Six things I am contemplating about business
As many of you know, our company specialises in procurement and other related technologies, with an emphasis on growing people.
Like many small business owners our desire is to leave a legacy: To create employment, develop young people into good leaders, give our children the best education and support the under-privileged.
We understand that many of our customers owe their initial success to a unique strategic position involving clear trade-offs. All our activities were once aligned with that position. But I am wondering how many of us have compromised that alignment to synchronise with our rivals.
Although our company has only been around for four years I find myself drawn back to our founding place, to reconnect with our initial strategy.
702 Interview with Supply Chain Partner
My business partner and I are very passionate about procurement… It’s such an exciting area to be in because you can touch a whole ecosystem of suppliers, buyers and users.
Listen to the full interview with co-founder and director of Supply Chain Partner, Chimae Goncalves.
Reveal and reduce fraud
Supply Chain Partner founders Chimae Goncalves (MCIPS) and Schalk Burger presented at Smart Procurement World Fraud Symposium in March 2017 on using cloud procurement solutions to reveal and reduce fraud.
View the Slideshare or download the pdf version
The tangible benefits of sourcing
Many industries face intense pressure to cut costs. Executives everywhere are forced to tighten the budget belts.
Take the mining industry for instance: despite the pressure of cost cutting this industry has to contend with the mandate of safe production at all costs against the backdrop of other challenges such as commodity volatility, labour pressures, skill shortages, cost overrun on capital projects and adhering to stringent compliance criteria.
Slowing down your reverse auction
Those of you who are experts in conducting reverse auctions, would agree that when following the correct sourcing strategy, reverse auction tools can be very powerful in the hands of sourcing professionals. Some of the benefits you may have experienced with reverse auctions are reduced baseline prices, fair and open competition amongst your supply base, greater transparency in your procurement process and speedier ways to source.
Reverse auctions in South Africa
Modern-day competitiveness?
The complexities of modern-day competitiveness certainly challenge the traditional business process. Take supply chain for example: it is progressively evolving from overseeing a few disjointed back office functions into a strategic “big picture” leadership role that can radically increase profit margins by up to 22%, according to an IBM CPO study conducted in 2013.
How to implement a procurement transformation project successfully
More South African organisations are starting to recognise the value that procurement transformation initiatives bring to the bottom line. Transformed procurement departments provide organisations with a competitive advantage in that the entire source-to-pay process is efficient and highly collaborative. Inefficiencies and a silo’d approach between the procurement and accounts payable departments can lead to significant loss in shareholder value. Successful procurement transformation projects reposition the source-to-pay process for success across the entire organisation.