Procurement Intelligence Unit

Rather than manage cost, manage demand – it's a simple theory, but there are few organisations doing it well. Here, Michelle Perkins, head of research at the Procurement Intelligence Unit, takes us through some of the steps that CPOs can take to introduce a corporate-wide demand management process. The article, featured in Procurement Leaders, is based on an in-depth research project carried out by the PIU, the findings of which point to a long, difficult road, but one with a huge pot of gold at its end. more

It was the American author W.Clement Stone who once famously said: "There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." more

Back in 2008 research by the Procurement Leaders Network revealed that as many as 95% of CPOs would welcome an independent benchmarking tool – a staggeringly high figure which illustrates not only the importance of benchmarking as a means of measuring and delivering results, but also the frustration that exists in the wider procurement community. more

The past 18 months have seen the spotlight fall firmly on cost savings, with every area of the business looking in procurement’s direction in expectation (and, in some cases, hope). Given the importance of maintaining profit margins and ensuring long-term stability, a number of high profile companies have introduced an almost unprecedented raft of cost saving measures since the credit crunch first bit in the summer of 2007 – some more successful than others. more

If a year’s a long time in politics then 12 months must seem like a lifetime in procurement. Last September the financial world was shaken to its very core when Lehman Brothers became the biggest, and most high profile casualty, of the global economic crisis. Small wonder then, that supplier risk was priority number one for CPOs across the world with distressed supply chains posing the greatest threat to procurement, and the wider business world, in a generation. more

If there’s one word that has loomed large over the past 18 months it’s ‘risk’ – but while for some companies it’s a word that brings out boardrooms in a collective cold sweat, one of the world’s largest oil firms has used its market intelligence operation to stay one step ahead of the game. more

‘Too little – too late’. That was the response from the majority of commentators when the UK Government, alongside the Institute of Credit Management, unveiled its prompt payment code for suppliers at the tail end of what was, by anyone’s standards, a miserable 2008 for global business. The aim of the code was to enable suppliers to receive payment for their goods and services at a far quicker rate in order to avoid the kind of cash flowcrisis that had crippled many small and medium-sized enterprises since the onset of the credit crunch. “The code focuses on ensuring firms pay their suppliers on time and do not attempt to change their payment terms retrospectively. This will be essential to help smaller firms maintain cash flow in the months ahead,” said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. more