Advanced Spend Analysis: Take Your Sourcing Operations to a New Level

Authored by: Mickey North Rizza

How much are we spending? Who are we spending it with? How can we save even more money?

For many organizations – spend analysis provides the answers. But too often, the process stops after procurement cuts the ‘low hanging fruit.’

Cost cutting will always be critical, but companies miss a major opportunity to really impact their top- and bottom-line. The reasoning: Their visibility, data and analytics are limiting.

There are many roadblocks that hold companies back from going deeper with spend analysis. The most pressing: lacking time and resources, and limited data sets. Regardless of the reason, a surface-level approach to spend analysis fails to paint a complete picture of an organization’s spending, and limits procurement’s impact.

Procurement Value Creation Ideas

Authored by: Mickey North Rizza

Much has been written about procurement value creation. When all’s said and done it is about providing company shareholder value. Shareholder value equates to profitability and return on investment (ROI). If you analyze these two components you can capitalize on a few ideas to help your business move forward.

Defensive Behavior: A Sign of Lost Opportunity for Value Creation

Authored By Mickey North Rizza

Procurement organizations have long been criticized for being overly cost conscious, resource and technology constrained and extremely reactive. This perception fuels negativity within the Procurement team, bringing about defensive behavior. The perception turns to reality when senior management finally takes notice – their Procurement team is a laggard when compared to the industry leading Procurement teams. Unfortunately, it is also a sign of lost opportunity and can equate to millions and even billions of pounds in lost revenue, cost savings, and working capital.

Is your Procurement Team Driving on all Cylinders?

Authored by Mickey North Rizza

Have you ever ridden in a convertible car that is just purring along the highway, with the wind providing just enough breeze to keep you cool, the stereo and speakers on the perfect tune, and you feel you are in total control and in harmony with the road and your surroundings? That is the precisely what happens when procurement value contribution becomes so significant that it positively impacts both the top and bottom lines of the business.

What is Spend Under Management?

Authored by: Mickey North Rizza

“Spend Under Management” is a misunderstood term among procurement professionals. Spend is the easy part of the definition, but ‘under management’ is left up to the definition of management.

Those starting to measure Spend Under Management typically consider it to be the Spend that is actually touched by procurement (source to pay). More advanced companies consider it the Spend that is covered by a sourcing plan, sourced, contracted and controlled.