Procurement is a transversal and collaborative activity. Investing in transformation any activity related to business is an adventure and doing it well in a time of uncertainty as the one we are living is a huge challenge.
On October 27 a live webinar in the context of the Open Executive Programme of Procurement Management was held focused on the theme of “Procurement Transformation – EDP Experience”. Diogo Leal de Faria, Executive Board Member of EDP Global Solutions was the special guest of this live webinar, which was moderated by Eduardo Santos, Director of the Open Executive Programme of Procurement Management.
EDP Global Solutions is the center of shared services of the EDP Group, which provides services to all enterprises of the Group, conquering a referral position in the sector of support services to the business and real state.
During the webinar Diogo Leal de Faria focused themes related with the transformation of Procurement for which a digital ecosystem as robust as flexible is vital. From the topics addressed by Diogo Leal de Faria, the experience of the EDP Group within the activity of Procurement (Global Procurement Unit) responsible for the procurement of the Group and managing the relation with suppliers, focusing on the strategic role and the competence of adding value, while ensuring operational activities. This unit collaborates with the diverse areas of business through an integrated process, while guaranteeing transparence and compliance to all the stakeholders engaged.
In the context of the transformation of global and integrated management of procurement within the Institution and the positioning of the procurement activity itself in the EDP Group, Diogo Leal de Faria highlighted the crossover of Procurement activity through the diversity of businesses of the Group and with most impact in the “cash outflows”; and its optimization represents a huge opportunity of return. How to add value to the business, instead of being perceived as a mere transactional partner and compliance, is the biggest challenge of Procurement.
For Daniel Leal de Faria, Procurement is “a collaborative activity par excellence. Therefore, Procurement, in practice, Procurement cannot do anything alone”. It collaborates with internal and external stakeholders and its competence of collaborate and manage stakeholders is one of the most relevant features of Procurement.
Managing the relation with the suppliers is an element that impacts all the business areas and, for this reason, the way to go is an integrated vision of the partners and consequently an integrated vision of the supply chain. In a time in which the supply chain is increasingly unpredictable, Procurement is vital to support the Institution to mitigate the risks generated by the transversality of its role.
In this journey of transformation of Procurement, Daniel Leal de Faria shared five lessons learned:
1. The role of Procurement shifted, and it can be leveraged; having reached a position as a business partner responsible for the planning, and creating the opportunity of anticipating, analyzing, and planning. Procurement can boost a systematic transformation in the way business is made. Procurement does not act alone, and its potential impact depends on its expertise of internal and external collaboration.
2. Managing the relation with the suppliers is vital to support the process of transformation; as well as to create value and contribute to transform priorities (positioning, planning, and anticipating; sustainability/ risk). Managing the relation with suppliers allows collecting the market’s reactions, sharing information with the entire Organization, and guaranteeing a close cycle of processes (from selection to performance).
3. Procurement contributes for sustainability. In the context of Procurement one of the biggest challenges for the Organizations, as well as an opportunity to optimize performance, relies in formulating a global vision of sustainable practices of the supply chain.
4. Managing the risk in the supply chain is fundamental because the volatile world and constant transformation we live in drive us to understand focusing only on efficiency is not enough. It is crucial to adopt a proactive attitude, anticipation, and protective measures, and being skilled of reacting fast.
5. Procurement needs a robust digital ecosystem; this means the ecosystem must be capable of maintaining the balance between flexibility and coherence of solutions and must position itself to profit from the evolution of the market.
EDP has been internationally recognized as a leader in the context of the sustainability of the supply chain in times of turbulence. Dow Jones Sustainability Index acknowledged EDP as “Best in Class” regarding the sustainability of the supply chain.
The EIPM Peter Kraljic – Awards for Excellence appreciated EDP as Leader of transformation in times of turbulence.
Registration is open for the next edition of the Open Executive Programme Procurement Management, which starts on November 15.
The webinar is available here.
The six winning teams will get mentorship from Bioblue Alliance and BGI, aiming to transform these six ideas into successful and sustainable businesses.
