Richard Sanders

Great procurement teams don't pursue only savings. They look for value! Although important, savings only gets you so far. There's more to it, and the great teams are showing the difference. Great teams: - Align with all stakeholders - Understand the business end-to-end - Build strong supplier relationships - Create valuable partnerships - Support larger strategic initiatives - Support change - Create helpful process - Hire for future readiness By doing these things, there are typically opportunities for savings. What else would you add? Let's discuss!

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Procurement Heroes! It's a paradox to me... that we fight so hard to make that great supplier contract but when it's signed.. it's like we loose interest in how supplier then actually delivers on it… Any thoughts? #procurement #suppliermanagement

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Arguably the most important, and the hardest, transition we will need to make for the #procurementact is a cultural mindset shift. What are you thinking about for your #tpp journey? #procurement #publicsector

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In my opinion, management consultancy is one of the best industries for Procurement and Supply Chain professionals to work… ✅ You get the opportunity to work on exciting and complex business problems - growing your knowledge and experience across different areas of procurement and supply chain ✅ You work with blue chip clients and household brands on some seriously interesting transformation projects ✅ You develop your communication and project management skills and gain loads of experience working with C-suite level clients ✅ It pays well! When I’m approached by candidates about this looking for advice, they always have the same question.… “How do I make the move into consultancy?” I’ve put together an article on the Pod Talent website which is now live, giving some info on consultancy, hints and tips for getting into consultancy and how to pass the interview process. 🔗 is in the comments section, so have a read and let me know if you have any questions or want any extra advice. [email protected]

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Following the reaction to my recent article on the cost of hiring for specialist Procurement Excellence roles, here are a few more thoughts from me on what we are seeing in the market for this specific skill set. Link to the video in the comments below. #procurement #procurementexcellence #CPO #digitalprocurement #procurementtech Edbury Daley

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Procurement teams are struggling to get leadership to allocate more resources to the function, but the struggle is deeper than mere advocacy for more. It’s also that leaders need time to ensure they will get buy-in and need to clearly understand when they must start the process. A conversation with a long-time procurement colleague who DM’d me inspired me to ask: How do procurement teams know when they’re getting close to full bandwidth, before it’s too late? And is it possible to develop an estimation model that can validate when they are out of bandwidth? My thoughts: - Conduct regular workload assessments including time tracking, analyzing historical data, and task complexity assessment. - Review KPIs for cycle time and delivery. - Monitor work requests. How long is your backlog? What else is missing? How do you forecast your team’s capacity? What models are you using? #Procurememt #ProcurementLeaders

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How to deliver Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) well. Free guide 🎁 Few Procurement teams deliver on this. The best Procurement teams nail the foundations of SRM for long-term success. In this cheat sheet I’ve laid out: ➟ What is SRM ➟ 6 Benefits of SRM ➟ Strategic v Reactive SRM ➟ 10 common pitfalls of SRM ➟ How to create an SRM framework You can use this cheat sheet as ✅ your personal checklist ✅ an interview question prompt ✅ share it with your Procurement team ✅ give it to stakeholders to explain ✅ store it on your intranet as a guide Has this helped? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to ♻️ repost or share this with your network. ____________________ 📌 Do you want a hi-res PDF of this cheat sheet and all the other ones I release straight to your inbox? I’m Tom Mills Procurement Protagonist®️ I simplify Procurement. Simply sign up to my free newsletter here: https://procurebites.com/ You’ll get this cheat sheet and other valuable gems for free, released every Monday via the newsletter.

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https://lnkd.in/e3uA4Ede I'm constantly explaining the difference between Procurement, Sourcing and Purchasing. This is a good 1 pager chart that does a good job showing the difference.

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With only 4 weeks to go, secure your delegate pass for the CIPS Procurement & Supply Futures Conference 2024 now ⌛   Enjoy four streams of industry leading-content across the Horizon Stage, Strategies for Success room, Critical Priorities for 2025 room and Career Success Immersive.   Book today before it's too late – find a link in the comments section below 👇   We hope to see you there!   #CIPS #Procurement #SupplyChain #CIPSFutures 

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What impact is disruption and diversification having on supply chains as organisations go through their resilience journey? Working with Omera Khan, we drew on research from our recent supply chain survey to explore supply chain risk in our four-part series. Part two explores: -  The resilience required for disruption -  The impact of flexibility and redundancy -  How to spread and manage risk Read part two to find out more - https://bit.ly/4aKGPBE

