Procurement Gaining Supply Chain Visibility

Extracted 26JUL2011 from http://mhlnews.com/global/procurement-gaining-supply-chain-visibility-0726/

Procurement professionals can add value in their companies’ businesses by taking a stronger role in supply chain management, according to Accenture’s new 2011 procurement research study, Compulsive Contributors: Accenture Research and Insights into High Performance in Procurement. The report designates this type of procurement professional as a “master,” and according to Accenture’s research, many such Chief Procurement Officers are now poised to influence their companies' financial performance. Supply chain visibility plays a key part here, but still represents a huge growth opportunity.

According to this report, 29 percent of procurement executives have little to no visibility into their supply base beyond the first-tier suppliers while masters integrate effectively with their supplier networks and go beyond their first tier of suppliers.

37 percent say they have “some visibility into operations of suppliers,” but do not actively manage those relationships. In other words, they have structures in place to manage risk, but handle adversities as they come up.

Just 10 percent say their procurement team “proactively manages” their supply chain, such as by conducting their own market research, analyzing costs, or monitoring suppliers. This puts them in a better position to respond before sudden disruptions impact their market share or financial performance.