Ashim Talukder

Purchasing teams are drowning in tactical work—here’s how you can ensure they deliver cost savings early in 2025. I interviewed five manufacturing purchasing leaders recently, and I heard a consistent theme: Cost savings is a top priority in 2025, but it's become harder than ever to meet savings goals. Suppliers are still demanding price increases based on rising labor and energy costs. Purchasing teams are overwhelmed by tactical challenges and some are under-skilled. A real rock-and-a-hard-place scenario. Here’s what is working to quickly deliver savings: Step 1: Segregate the spend and identify categories and/or sub-categories that are not closely managed and don’t require customer approvals or lengthy supplier validation process to resource. These are typically in the range of $2M - $20M annual spend. Step 2: Develop a savings target to energize the team. This likely will require some investigation to assign spend into actionable buckets. Experienced category experts are invaluable for estimating the savings potential for each bucket (hint: develop a range and use the low end to make sure you can under-promise and over-deliver). Step 3:  Interview stakeholders to understand their needs for suppliers of the target category and where pain points exist with current suppliers. Other important information to gather during the stakeholder interviews is what they rely on from current suppliers and what improvements they’d like to see. Step 4: Identify potential alternative suppliers and vet them against the things stakeholders have shared they want from suppliers (a best practice is to confirm the list of necessary supplier attributes with stakeholder and get additional feedback). Step 5. Conduct a streamlined market test. Obtain competitive quotes on a representative market basket of items and projected volumes.  Quickly narrow the quoting suppliers down to your top choice and a back-up. Negotiate terms with the top choice, knowing you have your back-ups quote in case the top choice isn’t willing to collaborate to strike a deal that works for both parties. With these 5 steps, and someone with deep category knowledge, we've been delivering savings in as little as 14 weeks, and you can too. Are you a manufacturing leader looking to quickly implement cost savings? DM me, and let's discuss your untapped opportunities. You could implement $200k - $500k in savings in as little as 14 weeks, with fees based on the savings achieved.

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ASCM CEO Abe Eshkenazi and Supply Chain Management Review Magazine's Robert Trebilcock reflect on supply chain challenges, trends and past guests on the final episode of The reBound. Listen in or download today! https://bit.ly/4aQe5IG #therebound #podcast #supplychain

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Supply Chain. As we talk with Dr. Susan Olson, Action Intel CEO, we start with the basics. We ask Susan to describe the supply chain, just to make sure we are all on the same page of the terminology. Join us for the conversation and hear Susan's wisdom on this very complicated subject. #VisionTechPerspectives https://lnkd.in/gDREGJE2

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Procurement plays an influential role in overall business performance, and the function is becoming increasingly strategic. Learn what this evolution means for chief procurement officers: https://bit.ly/4hTwND2 #procurement #supplychain

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Recent years have seen myriad supply chain disruptions, at home and abroad. COVID-19, geopolitical unrest, and recent extreme weather events – among other factors – changed how our supply chain ecosystem functions. #supplychain #procurement #professionaldevelopment https://lnkd.in/gEkxYzaP

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Strategies for successful supplier turnarounds, from timely decision-making to fostering stakeholder collaboration: https://owy.mn/3xJpvjd #TurnaroundandRestructuring #SupplierTurnaround

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Click on the link and read or listen to this interesting article. Then contact 1TCC and learn more about how we can help you maintain a capital efficient supply chain.

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Adding to your Global Supply Chain Executive team? You should probably speak with this candidate! 💠 FlanStaff Passive Candidate - P&L - Global Supply Chain Executive 💠 🔹 Strategic Leadership in Electric Vehicle Technology 🔹 Led the development and launch of cutting-edge electric and robotic product offerings, contributing to an 80% increase in annual sales and driving significant revenue growth. 🔹 Supply Chain and Cost Management Expertise 🔹 Delivered $30M in annualized savings through strategic sourcing and operational improvements, stabilizing supply chains, and implementing sustainability initiatives. 🔹 Proven Success in Turnarounds and Startups 🔹 Successfully navigated companies through challenging periods, including maintaining operations during Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while achieving a 50% increase in profitability for the Aftermarket Business. 🔹 Global Program and P&L Management 🔹 Managed a $500M P&L, overseeing diverse departments including R&D, global sourcing, and business development, while leading a team of 11 directors with a $60M annual budget. 🔹 Innovative Cost Reduction Strategies 🔹 Achieved 3% total material savings by developing and executing global cost reduction programs, leveraging cross-functional teamwork and supplier partnerships to expedite cost-down projects. 🔹 Inspiring Leadership and Stakeholder Collaboration 🔹 Known for identifying untapped revenue opportunities and fostering innovative solutions through effective collaboration with key stakeholders, inspiring teams and driving continuous improvement. #SupplyChainLeadership #EVIndustry #GlobalExecutive #StrategicManagement #TalentAcquisition #AutomotiveInnovation #SustainabilityLeader #OperationalExcellence #CostReduction #TurnaroundSpecialist #SupplyChainOptimization #ElectricVehicles #ExecutiveRecruitment #BusinessTransformation #InnovationLeadership

