John Wooten

Procurement Ops Digest issue 6: The future of AI in procurement 📫 🤖 The latest edition of Procurement Ops Digest is LIVE 🎉 This month, we survey the state of AI and orchestration in procurement. We look at where vendors have fallen short, what the future of AI and orchestration in procurement *should* look like, and what it will take to get there. Including: ✅ An introduction of the Tonkean Enterprise Copilot, our new AI and orchestration capability that works behind the scenes to do everything employees *want* AI to do for them—the bureaucratic, back-office busywork—so they can focus more completely on creating unique, strategic value that drives the business forward. ✅ Webinars + case studies with Alejandro F., Head of Global Procurement at Semrush and Kenny Trinh, head of the Legal Automation Group at Workday ✅ Long form essays from Matt Aaronson, Director of Product Marketing at Tonkean and Cody Deitz, our AI specialist ✅ A preview of July edition of CPOstrategy, Shelley Salomon, VP of Global Business at Amazon Business, and Sagi Eliyahu on the power of intake orchestration and procurement's rise to the top of the agenda in the c-suite. ✅ A preview of the July cover story for Procurement Magazine, featuring Michael V., CPO of Coupa Software ✅ An interview with Dawn Tiura of SIG|ORG ✅ Art of Procurement co-founder Philip Ideson sits down with Sagi to discuss the Enterprise Copilot and how it changes procurement intake. ✅ A new essay from Legal Dive Magazine Lead Editor Robert Freedman, who considers what legal teams can learn from forward-looking procurement departments about spend management (featuring Chair of the Buying Legal Council Jason Winmill) ✅ A deep dive into intake management and orchestration + updated coverage of 16 vendors—from Spend Matters ✅ An exclusive interview between AIM Research and Sagi about the state of AI and orchestration in the enterprise. ✅ Michael V., CPO of Coupa Software, joins Sagi for a wide-ranging conversation on Modern Business Operations Read the newsletter in full—and subscribe!—here: https://bit.ly/4dxZLp3 And to learn more about how we're thinking about AI at Tonkean, hit the comments 🤜 🤛 #Procurement #ProcureTech #DigitalProcurement #AI #Orchestration

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Today on CPO Rising — “Procurement News” https://lnkd.in/eimz8738 Today on Procurement News, we’re congratulating several procurement leaders on their new hirings as well as their retirements. Those featured include Todd Huetinck who joins Whataburger as CSCO; Tuomas Tiilikainen who was appointed CSCO for Oriola; Fabio Grazioli who was named CSCO for SIG; Dan Rosckes who announced his retirement from Apple Inc.; and industry veteran Michael Papaleo who retired from C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC. Check out more details about our featured procurement executives as well as supply management news. #procurement #chiefprocurementofficer #procurementnews #promotions #procurementexecutives #supplymanagementnews

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🏈 Tom Brady's team-first mentality is a game-changer for procurement. Discover how Brady's leadership insights can #transform your #procurement strategy for 2025. Read: "Procurement Playbook: Brady's 2025 Leadership Lessons." At Levelpath, we believe in the power of teamwork and technology to drive procurement success. Our AI-powered platform simplifies workflows, aligns procurement strategies with business goals, and ensures sustainable value, just like a 🏆 championship playbook 🏆 Ready to transform your procurement team into a powerhouse - let’s strategize for 2025!! 🏈  #Leadership #AI #Teamwork #Levelpath #TomBrady #Innovation #StrategicAlignment https://lnkd.in/eujxepnV

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I’ve been in Procurement and Supply Chain consulting my entire professional career. And still, it amazes me how many organizations—many substantial in spend (upwards of $100M)—are paying list price for the goods and services they purchase. This can be for several reasons:  i.e. insufficient time or resources, procurement efficiency residing outside of the primary focus of keeping the business running, a lack of expertise, etc.  As a result, a lot of opportunity is left on the table. One of the frustrations I’ve had as a practitioner is the perception among companies that it takes a major investment, a consulting team, and an in-depth spend assessment by a large outside firm for cost-effective procurement support. In most cases, they aren’t completely wrong. Usually, engaging an outside consulting firm begins with a small team whose spend and opportunity assessment makes the case for bringing in an even larger team to help execute on the findings.  Don’t get me wrong, this can result in significant ROI.  However, it does require a significant upfront investment, which some companies aren’t ready to include in their budgets. Now consider a variation on that theme. Namely, talking to an expert and having an extra set of hands to help you identify and realize some quick wins, without any major commitment.  Just some help to negotiate pricing, implement contracts, or find new suppliers so you aren’t paying list price for what you buy, thereby allowing you to maintain your focus on the core of your business. Working with a smaller firm means you can avoid a sea of red tape as well as a strict set of offerings you can only access on a package basis.  It can be as simple as reaching out to me for an initial conversation to see what your challenges are and how I and my colleagues can help.  I don’t have sales targets and boilerplate offerings that I must stick to; I have the flexibility to propose what I think can help your company and the freedom to discuss openly if I think we might capitalize on some synergies. If you are interested in seeing how we can help, let’s chat. Eric Brumfield 305-582-8947 [email protected] https://lnkd.in/e6TbgmqZ

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In my experience, there are two main forms of procurement leverage: 1. Volume 2. Competition If you bundle purchases, instead of spreading purchases out over the year, you’ll get a better price/unit. If you’re then asking more than one supplier to quote, you might safe even more. Example: ⭐️: 100 people buying 100 computers throughout the year for $1,000 each. Total spend: $100,000 ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Procurement buying 100 computers for $900 each with a flexible ordering schedule. Total spend: $90,000 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Procurement buying 100 computers and receiving offers from several suppliers and negotiating a final price of $800/piece. Total spend: $80,000 The result of using volume and competition levers? $20,000 saved and in most cases: - Higher quality - Better payment terms - Increased delivery speed - More favorable terms & conditions It’s simple: Volume and Competition safe $’s! — There’s one situation in which too much volume can hurt you, do you know when that’s the case? What other forms of procurement leverage would you add?

