While many solutions providers in the procuretech space have focused their efforts on automating or simplifying operational procurement, my guest this week is from a company who have used this technology to bring AI-driven benefits to the spend analysis process. Instead of just providing a spend dashboard, Simfoni is seeking to distinguish itself from an increasingly crowded marketplace by offering spend classification, a suggested savings roadmap and risk analysis all in one. We discuss how thi...
Jul 15, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Preparation for negotiations has long been something that we as procurement professionals know is vitally important, but all too often we're stuck in the weeds with firefighting and process-related administrative work to do what we should be doing. Add to this the difficulties we also face in obtaining the necessary market data. Maybe your organisation has stopped subscribing to commodity price data channels because the subscriptions are too expensive Or you're new to a category and you don't kn...
Jul 08, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Accounts payable issues are something that we as procurement professionals shouldn't really need to get involved in but inevitably we do. In these instances, our role is usually the equivalent of a fire extinguisher. It performs no added value and very rarely do we receive any recognition for it. So why does it land in our inbox? Because, well, where does the buck stop when the supplier hasn't been paid or invoices have been lost? Yup, that's right. If we own the vendor relationship, then you ca...
Jul 01, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Although it may not seem that way as we emerge from Covid-19, the war for talent is just about to get real. The thing is, it's the war for the right talent. If you're in a fairly generic, operational procurement role then I HIGHLY recommend you listen to this episode and take ACTION before you find yourself in a role that's becoming obsolete, thanks to the unstoppable march of technology and automation. In this episode I'm joined by experienced recruiter Martin Smith of Talent Drive, a UK based ...
Jun 24, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Procurement has an image problem. We're often seen as the department our stakeholders and business partners run to when they have a problem that requires an immediate reaction. We're often brought in to extinguish the fire extinguisher, but rarely to prevent them from happening. So, how do we move from being a reactionary department seemingly in servitude to our stakeholders, to a better respected business partner that is seen as a value generator. Part of the solution is making our contribution...
Jun 17, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 13
We've often spoken about different software solutions and certain, specific areas of the Procurement flight deck which can be automated or digitised. Here, we're taking a step back and looking more holistically at dissecting a project from the conception, right the way through to after installation and commissioning has been completed and managing the performance of the vendor throughout the duration of the contract. Sourcing a vendor, contracting with them, and then actually orchestrating an en...
Jun 10, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Technological capabilities are changing fast. While it can sometimes sound like a cliché, there are tasks which can be aided by robots now that can massively expand our knowledge and remove what previously would have been many hours of administrative work. In this show, we dig into what artificial intelligence (AI) can do to aid sourcing and buying teams, and how machine learning and cognitive buying can expand our knowledge of the supply base, as well as removing many hours of work from the sou...
Jun 03, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Marketing spend is one of those areas which often goes untouched. While many larger companies don't have a policy of having procurement manage this spend, smaller companies and especially startups don't have in-house procurement teams but nonetheless, they still have a considerable marketing budget as they grow and scale as a business. Enter Sarah Scudder, my guest on this podcast. Sarah is a marketing services procurement expert and also the co-founder of a software company which helps companie...
May 27, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Managing contracts can be a massive time suck but also an often under-utilised way of mining for gold when it comes to discovering savings opportunities. In this podcast, I speak to Daniel Barnes of Ikaros Consultancy. Daniel is a law graduate and also recently launched his own podcast, World of Procurement. We talk about how the human touch, combined with automation of repetitive tasks, is the best solution when considering how to best manage your supplier contracts. Contract Management – Danie...
May 20, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Before you can go out there and run a tender and select a provider for all of your digital transformation and procuretech requirements, you need to have an overview of what's out there, and what differentiates the different providers and types of software, right? So, that's why I invited Joël Collin-Demers on the show to give us a Source-to-Contract 101 lesson so as you can get a broad knowledge of what type of solutions are on offer. Joël is a Source-to-Pay (S2P) expert and consultant from Mont...
May 13, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Anthony is the CEO of Una, a US-based group purchasing organisation from Kansas City. He joins me on this episode of the podcast to explain how digital procurement initiatives don't necessarily need to be complex. It's all about leveraging technology + expertise to hit the sweet spot of saving client organisations both time and money when it comes to managing tail spend with vendors where the buyer would otherwise not have a great deal of buying power. If you're a "C" customer to some of your lo...
May 06, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Sarah from Let's Talk Supply Chain and Shipz joined me for a great chat about how digital trends are shaping the wider supply chain industry, and how procurement fits neatly into that. We both agree that increased collaboration and the developing trend of both functions reporting into the same line can only be a good thing when it comes to better alignment of business objectives and delivering value to organisations. Supply Chain Digitisation - Sarah Barnes-Humphrey from Let's Talk Supply Chain ...
Apr 29, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Susan Walsh is The Classification Guru, bringing you affordable solutions to clean up your data before undertaking any digital transformation project. Dirty data is the scourge of most organisations, both large and small. We discuss the approach, the root causes of poor data, what to do about it, and how maintaining key data is the key. Doing it once and then washing your hands of the problem is a recipe for disaster! Fixing your Dirty Data - Get your data classified, so you can deliver savings ...
Apr 22, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Stephany Lapierre from rapidly-growing supplier data startup Tealbook joins me on this week's episode of The Procuretech Podcast. We talk about all things machine learning when it comes to getting clean, meaningful vendor data without the need for "push" based solutions from vendors or master data analysts. With poor data and lack of in-house resources or capabilities often cited as a major objection to why firms decide not to purchase enterprise level procuretech for their digital transformatio...
Apr 15, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Eddie McGeachie from Seaforth Analytics and Accelerated Insight joins me on The Procuretech Podcast today to discuss how data and supply chain analytics have shaped his career over the years. We dive into how his company now helps boutique procurement consultancies and direct clients to understand the data from disparate systems and formats, and how understanding data . I've long been a proponent of getting your data ducks in a row, so this was one long, golden nugget of an interview for me. So ...
Apr 08, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Tarmo Saidla joins me from Procurement Flow, an Estonian startup focusing on: Making workflows more visible for procurement and requisitioners Keeping budgets under control for CFOs Allowing project managers to keep track in real time of what in the process their requisitions for materials and services are at. The classic "to do", "doing", "done" kanban interface of the tool allows buyers and stakeholders to collaborate on projects without the need for silos and email-based communication. Buyers...
Apr 01, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Joining me on this week's podcast is Pieter Kinds from TenderTool. TenderTool is a freight sourcing platform with a difference. Pieter claims that both buyers and freight forwarders alike see the benefits of using such a tool. If you've tried to source freight using a traditional provider of e-sourcing software (like I have), you'll soon realise that these tools are not well equipped for transportation tenders. Below are some of the highlights from the podcast. Note: Since recording this episode...
Mar 25, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1
If you've just found us and want to learn more about what The Procuretech Podcast is all about, our inaugural episode does just that. It's a solo episode with just me, outlining what to expect from the series and from future episodes. Technology is having an ever-more important impact on our lives. It's a golden opportunity for us in the procurement function to have our moment in the spotlight and grab the C-Suite's attention. Digital procurement transformation will, I hope and truly believe, fa...
Mar 09, 2020•5 min•Ep. 1
