Justifying the resources required to operate a Procurement Function effectively
The justification of the resources required for the Procurement Function to operate effectively and efficiently depends on a number of factors, Ronald Mlalazi (MCIPS), Ed ucation Manager at Commerce Edge Academy, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 5:10 AM | Comments (0)
An information revolution in the Procurement Profession
Procurement intelligence organisation Propurchaser has appointed specialist procurement and supply management consultancy Bespoke Sourcing Solutions as its official representative in the Africa and Middle East Region, Andrew Hillman, MD of Bespoke Sourcing Solutions, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
PMI declined below 50 index points during June - World Cup to blame?
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined below the all-important 50 index point mark in June to reach 48.4, the first reading of less than 50 since October 2009, reports the Kagiso website. After reaching a peak of 60.4 in February 2010, the PMI has now declined for four months in a row. The recent trend for the SA PMI is quite different from international developments – the global PMI rose from 55.4 in February to 57.2 during May.
Posted by Editor at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
Partnership ushers international procurement knowledge into SA
South Africa’s logistics and procurement capabilities have been bolstered through a partnership between one of the largest global procurement optimisation consultancies and local Rethink Management Consulting, which provides a set of integrated services aimed at solving operational problems, improving process control and cost reduction, Richard Aldous, Head of Sales and Marketing at Rethink, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
"Box ticking" affirmative procurement does more harm than good
Over the last 15 years or so, the Government has tried various means to spread South Africa’s wealth more equitably among its people. Good progress appears to have been made, however, there is a growing move towards a complex political box-ticking ‘compliance’ approach to affirmative procurement and associated policies which may, in the long run, do more harm than good, says Dr. Douglas Boateng, SmartProcurement editorial board member and CEO of niche business advisory organisation PanAvest International.
Posted by Editor at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)
A recession in review: a 2008 scenario came-true
“Scenarios, by definition, deal with uncertainty and they scope the extent of possible future fall-outs or windfalls,” says renown scenario planner Clem Sunter.“Possible fall-outs and windfalls” was what he presented to delegates at SmartProcurement’s 2nd SmartSourcing Conference.. However, weeks after the conference his scenarios became all to true when the global economic slow-down was triggered.
Posted by Editor at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)
Procurement professionals update breakfast series 2009 concludes
Commerce Edge, SmartProcurement and Purchasing Index teamed up to present the last leg in this year's “Procurement Professionals Update Breakfast Series” at the Astro-tech Conference Facility in Parktown, Johannesburg. Over 60 delegates registered to hear Bernie van Niekerk, CEO of the Commerce Edge Group, summarise the highly informative and relevant report published by the Centre for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS), the American P & SM Research Centre, in conjunction with AT Kearney, the professional procurement consulting firm.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
What will your supply chains resemble in ten years' time?
If they are still operating in the same way as they are today, you will probably not be competitive, let alone a significant market participant!Researchers have proposed seven key strategies for success in the future. Organisations that aspire to be commanding forces in their industries in the next ten years will have to consider all seven. South African based organisations must take note of how this will affect them, Elaine Porteous, Business Development Executive at TechPro Personnel, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Gauteng Roadshow: The future drivers of South African Procurement
A diverse group of over 60 Procurement professionals and representatives of the supply-side were hosted by Commerce Edge in Centurion on September 22 for a breakfast session to network and exchange ideas on the latest thinking that is influencing the future trends in supply management.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Professional development and procurement training road show comes to Gauteng
Tomorrow’s supply management professionals will be charged with developing and executing value creation strategies that find new value in the supply base, deliver value as quickly as possible within the cost parameters defined by the demand market and maximise the return to the company.
Posted by Editor at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)
Managing risk in corporate and supply chain strategy
During uncertain times, directors’ focus must be on managing risk in corporate and supply chain strategy, Dr Douglas Boateng (FIoD, FCILT, FCMI, FIBC, FIOM), tells SmartProcurement.The last twelve months have seen unprecedented changes in the global economy never before witnessed in the modern era. For the first time in decades, some of the best managed companies’ bottom-line results have come under severe pressure. According to the UN annual economic report (Qtr4-08), 2009 world output will reach a meagre 1% in 2009, compared to 2.5% in 2008 and global growth rates of between 3.5% and 4% in the preceding four years, says Boateng, who will be speaking at the Public Sector Supply Chain Summit later this month.
Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
New Expenditure Analysis tools empower procurement, increase savings
A new generation of expenditure analysis tools offers a route that procurement departments can follow to help their organisations avoid laying-off staff , Alan Low, Managing Director of Purchasing Index, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
Fraud prevention is better than cure
In many of our recent dealings with South African companies, there has been a common issue with abuse and fraud committed by employees on their company-issued credit cards. These cards are generally provided to employees on the understanding that they are to be used for business expenses only, and in most cases this is reinforced by either the company’s policies or a specific “cardholder use” agreement signed by the employee. How is it then that this fraud and abuse is so widespread?
Posted by StaffWriter at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
Procurement visibility needed at compulsive buyer: UK National Health Service (NHS)
In the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s search for budget balancing savings of tens of £ billions annually, as led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, attention is increasingly directed to the more than £160 billion that the public sector reportedly spent on the procurement of goods and services from third party suppliers (half of which is spent on common consumables).
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)
A case study for centralised purchasing - World Class Operational Procurement
Part 10 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain
by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at Absa
During 2008 at a large South African bank, a purchasing hub was set up to centrally process and support all ordering from the bank’s branches with a skilled SAP SRM team that is accessible through a single, easy to remember number.
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:12 PM | Comments (0)
Capex and Opex - It is not about price, it is about cost
When considering the procurement of capital goods it is important to take a step back and consider the context. “Capital goods generally have a long lifespan and thus it is necessary to consider this implication when acquiring them. Failure to do so could result in the cost of the goods removing the benefit of savings of procurement price. Further, an oversight in the management of cost over time, due to the initial procurement decision, can result in dramatic overspend over the lifecycle of the goods”, Annuska Bezuidenhout, a Senior Procurement Specialist at Volition Consulting Services, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)
Shed light on your suppliers
While shareholders' visibility requirements have been responsible for the growth of the audit industry, organisations continue to be plagued by other stakeholders requesting information on risk and performance. These include potential joint venture partners, benchmarking agencies, credit-rating agencies, environmental impact organisations, local government and customers.
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:09 PM | Comments (0)
Valuable spend information so important in the current economy
It seems as though climate change and recent economic upheavals may have more in common than one might expect. It isn't so much that the weather is getting notably worse, but that short-term changes seem to be becoming more extreme. Recent fatal storms in KwaZulu-Natal this holiday season and flash floods in the Cape last year are just cases in point.
Posted by Editor at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
World Class Operational Procurement: Three-way matching vs. two-way matching
Part 7 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain
by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
Paper, paper, paper - still remains one of the most pervasive raw materials of the modern day office, which has still not been eradicated by the advent of modern technologies and supposedly integrated systems.
Posted by Editor at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)
World Class Operational Procurement: Electronic, XML & Other POs
Part 6 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain
by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
In Part 5 of this article series we looked in detail at the Purchase Order (PO), which is a standard output document used in the initial steps of the Purchase-to-Pay process. Although a PO marks a confirmed order with a supplier, it is important to note that there are a number of different methods by which the PO can be transmitted to the supplier, depending on the contractual relationship that the organisation has with them as well as technical capabilities. “I often get asked why our suppliers do not get their POs immediately. In this scenario, supplier delivery timeframes is an important aspect of any purchasing relationship, so the people purchasing internally must be familiar with the technical set up between the purchasing organisation and the supplier for the transmission and receipt of POs”, Peter Alkema, Head: Purchase to Pay, ABSA, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
New home grown procurement technology changes the rules of the game
63% of organisations researched by The Aberdeen Group placed ‘reduced cost of processing purchase orders and cheque payments’ as their primary goal for implementing a Purchase Card Program”, Julian Curtiss, Managing Director of Transaction Technology Solutions, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)
Effective & Efficient IT Procurement... more than hard bargaining.