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I didn’t have the heart to tell him. “Here’s my pain point with consultants, they don’t implement,” said a Purchasing Director at a tier-1 automotive supplier. “Cost savings ideas are basic.” He’s right that strategic sourcing initiatives – projects focused on filling the savings pipeline for next year – end with the consultant delivering a report detailing 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 cost savings. These can fill the saving pipeline for next year, but a lot of work needs to be done before cost reductions are implemented. This commonly includes up-front investments in tooling, customer approvals, and new supplier validations.  So what wasn’t he considering? There are certain commodities that don’t require these things. We’ve had great success implementing savings in MRO, packaging, and logistics in as little as 14 weeks. And we lead the way, through negotiation commercial terms with the new suppliers. There’s also ways to bring competitive pressure to suppliers that haven’t been feeling it. Again, we stay involved through the negotiations. One commodity this is common for is resins. With resins, you can close the gap between what you should be paying and what you’re being charged no matter if indexes are going up, down, or staying flat. Any category that has not been closely managed and there’s a managed spend between $2M and $20M is a great candidate for finding a consultant who can help you 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 cost savings. Because cost savings ideas are basic and implemented savings go the bottom line. DM me to discuss if you might have untapped opportunities to implement $200k - $500k savings (with fees based on savings achieved). #CostReduction #Sourcing #Procurement

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SUPPLY CHAIN TRICKY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS SERIES: A high-demand product frequently experiences stockouts due to an unreliable supplier, negatively impacting customer satisfaction. The supplier is constrained by long lead times and limited flexibility. What steps would you take to address and resolve this issue? What is the most effective solution?

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How do you build a resilient supply chain? There are many options for increasing the resiliency and responsiveness of your supply. Not just you and your Tier 1 suppliers, but the entire top-to-bottom supply chain down to Tier N and raw materials. - Add second or third suppliers for critical components - Add more safety stock inventory at different locations in the supply chain - Bring suppliers closer through onshoring or nearshoring - Shorten production and manufacturing times - Ship components through multiple ports or transit ways - And so on... This list is great. But, it's a bit overwhelming. You can't do all of them at once. So, where do you start? That's where #scmBLOX can help you. #scmBLOX can quantify all these options so you can prioritize them and implement the most useful solutions first. For example: - If you're going to add another supplier, what component should it be for? - If you're going to add more inventory, where is the best location to put it? Should there be more than one location? - If you're going to onshore some manufacturing, how does that transition occur and when can you be fully functional? - If you're going to reduce cycle times for manufacturing, which processes are the most important? Which processes are bottlenecks? - If you're going to ship through multiple ports, how well does this work when there are disruptions? If these questions are keeping you up at night, come talk with us. We can help.

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ISM partners with CAPS Research to advance the supply chain profession, offering relevant and cutting-edge data to help you make better strategic decisions for your organization. Transactional buying remains the biggest focus for supply management headcount, claiming 29% of resources. Strategic sourcing has the potential to produce greater value, but these resources are a smaller portion of the team mix at 23% overall. Members can access The Metrics of Supply Management: A Cross-Industry Report 2024 in the CAPS Library to see the full report.  #CAPSstats #supplychain #scm https://lnkd.in/ePrjZmSp

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Supply Chain vulnerabilities have always existed, but it was the pandemic and recovery efforts from it that brought the concept of Supply Chain out of Operations Management and front and center at the kitchen table. Those of us who've devoted their careers to "Plan, Source, Make, Deliver" also understand how satisfying it is when everything is running well and how frustrating it can be when things are not. My colleagues at Capgemini have been hard at work throughout to meet clients where they are with Supply Chain challenges and to bring the best of our knowledge and our digital capabilities to the fore to help solve the problems of today and anticipate those of tomorrow. To that end, check out this latest video from Jesse Draper and the Insights & Data team at Capgemini describing the top 5 supply chain accelerator solutions: https://lnkd.in/eZWWJtJC #SupplyChain #SupplyChainResilience #LifeSciences #DigitalTwin #GenAI #GetTheFutureYouWant

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Labor strikes and tense negotiations continue to highlight vulnerabilities in supply chains, emphasizing the urgent need for resilience. This article by Lisa Anderson in Supply Chain Xchange explores how businesses can mitigate such risks by investing in flexible strategies like diversified sourcing, robust inventory management and strong supplier relationships. This shift is crucial for companies aiming to maintain stability in uncertain conditions. Check out the full article: https://ow.ly/EmQu50U54nW #LaborStrikes #SupplyChain #SupplyChainXchange

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In a world where uncertainty and disruption are frequent, companies must ensure the near-faultless quality of their #SCM strategies. #GSCI co-executive director Thomas Goldsby recently spoke with Supply Chain Digital about the evolution of the discipline and the effects of digitalization, a greater focus on sustainability, and adoption of new technologies. "#Supplychain excellence not only allows a company to meet customer needs and to do so with acceptable margins, but it should also help to advance the business. We should not only take the marching orders thrown over the wall by sales and commercialization areas of business, but we should also be able to lend an innovation capacity that allows new value creation opportunities to manifest from the supply chain." Read more: https://hubs.la/Q02TsYqt0 cc: Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee

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Is there a danger in undervaluing Supply Chain Management ? I do say Yes - getting > 50 - 75 % material and innovation from your supply base triggers importance to actively control material costs, mitigate risks and create value on that front to stay competitive in the market - Staying away from it and eliminating heatcount does not improve competitiveness and costs more than it saves

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THE BEST SOLUTION IS OFTEN... to simplify. Great article below to which I would add the advice to shorten and simplify your supply chain. Long chains inherently contain a greater number of weak links. In-shore, near-shore, re-shore if you want greater security and less risk. #supplychainsimplification

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