Tradeshift’s model is to do digital by default,” confirms Anderson. “We work with suppliers to be able to get their w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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documents digitally ripped to start, moving away from paper that needs to be scanned. It's always going to be a tailored activity, but ultimately suppliers can see that by embracing a digital network, accurate invoices make for accurate payments. Finance teams can manage their working capital more efficiently, suppliers can be paid faster while cash be used more effectively…” Anderson reckons what’s good for the supplier is good for the client. “This is an enormous value proposition to many of our customers,” he adds. “The next step is to digitise the front end - the sourcing of the data analysis and spend analytics; the contract requisitioning, catalogue, and all of the services linked with that.”

PA RT N E R S D E L I V E R I N G A P P L I C AT I O N S The Tradeshift platform is home to more than 300 visionary applications, like FRDM, which allow users to make purchases that elevate both profits and people by offering supply chain transparency from supplier down to raw materials level. “With the FRDM application, you can target the areas where slave labour is prevalent.

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If the product or service you buy has the potential to be at risk, you can mitigate that risk and aim to eliminate it.” Allied to this are sustainability apps such as Eco and tools for a multitude of tasks from background checks and spend analytics to requisitioning and forecasting.

TRADESHIFT ON TREND Anderson notes that as supply chains digitise, clients are demanding speed, ease of use and a lower cost of implementation. He recalls that in previous roles, as CPO at MetLife and Fidelity, he would create a marketplace

inside the company of trusted suppliers with the right risk portfolio that was sustainable, to allow internal customers to get the job done. This could take months - even years in some cases - to set up the suppliers and relevant content, contracts and technology. “My goal now is to be the CPO of an entire network of companies,” says Anderson of the Tradeshift marketplace. “There are organisations out there that separate you from your supplier. I consider that bad business. Our platform will give companies the flexibility to have products and services readily available to

capture and curate their own solutions in a matter of days. Now they're going to get aggregated buying opportunities, but still be able to have their relationship with their manufacturer or supplier.”

PREDICTIONS ON P R O C U R E -T O - P AY Sylvest believes the marketplace embodies the idea of the network, rather than the traditional one-to-one procurement model which misses out on the economics of scale. It’s a place where Tradeshift’s app strategy (300 and counting) will flourish. “When we w w w. cp o stra te g y. co m

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founded Tradeshift, we chose to make all of our interfaces open source for third parties to develop services,” he explains. “B2B spending is very complex and for every category, especially materials, third parties will bring specialism that can enhance services across different geographies. What will set us apart in the market will be the ability to combine the procurement process with product formation, fulfilment, payment and the financing of the physical goods or based on the invoice.”

Sylvest is most excited about the work Tradeshift is doing with ten of the largest banks (HSBC, CitiBank etc) to provide supply chain financing and discounting in the App Store.

“They’ve chosen to have a presence in a competitive marketplace where it’s up to users to decide which financial services suit them best. For me this is proof that our network strategy is working.”

NEW FRONTIERS FOR TRADESHIFT Tradeshift Frontiers is the company’s digital innovation arm working on two major themes: the future for FinTech and how to connect 64

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T R A D E S H I F T : C O M M E R C E FO R A L L

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“ T H I S I S N O T A N E V O L U T I O N , T H I S I S A REVOLUTION IN HOW SUPPLY CHAIN THINKING WILL BE DONE” GERT SYLVEST Co-Founder & CEO Tr a d e s h i f t

the physical supply chain with the financial supply chain. Both of these are looking at ways to integrate Blockchain. “Tradeshift Cash was launched in 2018. With half a trillion dollars flowing through the network in receivables, what if you could take those receivables and tokenise them?

By turning them into a digital asset you use the Blockchain as a marketplace where invoice tokens are for 66

TRADESHIFT

sale amongst financers. Instead of a traditional sale of invoice volumes over six months, we envisage a much more fluid process where invoices are tokenised in real time and out up for sale. In this competitive model financers compete based on their appetite for risk and knowledge of an industry.” Tradeshift is also working on Ecosystem Finance - extending credit for outstanding receivables between

two parties down the supply chain with further tokenisation.

G OA L S Faster and friction free financing is the ultimate goal for Tradeshift as it bids to make B2B buying as simple as using a consumer credit card. A key part of its development over the next 12 months will be onboarding partners to deliver critical mass with SKU

development for products on the shelf.

“Once you're digitally connected, then you start to build the value from there,” adds Anderson. “But suppliers don't necessarily see that value on day one, it takes them time to be able to turn that into an ROI… But, if we look into the future, the only suppliers you’ll want to deal with are those that are digitally connected; more accurate, complete, compliant and transparent in their process. The alternative will be risks in the cost structures.”

Over the next 12 months, the goal for Tradeshift is to add more suppliers to its marketplace, and grow the digital ecosystem. “We’ll build the tools and the connectivity to be able to add a massive amount of value,” pledges Anderson. “It will open people's minds, just like they did with Y2K when they had to invest in new ERP systems, and they're investing in this digital environment. This is not an evolution, this is a revolution in how supply chain thinking will be done.”

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T OP 5 PROCUREMENT INFL UENCERS W R I T T E N BY D al e B e nton

With direct access to audiences across a global stage, social media has redefined the idea of influencers. Looking to tap into and explore this ever-growing resource, industry giants have their very own influencers steering and engaging the conversation.