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Looking at global procurement through a strategic lens leads to smarter decisions. It also means strategic sourcing and working with redundancies in supply; all, of course, while keeping costs down. Today’s supply chain leaders must create a procurement process that includes contingencies for logistics and raw material suppliers, factoring tariffs, embargoes and trade wars into the global procurement plan: https://hubs.ly/Q02tg8Gd0 #SYSPRO #SupplyChainManagement. The control you need. The experience you want. #SupplyChain #ProcurementSoftware #DigitalizedProcurement #DigitalTransformation #SayYesToNext

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Looking at global procurement through a strategic lens leads to smarter decisions. It also means strategic sourcing and working with redundancies in supply; all, of course, while keeping costs down. Today’s supply chain leaders must create a procurement process that includes contingencies for logistics and raw material suppliers, factoring tariffs, embargoes and trade wars into the global procurement plan: https://hubs.ly/Q02zWCkQ0 #SYSPRO #SupplyChainManagement. The control you need. The experience you want. #SupplyChain #ProcurementSoftware #DigitalizedProcurement #DigitalTransformation #SayYesToNext

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Procurement puts a lot of effort into managing RFPs, but one area often overlooked is providing feedback to the suppliers who weren't selected. Giving meaningful insights - beyond just "you were too expensive" - creates value for both procurement and suppliers. It strengthens supplier relationships, leads to better future RFP responses, and positions the business as a client of choice. In this week’s episode of AOP, Philip Ideson shares practical tips for efficiently providing valuable RFP feedback to unsuccessful bidders. https://lnkd.in/guPBzea7 #artofprocurement #RFP #RFPresponses #procurement #suppliers

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“My fundamental belief is that AI, and automation won't replace all of the procurement jobs – it just won't, because procurement is still fundamentally a people business.” - Karen Mansell, CEO, Accelerate Procurement Speak to Us today! 💻 https://lnkd.in/eA6W8jF3 ☎️ 01386 584072 📨 [email protected] #Procurement #ProcurementConsultants #ProcurementConsultancy #Accelerate #AccelerateProcurement #QuoteOfTheDay #CEO #WiseWords #ThursdayThoughts

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"Supply Chain Professionals Would Make Great __________." How would YOU complete that sentence? Let us know in the comments below! Check out responses from Mark McEntire and other supply chain leaders to this month's #goodquestion via Inbound Logistics:

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The discussion has been lively this week about sales vs procurement and how we should structure bonuses. Some additional thoughts: 1. Who brings more value to an organization? How can sales and procurement, respectively, demonstrate their value? 2. What should procurement's performance metrics be? We've established cost savings is not a good idea. 3. What incentivization measures should we use? #Bonuses #ProcurementBonuses #Sales #Procurememt 3.

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The Most Effective Ways to Manage Procurement in a Global Supply Chain https://lnkd.in/e_m9cWGv #SupplyChainManagement, #ProcurementExcellence, #GlobalSupplyChain, #PurchasingDepartment, #StrategicSourcing, #SupplierManagement, #RiskManagement, #AIinProcurement, #BlockchainTechnology, #SustainabilityInSupplyChain, #PalletsForManufacturers, #HTPallets, #PalletCompany

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Big benefit of building strong partner relationships that no one talks about?  Leveling the playing field with procurement at joint accounts.  Procurement teams often try to use information asymmetry to their advantage. ”no one that we work with has these terms”  “we never pay _____ for _____” ”we only do contracts with an out clause”  These are statements that are, by default, hard for sellers to fact check.  If you have good relationships with partner reps, you can compare notes. This takes away the information asymmetry and allows you to separate fact from fiction.  This can put money in your pocket. 💰 

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Since 2001, ProPurchaser has been a trusted resource for thousands of Procurement Professionals. https://lnkd.in/e3VhGM35 We track commodity cost drivers that affect suppliers’ production costs and alert our members as changes occur. When suppliers’ costs fall, our members use this information to negotiate lower prices; when costs rise, they fend off unsupportable increases. ProPurchaser contains data and tools that allow our members to speak with authority, improve their position, and achieve their negotiating goals. Try ProPurchaser with a complimentary trial today - no credit card required. #procurement #shouldcost #commodities Rod Sherkin Jordan Badenhop Angela Frank

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I was fortunate to spend some time with Sagi Eliyahu on the Modern Business Operations podcast where we discussed what strategy means in the Procurement space. I hope you find our podcast insightful. Let me know your thoughts!

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Purchase Price is a Horrible Procurement Metric! I still encounter far too many procurement professionals who rely on purchase price or purchase price variance as their primary metric for success. It's a narrow and incomplete measure that doesn’t tell the full story. Here’s why: 🔍 Purchase price and purchase price variance ignore critical factors like transportation costs and inventory impacts. Instead, we should focus on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). TCO combines the purchase price with transportation and other incremental costs, providing a clearer view of the actual cost. 🔢 Every business should also develop and publish its unique cost of inventory metric. This isn't just the cost of money. It includes: Opportunity costs of tied-up capital Storage costs Additional transportation or handling needs Obsolescence risks When I shared this with a VP of Procurement, he asked, “Why isn’t it just the cost of money?” Simple: inventory costs go far beyond interest rates. 🎯 The takeaway: If your team is measuring success with simplistic metrics like purchase price or PPV, it’s time to level up. Start tracking TCO and your unique cost of inventory to make smarter, more strategic decisions. What metrics are you using to elevate procurement performance? Let me know in the comments!

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