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Few deliver Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) well. The best Procurement teams nail the foundations of SRM for long-term success. In this summary I’ve laid out: ➟ What is SRM ➟ 6 Benefits of SRM ➟ Strategic v Reactive SRM ➟ 10 common pitfalls of SRM You can use this summary as ✅ your personal checklist ✅ an interview question prompt ✅ share it with your Procurement team ✅ give it to stakeholders to explain ✅ store it on your intranet as a guide Has this helped? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to ♻️ repost or share this with your network. _________________ 📌 Do you want a more detailed hi-res PDF of this cheat sheet and all the other ones I release straight to your inbox? I’ve included how to set up an SRM framework in your business. I’m Tom Mills Procurement Protagonist®️ I simplify Procurement. Simply sign up to my free newsletter here: https://procurebites.com/ You’ll get weekly articles and free Procurement insights direct to your inbox every week.

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Few deliver Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) well. The best Procurement teams nail the foundations of SRM for long-term success. In this summary I’ve laid out: ➟ What is SRM ➟ 6 Benefits of SRM ➟ Strategic v Reactive SRM ➟ 10 common pitfalls of SRM You can use this summary as ✅ your personal checklist ✅ an interview question prompt ✅ share it with your Procurement team ✅ give it to stakeholders to explain ✅ store it on your intranet as a guide Has this helped? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to ♻️ repost or share this with your network. _________________ 📌 Do you want a more detailed hi-res PDF of this cheat sheet and all the other ones I release straight to your inbox? I’ve included how to set up an SRM framework in your business. I’m Tom Mills Procurement Protagonist®️ I simplify Procurement. Simply sign up to my free newsletter here: https://procurebites.com/ You’ll get weekly articles and free Procurement insights direct to your inbox every week.

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Do you network with sales people as well as procurement people? It’s a really valuable thing to do. Try it… Ideally find someone who’s not in your industry or not selling a product you need to invest in any time soon. So it can be as open as possible. Strike up a conversation about things like… how they try and shape deals, what thier motivations are, what’s important to them, what tactics they use etc. Give it a go you will learn loads, and they will too if you reciprocate.

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How do you convince leadership to allocate more resources to procurement? It's surprising to think practitioners need to prove their value, however, lately I have seen several threads discussing a lack of team resources and hesitency to add more. Leadership can't always see the benefits of one function when there are competing priorities. My biggest tip is to demonstrate your impact — metrics matter. I'm interested in learning how my network has overcome this struggle to advocate for their teams. Share your tips below, and let's discuss strategies for securing resources to your department.

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🔊 QUOTE OF THE WEEK 👇 We caught up with Raman I Nathani MCIPS Chartered, MSc, CMILT, CPP, CPPM, CISCM who shares his expertise in areas like spend analysis, supplier relationships, and mentoring emerging leaders, Raman discusses the procurement potential as a driver for business growth and its transformative role in personal development. The function is continually evolving, driven by advancements in technology, changing market dynamics, and the increasing importance of sustainability and ethical sourcing. Learn more about Raman's thoughts on: 🎯 Procurement - a catalyst for business and personal growth 🎯 The fast-paced evolving landscape 🎯 Why there is much room for improvement 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 🔥 https://lnkd.in/eYbWEqzh - - - - - - - - - Like the post? Want to find out more? 🤔 ➡ Follow ProcureScape for more on the #procurement and #supplychain landscape 😉 🔝 Connect with me.

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Is procurement a better career for extroverts or introverts? At first, it might seem that procurement’s relationship-heavy nature makes it better suited for extroverts. Aligning with stakeholders and creating lasting supplier relationships requires a lot of social bandwidth. On the other hand, introverts can be more suited to the analytical and evaluative nature of other equally critical tasks, like strategic planning or research and analytics. Let’s take a deeper look at how both extroverts and introverts can positively impact a team and how you can utilize both to build an exceptional function. Extroverts excel at: - Relationship Building - Negotiation - Stakeholder Relationships - Team Collaboration Introverts excel at: - Analytical Work - Strategic Planning - Vendor Evaluation - Supplier Research - Process Improvement Note that while the skills mentioned are often highlighted as strengths of extroverts and introverts, respectively, it’s important to recognize that these skills are not exclusive to either personality type. Both bring unique and valuable contributions to procurement, and many professionals end up falling somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I’m curious what you think, though. Leave a comment, and let’s chat.

