The Procurement Software Podcast

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 source-to-PO process.

3:18

What actually is AI and what is the difference between AI and machine learning?

6:20

Benoit walks through a couple of practical examples of how a tool such as Silex can help procurement departments work more effectively by analysing the market's capabilities as well as all internal data on the incumbent supply base.

10:17

How "clustering" can enable sourcing teams to find potential suppliers on the market for specific items or components, in cases where a buyer may not have the necessary knowledge of the marketplace.

14:22

Benoit explains how Silex gathers market intelligence on so many different suppliers out there, enabling them to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the buyer.

15:53

We discuss how a tool such as this is not only used to derive greater savings. The real advantage is often seen as the ability to have greater market intelligence and a better synposis of the supply base in all countries.

18:34

How an AI-driven tool together with the human ability to think and evaluate effectively can be a killer combination when fuelling sourcing decisions.The consideration of total landed costs, coupled with the robot-powered intelligence of who can supply what in which country / region.

21:01

Using AI to serve both larger corporate clients as well as smaller businesses, and how it could potentially benefit both depending on the project and objectives.

22:48

How Silex can be used as a stand-alone tool with individual modules in the cloud, or can be integrated into customers' ERP systems.

25:51

What's next for Silex and how they plan to scale and grow their offering.

Benoit's LinkedIn profile

Silex website

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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 companies procure print media.

We dive into how most requests and POs for marketing spend are for print and promotional items. While this creates most of the work, it's often often not where the real value is delivered, this being high frequency but low PO value in nature. By optimising and automating this, marketing procurement can add more value on where the big bucks are spent, on digital and visual media.

2:47

Sarah explains how buying marketing services is different to many other categories, and how bringing procurement in to manage their vendors can often be contentious.

5:14

Why difficulty at the beginning to engage and persuade stakeholders shouldn't put you off, and why marketing spend is a huge untapped opportunity that has a great potential to bring home some fast savings.

6:49

Sarah sheds some light on why senior marketing leaders are often prickly when procurement want to come onto their patch and manage their spend.

8:41

Why digital media and print media, as the main big buckets of marketing spend in most companies, are 2 very different beasts.

10:35

We dig into some specifics of print media and how it fits into the classic 80/20 pareto of it being 20% of the spend but 80% of the workload and total vendor count.

13:18

Sarah introduces how sourceit as a tool can assist with reducing workload and making processes transparent when it comes to sourcing print media requirements, both as an internally hosted catalogue for frequently purchased items as well as a guided RFQ process for one-time buys.

17:30

Why print media has many different nuances that are tricky to take into consideration if you don't have a strong background in procuring the category, and how sourceit already take this into account as part of the guided RFQ process.

19:20

Sarah walks through how, unlike most e-sourcing solutions, sourceit offers a mixture of both an outsourced procurement service for organisations who don't have their won marketing procurement, as well as the SaaS product as a stand alone solution for bigger organisations who just want to increase their productivity.

21:40

We get down to talking turkey about how to convince the business to use this type of solution in terms of hard and soft benefits.

28:08

Now is a better time than ever to penetrate marketing organisations and reach out to gain influence over their spend, as budgets are cut and they are having to deliver more with less.

Sarah's LinkedIn profile

sourceit website

Real Sourcing Network website

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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.

2:42

Daniel explains how he landed into the contract management space in the procurement world.

6:30

How Daniel took his experience working on government defence contracts and was able to take these key learnings into the private sector and civilian industries.

7:38

Are there significant differences in approach when considering smaller businesses versus larger corporates?

9:45

How the technology and resources could be different depending on the size of the business and the amount of contracts processed in any given organisation.

11:28

I ask Daniel whether it's better to approach contract management by size of spend basis first and foremost, or by category. The answer he gave was not what I was expecting.

13:20

A funny story of the building with no windows which nonetheless had £100k of invoices for replacement of windows.

16:00

We talk technology, and the advantages and limitations of using tech to be able to make contract management easier.

20:52

Why a digital contract management solution will only work if your organisation is ready to embrace it and your existing systems and processes can support it.

22:40

How to build a business case for a contract management solution. Is it primarily cost avoidance? And if so, how to convince a CFO to part with their budget to implement a solution to successfully manage it?

25:52

Does operational and tactical procurement have a future? Daniel has some pretty strong views on how these roles will likely be eliminated over the coming years.

