Blog

Many, many articles have been published in past weeks, all attempting to assess the current crisis and foresee future impact. 

From politicians, economists, supply chain experts, Big 4 consultants and Futurists like Gerd Leonhard (very interesting), it is easy to feel overwhelmed and confused. 

Property directors, estate directors, head of acquisitions, facilities director….whatever your title and whatever your industry, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) and mitigating risk are two of the major aspects of your responsibility.

In these days of isolation and social distancing, we all need some positive thoughts and actions.  In a series of blogs over the next few weeks Insider Pro will suggest ideas for new ways of working and planning for the future. 

The majority of us are at home with our families, trying to work whilst keeping safe and entertaining the children.  There is rightfully much in the news about the NHS and essential key workers who are doing such important jobs. 

Casual Dining Chains in the UK have seen a rapid explosion in demand, a number of failures and an influx of competition emerging from new and inventive sources.

Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding, expecting fast service, great food, entertaining environments - in short, an experience that is "Instagramable".

Everyone is working on tight margins, feeling the threat of rising prices due to Brexit, and as a result many are struggling to work out how to increase profits and/or simply survive.

Design for X (DFX) is typically used by manufacturing companies as part of their design process. Used in the kitchen, this process reveals the REAL cost and profit per menu item - an essential step towards improving restaurant profitability.

Disruptive procurement is the process of creating real business value and competitive advantage by:

• deconstructing what the business really needs,
• challenging established business processes,
• leveraging knowledge from outside the normal points of reference, and
• designing, assembling and managing the supply chain in new and innovative ways.

“Disruptive procurement” uses knowledge of the entire supply chain to challenge requirements and drive out business benefits far in excess of any improvements in margin.

Everyone knows that for a business or function to be successful they need to hire great people. Unfortunately, the vast majority of managers and executives will also know the pain and angst created from a bad hire. From having someone in the business who didn’t fit the culture, couldn’t deliver and/or negatively impacted on those around them.

When I tell people that my passion is procurement, most people move on to ask the person next to me what they do for a living. A few others ask questions about the biggest tender I have ever dealt with, or how I feel about supermarkets bullying tactics with food growers and the like.

The uninitiated think that as procurement professionals we spend our time creating tender documents and beating up suppliers on price.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Our approach is VERY different.

Few businesses experience the joy of uninterrupted, problem-free growth; most hit bumps in their journey.

Why is it that any two businesses in the same industry facing the same challenges can have completely different outcomes?

Why do some overcome challenges and others fail to fulfil their potential?

And what is the key to unlocking business growth?