CPOstrategy looks at 5 leading procurement influencers as ranked by ProcurementiQ

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01

K E L LY B A R N E R Owner and Managing Director Buyers Meeting Point As the owner and manager of Buyers Meeting Point, Barner has spent the last decade providing the procurement industry with an unmissable events calendar, a blog that captures the current procurement discourse, a huge social media network, and a uniquely engaging podcast. Barner is the voice and the influential figure behind one of the most trusted sources of information for procurement practitioners and solution providers alike.

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

02

LORA CECERE Founder Supply Chain Insights

Supply Chain Insights, of which Lora Cecere is the founder, is one of the most trusted resources of independent, actionable and objective advice for global supply chain leaders.

Since the foundation in 2012, Cecere has sought to pave a new direction in building thought-leading supply chain research.

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03

TOM DERRY CEO Institute for Supply Management CEO of one of the largest not-forprofit organisations in the supply chain world, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), Tom Derry oversees the provision of market intelligence, certification, training and professional development to procurement and supply chain practitioners from all over the world. Derry also sits on the board of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a leading voice in addressing the evolving challenges in today’s workplaces.

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

04

OMID GHAMAMI

CEO and Chairman of the Board Center for Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Excellence As CEO of the Center for Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Excellence, Omid Ghamami is the spearhead of the world’s most advanced, interactive and prestigious purchasing & supply chain management certification system.

Calling on his extensive experience in managing purchasing and spend for global tech giants Intel, Ghamami works with some of the biggest companies in the world to foster a new order of supply chain management, one that sees organisations recognise the true valueadded centre of profit that it can be for their business.

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05

D AW N T I U R A CEO & President Sourcing Industry Group (SIG) The CEO of Sourcing Industry Group (SIG), Dawn Tiura drives the vision of creating a premier global sourcing association that provides thought leadership and networking opportunities to executives in sourcing and procurement from Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies. Tiura describes herself as a passionate leader of SIG, going above and beyond to raise the executive presence of sourcing, procurement and outsourcing professionals. Since joining SIG in 2007, Tiura has truly “revolutionised� the group in order to establish itself as the premier global sourcing association.

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TOP 5 PROCUREMENT INFLUENCERS

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EVENTS OF 2019

WRITTEN BY Kev i n D av i e s

Conferences and events provide industry professionals with a forum to share knowledge and best practice while gaining strategic insight into industry trends and challenges.

Over the next 12 months, the procurement industry has a number of high-level events lined up across the globe, each one adding practical business value for attendees.

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24.09.19

www

EWORLD PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY London, UK Since 2001, eWorld Procurement & Supply has provided a unique insight into the latest innovations and technologies for senior procurement, supply chain and finance executives. eWorld provides a highly time-effective platform to keep up-to-date with the latest developments, market trends and hot topics.

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EVENTS

16.09.19

www

GARTNER IT SOURCING, PROCUREMENT, VENDOR & ASSET MANAGEMENT SUMMIT 2019 London, UK Gartner IT Sourcing, Procurement,

operational business objectives.

Vendor & Asset Management

This year’s summit will help provide

Summit is designed for strategic

you with the insights to transi-

sourcing leaders, IT finance manag-

tion from a tactical provider of a

ers, procurement leaders, IT asset

service—the skillful negotiation of

managers, and vendor manage-

a contract or the effective manage-

ment leaders. It is the most impor-

ment of a vendor’s performance—to

tant annual gathering for IT profes-

a strategic advisor helping deliver

sionals to enable the achievement

innovation, business value and

of their organizations’ strategic and

growth – at speed.

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15.10.19

www

PROCURECON EU Barcelona, Spain The ProcureCon event series are the only interactive, peer- led platform for senior procurement practitioners. For over 15 years, ProcureCon has helped companies transform their programs

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EVENTS

through innovative presentations, panel discussions, workshops and intimate networking sessions – designed to take you beyond cost savings.

30.10.19

www

600MINUTES SUPPLY CHAIN AND PROCUREMENT Middelfart, Denmark This event offers a unique networking opportunity to connect face-toface with top decision-makers and key players across all functions in the industry from the largest companies. 600Minutes Supply Chain and Procurement will discuss the application of advanced technologies such as

Big Data, Analytics and other innovations that are transforming the future of supply chain and procurement. Get all the latest insights on technological developments, industry trends and best practices to achieve a successful ecosystem of suppliers, collaborators, and customers for your organisation.

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31.10.19

www

CIPS UK CONFERENCE QEII Centre, London At the 2018 CIPS UK Conference,

This one-day event was packed full

procurement professionals gained

of keynotes, case studies, panel

practical solutions to the challenges

discussions and debates with Q&A.

they are facing and left the confer-

The day split into three streams after

ence with the insight they need to

lunch:Â fit for purpose tech, strategy

make the shift to becoming a stra-

through people and resilient supply

tegic, collaborative function that

chains. There were CPOs from lead-

adds value. The 2018 speaker line-up

ing organisations speaking and a

featured the most influential speak-

large variety of content that really

ers, incorporating Procurement

served the profession and addressed

Power List winners.

our most vital concerns.

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EVENTS

10.12.19

www

PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY MANAGEMENT MASTERCLASS Soho, London This masterclass looks at both the concepts of procurement and supply management, negotiation techniques, and current and future trends.

It includes digital transformation,

disaggregation of supply chains, and circular economy theories. It will improve attendees’ understanding and expose them to cutting-edge and future thinking.

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THE #1 DIGITAL PROCUREMENT CONFERENCE ON THE PLANET

www.digitalprocurementworld.com