Daniel's LinkedIn profile

Ikaros Consultancy website

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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 Montréal, Canada and has extensive knowledge gained in this field from his time in large organisations.

2:39

"An expert is someone who has seen all of the mistakes you can do in a narrow field" - Joël explains how his experience in consulting makes him a prime candidate to advise clients on their digital procurement requirements.

3:31

Why enterprise level ERP systems such as SAP and Oracle are not necessarily the best systems for procurement teams to pull the data they need.

7:26

Joël explains the difference between P2P and S2C (because I hate acronyms!) in terms of what different pieces of software can do.

10:23

Why traditional ERP systems are great for doing operational purchasing requirements but are less smart at performing strategic procurement tasks.

11:20

How procuretech solutions can be applied both as a complementary function to a legacy ERP system, as well as a stand-alone solution in smaller businesses, and what potential pitfalls need to be considered.

13:53

How different solutions may be required depending on the size of the business, and how this can impact the technical requirements necessary for implementation.

16:23

Is it better for immature procurement organisations to approach this differently and take baby steps first, before going down a complete enterprise level solution?

19:29

We talk about the people factor, and how this is essential in ensuring a successful transformation.

20:33

Optimising resources to be able to take staff from operational or tactical roles into performing more strategic functions, the challenges around doing this, and the importance of having IT alignment when undertaking a digital transformation.

22:39

Joël explains what the next steps should be once there is IT alignment and budget has been signed off, through to the point where you actually select a vendor and move into contracting.

26:16

Why it's vital to do one specific piece of due diligence that many companies simply miss out of their sourcing process, and why it's not as hard as many buyers perceive it to be.

Joel's LinkedIn profile

Pure Procurement website

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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 low spend, non-strategic suppliers and you wished you could get better prices or service from them, this episode should answer some of your questions and curiosities about how group buying could be one solution.

He also loves the term "Sourcing Hero", as you'll find out when you listen to the podcast!

1:47

How Anthony became involved with the Una setup and who they serve as their client base.

4:06

We dig into how group purchasing is not a new concept per se, and how Una's model has put a unique spin on how to best serve the downtrodden "Sourcing Hero".

8:34

Who Una focuses on with their client acquisition strategy, and what they see as the key strategy areas where a GPO model can add the most value to a small, under-resourced procurement team.

10:00

Some of the challenges encountered when selling the advantages of a GPO to potential clients, and how educating the prospective client is often a major factor in convincing them that there really can be a win-win outcome to combining spend to leverage better pricing from otherwise non-core categories.

12:49

Why a consultative and educational approach can allow clients to concentrate on more strategic categories of spend, while relinquishing control of the long tail of non-core spend can deliver ongoing savings and a well-managed process virtually on auto pilot.

15:07

The 3 ways how a buyer & supplier matching service such as a GPO can potentially make money, and how Una approaches this with their business model.

18:35

The approach Una takes to offering up-sell services in cases where clients may be seeking a more hands-on approach to strategic sourcing support and consulting services.

20:15

How Una plans to expand and grow, utilising technological developments which can be leveraged to better manage client and supplier data.

22:06

That old chestnut...DATA QUALITY...that just keeps coming up!!

Anthony's LinkedIn profile

Anthony's personal brand website

Una's website

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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.

2:01

Sarah's story of how she went from the family business to Let's Talk Supply Chain as a stand alone full-time business and how this has spawned various spin-offs and sub-niches.

6:00

Is Supply Chain ahead of the curve with digitalisation versus Procurement?

10:10

We talk about the concept of a Chief Value Officer as Head of both SC and Procurement, and how continuity of supply and cost savings could be meshed into one overarching objective for both functions to deliver. This joined up thinking could drive benefits across the business through better alignment of objectives.

12:01

Procurement's lack of involvement in managing the spend of the Supply Chain function and how this total cost of operation is still quite siloed in many organisations, with often minimal procurement involvement in the supplier relationship management of logistics vendors.

13:56

How can technology help to propel Supply Chain out of the Covid-19 crisis? What types of innovations could be key?

16:05

Sarah touches on issues with legacy 3PL IT systems, and we talk about how a lot of 3PL and 4PL vendors don't have fully integrated systems across all functions and how this can lead to a data deficit when evaluating optimisation opportunities.