"Organisations spend up to 90% of their Information Technology (IT) budgets on external providers, but sometimes fail to get true value for their spend. This scenario makes the procurement process a critical area in IT as it is essential for organisations to get consistent value for their spent monies”, Deon Basson, MD of 2interact, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
Powerful, next generation spend analysis service launched
Purchasing Index (PI) is has announce the launch of a groundbreaking new spend analysis service, Spendtrak™, a next-generation technology that transforms spend analysis from “nice-to-have” to “must-have”. At a fraction of the cost of most older technologies, Spendtrak™ will immediately demonstrate superior value for money” Alan Low, Managing Director of PI, explained to SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
New SearchLight Launched: The next level in Description Based Spend Analysis
The latest version of Searchlight, a description based spend analysis tool has just been launched. "The new version of SearchLight takes spend analysis to the next level," Marc Silberbauer of Marshan Technologies told Smart Procurement.Posted by Editor at 6:12 PM | Comments (0)
Making the most of Supply Market Intelligence Information
"Most procurement departments have have to deliver savings on an ever-increasing portfolio of goods and services with too few skilled resources," says Alan Low, MD of procurement benchmarking service Purchasing Index (PI).Posted by Bernie at 5:33 PM | Comments (0)
Only 1 in 10 procurement professionals can extract critical information
"Most World Class Organisations have realised that procurement is a key component for sustainable business success." James Yates, COO of Cutting Edge Commerce tells Smart Procurement. However, the lack of visibility into accurate and complete transaction data is hampering company performance. Usually, large companies commission an outsourced service provider to develop a solution which would provide the necessary insight into the company's spend profile and procure-to-pay activities...
Posted by StaffWriter at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)
Local procurement intelligence provider does global deal
New York based Information Builders (IB), a supplier of business intelligence solutions and Pretoria based Cutting Edge Commerce (CEC) have announced a worldwide partnership that will see CEC's pre-packaged procurement and supply chain reporting solution be made available globally for multiple ERP systems including SAP, Oracle, J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, Baan, Lawson, Sage Accpac and 1C. The solution is immediately available worldwide for SAP with other ERP systems to be released shortly.
Posted by Bernie at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
Telephony – new era technology saves company R20m in phone costs.
“The last few years’ benchmarks of the local business cell-phone market indicated high costs and a lack of substantial innovation. Now, however, technology is converging and the distinction between voice and data transmission are blurring. These new products promise substantial cost saving opportunities,” Alan Low, Managing Director of Purchasing Index, told Smart Procurement.
Posted by Bernie at 1:18 PM | Comments (0)
Market Analysis: The South African Transport and Logistics Industry – An Industry in Turmoil
Most industries in South Africa face globalisation and transformation challenges but the South African Transport and Logistics industry faces its own peculiarities that impact on the country as a whole. Shaun Scott and Henry Carelse, Directors of Worldwide Integrated Logistics (WIL) provided Smart Procurement with an up to date market analysis of this core driver of cost and performance.
Posted by Bernie at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)
Procurement intelligence becomes "empowered."
Thirty Percent of procurement intelligence provider Cutting Edge Procurement (CEP) has been acquired by a BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) grouping led by businessman Althaf Emmamally (pictured). CEP provides business intelligence tools for analysing, managing and optimising the procurement environment to some of the largest procurement organisations in the country.
Posted by Bernie at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)
Find out about KEY supplier failure before it happens
Is your strategic supplier's business about to fail? Even they might not be 100% aware of their situation...
Business Safety Ratings is an innovative new service that assist procurement officers to select safe, new suppliers and to aid ailing, existing suppliers. Early signals of a possible need for bale-out or remedial intervention assist buyers in anticipating potential supplier failure before it happens.
Posted by Bernie at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)
PC Prices drop faster than the rand strengthens
(To view the graph clearly, click on the image) The above graph represents the average purchase prices for standard desktop and laptop PCs recorded by Purchasing Index in their continuous quarterly PC benchmarking service. The graph shows that the cost of PC technology in RSA has continued to drop far quicker than the Rand has strengthened against the Euro and US Dollar. In addition the specification for the standard desktop and laptop PCs has improved dramatically in the last three years until January 2006.
Posted by Bernie at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)