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🧐 Should Procurement & Supply Chain degrees be more accessible? It seems whilst there is a handful of options to study Procurement & Supply Chain at university, it’s not a readily available option compared to others. In my opinion, Procurement is a vital part of a business’ structure. In turn there should be more readily available options, like there is for Business, Economics, Finance and HR (to name a few!) What are your thoughts?

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Couldn’t catch up on the latest procurement industry news? I’ve got you covered with a summary of this week’s top stories: 🍟 McDonald's are continuing their sustainable supply chain initiative in the UK. The global fast food franchise sources more than 80% of it’s goods and services locally and by partnering with it’s 3PL Martin Brower, they have reduced their carbon emissions by over 16,000 tons through biodiesel alternatives 🏥 NHS Supply Chain are set to launch their Digital Diagnostics Solutions framework in summer 2025. The new procurement framework (worth up to £700M) will improve the management, storage and sharing of key data across hospitals in England and Wales 🏆 Argon & Co have won the Procurement Consultancy Award at this year’s Global Procurement & Supply Chain Awards. The global consultancy was recognised for their impressive procurement transformation with CooperVision – yielding significant savings across their logistics category as the company responds to the increased demand for disposable contact lenses 📮 During the latest hearing for the Post Office Ltd Horizon IT public inquiry, procurement was one of the business functions under attack. Procurement was accused of botching a hardware procurement deal to gain a 5% discount.  Saf Ismail (Non-Executive Post Office Director) has confirmed that the hardware which contains POS equipment, scanners and printers etc will sit unused in a warehouse for years to come. 🖥 Deloitte are helping businesses to harness the power of AI through their AI-fuelled platform AIOPS.D Companies are using the platform to automate their S2P processes by seamlessly integrating with their existing systems and using its cognitive intelligence feature to enhance insights and automation 🎅 A recent report by INVERTO | A BCG Company has noted that retailers have had to alter their procurement strategies for the upcoming Christmas trading period due to continued effects felt by the Red Sea disruptions. Procurement teams are buying months in advance to avoid delivery delays – but this will have an impact on cost as retailers tackle inventory management issues with costly short term storage solutions ✈ As part of the UK Ministry of Defence's procurement reform – they have selected Constellia to help with their goods and services procurement. The leading procurement solutions provider is one of the UK’s fasted growing private companies and currently manages over £200M of spend across 150+ public and private sector organisations. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘗𝘖 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒, 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 

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⭐️2024 (so far!) Procurement Recruitment Overview ⭐️ Procurement recruitment trends in the UK have been evolving, particularly in response to economic pressures, technological advancements, and shifting organisational priorities. Here are some key trends.. ✔️Digital and technology skills demand: The demand for digital proficiency continues to increase. As organisations adopt more digital tools and platforms, there's a growing need for procurement professionals with expertise in digital procurement solutions, data analytics, and automation. ✔️ Strategic procurement and business partnering: Shift from tactical to strategic! Companies are looking for procurement professionals who can contribute to broader business strategy, focusing on value creation, supplier relationships, and sustainable procurement practices. There’s a growing emphasis on procurement professionals who can act as true business partners, working closely with other departments to align procurement strategies with overall business goals. ✔️Sustainability and Ethical Procurement There is no surprise that the growing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria is driving demand for procurement specialists who can manage sustainable supply chains and ensure ethical sourcing practices. ✔️Contract and interim roles increase in demand: There's an increasing trend towards hiring contract or interim procurement professionals to address specific projects or temporary gaps in expertise. ✔️Talent shortages: There is a notable shortage of highly skilled procurement professionals, particularly those with specialised expertise in areas like digital procurement and sustainability. This has made the market highly competitive, with companies needing to offer attractive packages to secure top talent. To combat talent shortages, organisations are investing more in training and development, focusing on upskilling their existing workforce to meet the new demands. ✔️Increased focus on soft skills: With procurement taking on a more strategic role, there’s a greater emphasis on leadership, negotiation, and communication skills. Professionals who can lead cross-functional teams and manage complex supplier relationships are highly sought after. As more companies undergo digital and organisational transformations, procurement professionals with change management expertise are in demand to help guide these transitions smoothly. These trends indicate procurement continues to evolve as it is no longer seen as just a cost cutting function and it is now getting seen as a value creator 🚀! If you would like to discuss the procurement market/trends or you are thinking about hiring your next procurement superstar, please contact myself or one of the team! 📞✉️ Sara Horder Thomas Sandford Freddie Thompsett Jayne Hughes Louis Glover Max Bell Charlie Wass Jake P. Andrew Docwra Sarah Hewitson Lewis Douglas

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