18:00

We talk about 2 possible scenarios to deal with increased supply chain volatility in future, and the different potential consequences depending on which of these approaches an organisation decides to take.

19:50

Will more statistical modelling become popular when it comes to considering total LIFETIME cost, considering aspects such as TCO, risk management, capex investment and impact on inventory held? What other technology is out there already which will be adopted much faster by organisations when we emerge from the crisis?

23:23

We discuss how innovation is driving the trend for larger companies to partner with and get to know innovative startups. The future will likely see more collaboration in this space between medium-sized companies and startups, rather than just large corporates, in order to ensure they don't get left behind.

25:20

How being forced into remote work is actually proving to be popular and is likely to become mainstream post Covid-19.

26:08

We touch on the remote work and geo-arbitrage opportunities that this could drive and how this could be of benefit to both employer and employee from a cost perspective.

27:37

Sarah talks about her new startup which helps to match SME shippers with ocean and airfreight forwarders, her goal and vision for the business and how it plugs a gap in the current market.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Let's Talk Supply Chain website (includes links to podcast and YouTube channel)

Shipz website

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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!

2:05

Susan's story of how she became a data specialist, from quite an unconventional work experience history!

6:45

Why starting with the basics and making data FUN is core to Susan's approach to data.

7:25

Where to get started if you're a complete beginner to the topic of cleaning your data. A "Data 101" of how to get the basics in place and what the best first steps to take should be.

9:20

Consistency is key - the first rule of data classification. Using a master taxonomy that sits above any local level data classification.

10:12

The first step: Supplier normalisation (vendor master harmonisation) to remove duplicate records of the same vendor.

11:31

Once vendor records have been harmonised, Susan then explains how the next steps are really dependent upon the client's setup and to what level of detail they wish to categorise their data.

13:32

What is the recommended programme for ongoing follow-up and data cleansing reviews? We dig in to how much ongoing maintenance is necessary, depending on the specifics of each case.

15:49

Proactive roles which can be playes to ensure data governance is given the necessary importance in roles and responsibilities throughout teams.

18:58

Susan gives her best answer to anyone facing the conundrum of how to put together a business case for senior leaders to sign off on the costs of a data cleansing initiative.

20:58

The opportunity cost question: Is it more cost effective to do this in-house? Why would you task your category managers or procurement analysts with this, when it's not their core job?

22:30

Ownership of data (or lack of!) Why this conundrum scuppers most organisations, and what can be done to change this. Where should data ownership sit, especially in a larger organisation?

24:29

The role that a Chief Data Officer could play in future, and how this could disarm some of the politics of "who's data is this anyway"?

Art of Procurement Episode 301

The Classification Guru website

Susan's LinkedIn profile

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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 transformation initiatives, this one is a real game changer.

1:31

The spark behind what drove Stephany to found Tealbook

4:18

Educating executives of hyper-growth companies of the importance of procurement early on in their growth journey

5:32

What the biggest inhibitor was for these companies when it came to making trusted decisions.

7:31

Why getting 100% visibility of who you do business with, and who you SHOULD do business with, is vital.

9:10

How Tealbook uses big data and machine learning to clean and enrich supplier data, and how this removes reliance on "push" systems of vendor master data management.

11:05

The "eureka" moment for Tealbook and the pivot which changed their direction.

14:14

When you have good data, then the opportunities of what you can utilise it for are endless.

15:06

Case study of improvement in supplier diversity data. Using Tealbook's machine learning dug up 1,600 additional suppliers that were missed through internal audit / validation system in a Fortune 500 company's native reporting mechanism.

17:22

Why digital transformation doesn't succeed on its own, and why poor data will ultimately scupper any enterprise level procuretech software implementation.

18:21

Tealbook as the data foundation that powers the software market, rather than a stand-alone solution.

20:20

If your supplier date is independently in the cloud and is self-enriching, then just plug it in to a 2-way integration. No IT resources or ERP integration necessary.

23:32

Partnering with the larger S2P and P2P software providers, and how this strategy will ultimately help the software providers to remove a common objection (poor vendor data) to signing up to a contract with them.

26:29

Grab your free supplier report for Covid-19 mitigation efforts.

29:20

Webinar series --> check out Tealbook's website for more info.

Stephany's LinkedIn profile

Tealbook's LinkedIn Page

Tealbook website

Free Report to help with Covid-19 mitigation

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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 much so that I just let Eddie keep dropping bombs of value, and even after a fair bit of editing I was still about 10 minutes over our usual episode length!

