Besides the challenges of finding the best-fitting suppliers that will solve issues around pricing, quality and delivery, procurement should also invest in alternate scenarios for sole-source suppliers in order to overcome any problems and mitigate the potential risks.

Mitigating supply chain risks is one of the most important roles of a procurement professional, and it is especially critical to identify issues before they have the potential to cause serious disruption.

While the past two years showed procurement and supply chain professionals that disruption can appear fast and without warning, 2022 has so far been one heavy on planning and preparedness as companies begin to build back.

In early October, a global survey conducted by Jaggaer and Tealbook found that 70% of organisations are prioritising supplier diversity, but most of them are struggling to find diverse suppliers.

As Head of Innovation at Alder Hay Children’s hospital, Dr Iain Hennessey says he has achieved more innovation in one year of the pandemic than the previous ten years put together.

A recent report conducted by Accenture among supply chain leaders revealed that when it comes to being advanced in terms of technology, talent and processes, only 4% of organisations meet this level – and only 34% are expected to reach the future-ready status by the end of 2023.

In this episode - procurement recruitment specialist Lucy Harding knows exactly what she is looking for to recruit top talent.  She believes the pandemic has shone a light on the vital role of the procurement community at the highest levels of strategic decision-making.  

Tail spend has a specific set of challenges, quite different to those faced with the management of strategic spend. We recently spoke with several procurment leaders about some of these challenges and how they might be addressed.

During the past year, the need for more resilient supplier networks has steadily risen to the top of every CPO's importance list.