702: Meeting Supply Chain Volatility with Agility and Resilience w/ Frank McKay
Release Date: 06/03/2024
Art of Procurement
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
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“During COVID, we went from just in time to just in case. Unfortunately, now supply chains have to factor in risk mitigation. Finding alternative sources of supply might be a little more pricey, but it reduces the risk.” - Alan Arcand, Chief Economist at Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Economic uncertainty and tariff volatility continue to shape procurement strategies and supply chain decisions across North America. As businesses grapple with unpredictable policy shifts, the need to interpret nuanced economic signals accurately has become critical to maintaining stable operations...
info_outlineArt of Procurement
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
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Halfway through their 24-episode journey, the co-hosts of “Buy: The Way...To Purposeful Procurement” pause to assess what they've learned so far about how procurement has and is evolving, and, more importantly, what’s ahead for the future. In this reflective episode, Philip Ideson, Rich Ham, and Kelly Barner bring together insights from their recent conversations that confirm a troubling trend in procurement: not only are the P&L-related harms of procurement's flawed incentive structures real, they're also worsening over time. It is time for procurement to course correct. ...
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"The way we start looking at every unit of work in a workflow flips from being something that's truly human-led to something that can be increasingly human-reviewed and driven, but not necessarily initiated as a human." Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research at Zip The pressure for procurement to do more with less means innovation is no longer optional… It's necessary for survival and growth. The game changer? Agentic AI: artificial intelligence capable of perceiving, analyzing, and taking action, all with minimal supervision. In this Art of Procurement podcast episode, Philip Ideson...
info_outlineArt of Procurement
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
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info_outlineArt of Procurement
Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
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Sometimes the most damning evidence about an industry or an organization comes from the inside. In this second installment of “Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement’s” deep dive into supplier tactics, two former supply executives continue exposing the ins and outs of the supplier playbook they used on procurement when they were on the other side of the fence. Bob Schreiner, former CIA section chief and G4s operations executive, explains how security guard service providers can obscure margin increases within seemingly reasonable wage adjustments for officers. He also exposes the...
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“Procurement officers are going to have to go hunt for the solutions they need and the workflows that can help their business. I do feel like to do this job properly moving forward, it's an offensive job, and you don't have the luxury of sitting back.” - Matt Ziskie, Co-Founder, Bungalow Capital How procurement approaches working with smaller, innovative startups can look quite different than other supplier relationships. From lengthy sales cycles, complex negotiations, and mismatched expectations… these and other roadblocks can crop up in different ways depending on the size, scale,...
info_outline“You have to make investments in your supplier network if you want to be successful. The old days of ‘I have to win, and you have to lose’ are gone. We are so transparent. We are using technology. Relationships are key.” - Frank McKay, Chief Supply Chain & Procurement Officer, Jabil
In 2023, Jabil conducted a 2023 Supply Chain Survey in collaboration with SIS International Research. In this episode, Philip Ideson sits down with Frank McKay, Chief Supply Chain & Procurement Officer at Jabil to discuss the results, which pinpointed things like cost reduction, customer satisfaction, communication, and visibility as some of procurement’s top-of-mind challenges.
In addition to sharing his own experiences as a practitioner for over 25 years, Frank also discusses his perspective on the evolving role of procurement and how they can better reduce supply chain operational costs, as well as how Chief Supply Chain Officers should be adjusting their strategies in response to rapidly shifting global supply chain dynamics and volatility.
In the episode, they also explore:
- How procurement should be integrating AI and machine learning technologies into their processes to elevate their function and drive greater impact
- The complex nature of managing global supply chains and how to meet these challenges
- How procurement can help build more resilient supply chains that can adapt to geopolitical tensions, market volatility, and rapid technological advancements
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