Innovation needed to meet Supply Chain Needs…

The need for Procurement to evolve remains the key to the future, according to the latest ideas discussed at last week’s Procurious’ Big Ideas Summit, The event in London was attended by a number of industry influencers, among them senior procurement brand manager at IBM Global Procurement Barry Ward.

Ward acknowledged the benefit of recent transformations within the industry, but warned the exponential growth of data, combined with the need for brands to react quickly to events affecting their supply chains, will require a radical shift in this model. (Source: Supply Management).

According to Ward, "Technology will replace a lot of roles in the near future, and we’ll need new skills in procurement,”  “Without innovation you will never meet the needs of your supply chain. This ability to drive innovation is going to be an essential requirement.” In the future, adopters of what Ward calls “cognitive procurement” will be the ones driving the profession forward. Platforms like IBM’s Watson (that use natural language processing and machine learning to reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data), should be embraced, said Ward, they will put the balance of power back with the buyer. “Harnessing this technology will allow procurement professionals to analyse contracts quickly and efficiently, and give you immediate access to data feeds about suppliers, so you can make immediate and effective decisions.

The ability to evaluate suppliers was a theme picked up by Gabe Perez, vice president of strategy and market development at Coupa. According to Perez, one of the greatest challenges facing the industry is complacency. Relying on legacy networks when it comes to conducting business with suppliers is excluding up to 90% of the potential supply base, he claimed.

Read the full article in Supply Management