Warning: If you're not a native English speaker, you might have to listen slowly to understand Eddie's Glaswegian accent - it's a tough dialect! - but you will get TONS to ponder after listening to this.

1:45

Eddie explains how his long and successful career eventually led him to the Supply Chain Analytics space.

5:32

Good fortune allowed Eddie to be in a job where he was given the freedom to work 25% of his time on passion projects. Learn what he decided to work on.

7:08

Getting the basics in place first. I offer up 3 fundamentals of what every procurement department should get in order and then ask Eddie for his take. His answer was not what I expected: surprising but very insightful.

9:10

Eddie explains the importance of procurement and supply chain having a presence at the top table, both to increase influence and to be seen as a value driver rather than an overhead.

11:29

Why being able to understand the same language that all stakeholders speak and being able to "get" where each department or affected party is coming from is vital

14:00

Eddie explains the value of finding the pivotal person in any organisation at the beginning. The person who understands at source what data and queries can be pulled from the existing systems in place. Usually, he mentions, they don't sit in procurement.

17:03

I ask who are Seaforth's client base typically and what different type of products and services are on offer.

17:58

Is the analysis performed a one-off exercise, or can they integrate with existing ERP systems?

19:10

How the Accelerated Insight tool brought together 150 disparate files on one procurement transformation project, and why having the data on its own is not enough. You need to understand what the data is actually telling you.

20:58

We discuss the bane of free text POs and how to make the best of a bad situation with imperfect data. Eddie provides an example of how this led to spotting a valuable irregularity, or can also be used to spot patterns of potential fraudulent transactions.

26:30

I ask whether there are specific categories which are better suited to their tools and analytics.

28:20

How price anomalies can be easily exposed from the analytics they can run, without the need to manually check invoices at first.

29:35

We discuss whether these findings can apply to direct or indirect materials alike.

31:34

Why Eddie believes that data science techniques and fundamentals should possibly be part of the CIPS qualification or at least general procurement onboarding training in large corporates.

Accelerated Insights website

Seaforth Analytics website

Eddie's LinkedIn profile

Contact Eddie by email

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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 on the same team can work on the same requisition or project without the need to be copied on emails or attend unnecessary project meetings.

What's more, this tool doesn't require connectivity to an existing ERP system to get the key benefits from it.

I discover how this simple, but effective tool helps especially with remote-based teams and with one-time purchase requirements for key projects such as capex.

Eliminating maverick spend and early procurement involvement are major objectives to keep spend predictable and under control. Both of these are at the centre of what Procurement Flow facilitates.

NOTE: My side I had an audio glitch (I'm still learning this whole podcasting thing...I'm human!) So, if you're wondering why my audio is a bit distorted, now you know. I hope it doesn't detract from the podcast!

0:45

Is "Trello for Procurement" a fair description of Procurement Flow?

1:48

We discuss the fact that procurement is behind the curve vs. more progressive industry sectors (tech startups, for example) with regard to ditching email chains for managing workflows and tasks between team members.

3:13

How UX is behind everything in Procurement Flow's DNA.

4:43

Is it really possible to digitise within a day (as their website claims) by switching from an email based requisitioning system to using Procurement Flow?

6:19

Tarmo explains why he sees the biggest value of Procurement Flow as being to bring under control and give structure to the pre-PO part of the procurement process.

7:30

We explore the need for visibility of stakeholder requirements, as well as early procurement involvement, and how a user-friendly tool such as Procurement Flow can improve compliance by increasing the number of cases where procurement input happens before the last minute "I need a PO, can you negotiate this?"

8:15

How Procurement Flow can aid and facilitate collaboration, especially among remote working teams.

9:32

Tarmo explains 3 critical time-sucking activities in operational procurement, from sourcing through to PO placement, and how he is convinced that Procurement Flow solves all of these.

11:53

I ask how easy would it be to put together a business case for Procurement Flow if it doesn't drive any hard, P&L visible savings which can clearly be attributed to its use.

14:41

Who is Procurement Flow's typical ideal customer base?

16:14

How does Procurement Flow plan to grow, and what additional features are in the pipeline to keep improving the product?

19:11

To wrap up, I ask Tarmo which countries they are currently serving with their software.

Procurement Flow website

Tarmo's LinkedIn profile

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