Some of you may be aware of smart contracts. They are a new approach to contracting which uses technology to execute and enforce the negotiated terms. In this article we explore what the future of con...

Now this is a busy week… 8 webinars in three days and not a softball topic among them. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

“…more than 70% of the top 1,000 companies around the world will have adopted supply chain finance programmes within the next couple of years.” (p. xiii) Financing the End-to-End Supply Chain, by Simo...

And… we’re back! After a week (mostly) without events due to the holiday weekend, we once again have a slate of webinars to recommend. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

When you think of outsourcing manufacturing operations, what country do you typically think of? China? Vietnam? Philippines? Yes, Asia is typically the go-to region for companies looking to cut costs ...

The term supplier is banded around with such ease, yet has it devalued the relationship and removed the individual, resulting in generic and stale business relationships? The supplier The associated b...

This week – which is a little slow because some lucky people have Friday off in advance of the July 4^th holiday on Monday – is a unique assortment of webinars taking place ‘anyway.’ Two events on direct spend and one that looks at one of the weaknesses in the procurement customer service program. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

This week’s event schedule is a little crazy – one on Tuesday, one of Wednesday, and then EIGHT on Thursday! With that many events, there is bound to be one that you’ll benefit from. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

Here are my recommendations for the best way to spend 1 hour of thought provoking professional development time this week. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

As a procurement professional, I am frequently tasked with conducting a spend analysis on behalf of current and potential clients, but for those outside of the industry, this may be an unfamiliar exer...

The events count is back up as we return to a full five day workweek, and the calendar looking forward shows no evidence of a quiet summer! Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

This week’s webinar notes are from an event presented by Bertrand Maltaverne, Senior Business Consultant at Pool4Tool, and hosted by Procurify. You can view the webinar on demand here. In the meantime, you may enjoy listening to a recent BMP Radio podcast with Bertrand and “Sourcing Doctor” Michael Lamoureax. Bertrand also has a great blog on Medium: check it out here. 

It is not uncommon for procurement to receive a bonus payment based on the savings the department has achieved. In this post we discuss if procurement would benefit more from being on a salary plus co...

Even with the holiday Monday in the U.S. this week, there are still a couple of events worth catching. In fact, one is a ‘don’t miss’ webinar. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

“Supply chain legal disputes don’t start out as legal disputes. They typically start out as badly written contracts, poor communication with supply chain partners, and an inability to resolve conflict...

There are a full dozen events taking place this week – with no repeats in the mix. If the three events below don’t catch your interest, there are plenty more in the calendar. Click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

In a new effort, announced this week at ISM2016, ThomasNet is looking to put their considerable weight behind one of the trickiest cross-products in all of supply management – the attempt to align demand from corporate procurement and with the innovation and agility of small suppliers. In advance of their announcement, I interviewed Ed Edwards, Manager of Audience Outreach, and Travis Sherbine, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management, from ThomasNet about the realities of making a formal SMB program work.

Let’s face it, there is something unnatural about the fit between big (or even medium sized) corporate procurement and small businesses (hence my labradoodle reference above). But, just like lovable, low-shed labradoodles, there is huge upside for procurement AND small suppliers if they can invest the additional effort required to make their interaction a success.

If you were to review your own procurement team’s achievements and capabilities from the perspective of a customer, would you buy from you? The principle of using an internal business function which i...

In addition to the events below, Jon Hansen and I are presenting an IACCM webinar on Thursday on an unconventional topic: Picture of Dorian Gray, Procurement Pro. Hopefully you can join us! As to my other recommendations, click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.

In addition to the events below, I am the speaker at the May SIG Townhall Teleconference, taking place this Wednesday at 1pm ET. I’ll be talking about Supply Market Intelligence in the ‘Real World.’ Click here to learn more about the event and to register. (Buy side only attendees, please.) As to my other recommendations, click on the title of each event below to view the full description in our events calendar and to connect to their registration pages.