Evolving in response to changes and advancements in technology, procurement is showing marked improvements. Some of these have to do with business practices, personnel and hiring requirements and consumer demands and concerns.
Data:It is set to become even big part of procurement and facilitate in quick decision making and aid in solutions. It along with artificial intelligence is set to revolutionise the sphere of supply chain and processes of procurement. This will lead to time and money savings when machine learning algorithms are applied.
Decline of decentralised buying:More and more companies will start to prioritise contractor and supplier relationships and give procurement the respect it deserves. Other companies will continue to establish procurement departments to improve profits and make wise spending decisions.
Agility: As a result of improved relationships between suppliers and businesses, technological advances and such impact, agility of procurement processes will increase leading to increased consumer demand which will help in edging out the competition.
Transparency: Prevalence of social data via social media will make companies to be more accountable for their practices which will lead to greater chain of communication with customers and potential customers. This can enable companies to change or modify their processes and make decisions based on sales, retention and success.
Sustainable:Through partnerships, collaborations and long-term initiatives, companies can become economically viable which will lead to economic and environmental sustainability.
Ethical:Increased use of ethical ingredients, sourcing, methods and materials will help companies to strategise in the face of consumer concerns.
Innovation: In order to gain competitive edge, companies will become open to risks and breaking the conventions without losing sight of the overall goal of business. Innovation will have to be done with established practices of the industry like cost reduction.
Assessment of risks and their management:In order to accommodate innovation, the idea is to implement risk management practices across the company in order to encompass total risk exposure and threats like risk transfer pricing.
Cooperation between companies and suppliers: It is important to focus on creation of value, efforts and quality. This also helps in improving relationships with suppliers and reduces costs in the long-term.
People are the biggest resource:They are redefining strategies and operations based on their unconventional thinking.
Thus, it is important that procurement keeps pace with the changes in the environment so that all kinds of opportunities can be made use of while combating threats and risks.