Technology

The frequent use of 30-day accounts by South Africa's public and private sectors could soon come to an end, with new solutions providing corporate and government entities with a much-improved alternative.

Although 30-day accounts are still widely used by the travel industry, these accounts are an unnecessary burden on Travel Management Companies (TMCs) whom are left to forward-fund clients' travel requirements. This creates cashflow challenges for TMCs.

A panel discussion at the recent Global Business Travel Association Conference has helped to identify many alternatives to the 30-day account, including lodge cards, prepaid cards and single-use virtual cards.

Privesan Naidoo, Head of Nedbank Corporate Card Issuing and American Express Merchants (providing cards and payment solutions for travel, entertainment and procurement) unpacks some of the alternatives in this month's SmartProcurement.

As procurement professionals, what do you think your suppliers think of you - and do you care?

Do they see you as a hard-edged negotiator who wants to strike the best deal, based on price alone? Or do they see you as relationship-driven, keen to create more visibility within the business and developing inter-dependent relationships with your supply base?

Hopefully you want to be seen as the latter, but are the systems and tools you have in place sometimes working against you? Asks Gary Noble, joint managing director of 1st Executive, an international procurement and supply chain recruiter.

Procurement has a key role to play in driving business efficiency in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To maximise its impact, research points to the fact that investing in the skills of people, especially leadership skills, will be just as important as keeping up with advances in technology. Kumeshnee West, Director: Executive Education at the UCT Graduate School of Business, and a panellist at the recent Smart Procurement World Indaba, unpacks this topic in this month's SmartProcurement.

Bring sustainable value to the bottom line

Increasingly, procurement is being looked to for the added value it can bring to the organisational table. Furthermore, expectations are on the rise, with big data and advanced analytics driving decision making to new levels by enabling teams to generate new insights and achieve unprecedented proactive capabilities.

Demonstrating procurement's value can include many components depending on the priorities of any particular company. But, with increased reliance on cloud platform P2P solutions, showing procurement's return on investment (ROI) is a great place to start, says Michael Mitchell, Senior Content Manager at Determine, a source-to-pay enterprise contract lifecycle management solutions provider.

Blockchain is almost everywhere and is getting a lot of hype. It is largely because blockchain is the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, a digital currency (a.k.a. a cryptocurrency) that received a lot of coverage in the media. In the wake of the cryptocurrency craze, blockchain has continued to attract more and more attention.

Blockchain can have a significant impact on business because it can be a powerful tool when establishing trust, which is at the heart of business and procurement.

In this month's SmartProcurement, Bertrand Malterverne, a Solutions Consultant who helps organisations digitally transform their procurement practices, highlights how to use Blockchain to make a real difference.

Join us at Smart Procurement World's Gauteng Indaba on 18 & 19 September where Bertrand Malteverne will unpack blockchain technology and how it will change procurement's world.

Given the inevitability of emerging technologies transforming businesses, how can you prepare your company for AI's impact on procurement? Sami Peltonen, Vice President of Purchase-to-Pay Product Management for Basware North America, takes a look at how procurement departments can mitigate employees' fears.

Join us at Smart Procurement World's Gauteng Indaba on 18 & 19 September to discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain are rapidly redefining the traditional role of procurement professionals.

They say a picture tells a thousand words. How about a procurement meme?

Okay, millennials. Strap yourselves in, because Hugo Britt, Content Manager at Procurious, is going to attempt to meme. Is meme even a verb? Perhaps not, but that isn't going to stop him.

For older readers who don't really know (or care) what memes are, don't worry - Britt's got you covered. Whether it's Bad Luck Brian, Kermit Sipping Tea, or King Leonidas screaming "SPARTA", Britt will attempt to add a bit of context around the meme before applying a Procurement gripe to each.

Join Britt at Smart Procurement World Gauteng in September, where he'll present procurement's "guide to blockchain technology and how it will change our world". He'll look at early applications of blockchain in supply chain, specifically automotive, freight and logistics.

Thinking of investing in some of the latest procurement technology? If you have not consulted market trends, got a third opinion and done all of your research, you might want to pull on the reins, advises Dan Quinn, Senior Vice President of cloud-based spend management provider Jaggaer (Middle East and North America).

Just as digital supply chains bring rewards, they also bring dangers. Supply chain managers are always on the lookout for corruption, but in the digital age the clues are harder to spot, warns Dr Abdul Majid Mahomed, Head of Professional Body CIPS, SA.

By Bertrand Maltaverne, a Solutions Consultant who helps organisations digitally transform their procurement practices.

To be honest, I haven't totally figured out all of the details of the inner workings of the blockchain technology. And I do not think I will ever try to as some of it is very technical. I also do not believe that Procurement professionals should do it either. However, it is important to understand the implications of the blockchain technology. Because of the way the blockchain works, it has unique characteristics that represent a breakthrough with tremendous value for Procurement.

The ambition of creating a developmental state to transform the Apartheid economy has been hamstrung by an inability to implement transformation policies; it is a situation exacerbated by a lack of skills, competencies and capacity; and the patronage of corrupt procurement practices.

Prof. Marcus Ambe, from the University of South Africa's School of Public and Operations Management, in collaboration with Sibongile Shongwe, Director of MtileniMazi Enterprises, unpacks a procurement blueprint to accelerate inclusive growth and socio-economic development, in this month's SmartProcurement.

In what Gartner has called the Postmodern ERP era, eProcurement technology and technology in general has become more accessible from both an availability and ease-of-use standpoint than it has been historically. However, does increased technological accessibility ensures success if cultural misalignment exists within an organisation?

Jon Hansen, Editor and lead writer for the Procurement Insights Blog, unpacks the digital revolution and corresponding cultural influences from procurement's point of view.

How can your procurement team embrace the age of digitalisation and develop an effective roadmap that ultimately puts you in the driver's seat?The digital enablement field is wide open, with no single right answer on how to proceed.

However, there are ways that can help organisations to plot a way forward. CPOs must define a roadmap for change and align it with enterprise-level digital transformation initiatives, says Giles Breault, Supply Chain, Sourcing and Procurement Executive at The Beyond Group AG.

Even though the Procurement function is becoming critical to business success, it all too often remains seen as driving cost savings rather than being worthy of a seat at the Board table in determining and helping to drive broad corporate value.

However, working on the Board of Greensill Capital, a global supply chain finance specialist company, Bill Crothers, a former UK Government Chief Commercial/Procurement Officer, has seen how Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) can make a dramatically positive contribution to the balance sheet, work with their Treasury, Finance, and IT colleagues, and be much more Board relevant.

In this month's SmartProcurement, Crothers writes about how CPOs can build stronger relationships with senior executives and make a dramatic impact on their businesses.