By Bill Huber, Director, CPO Services, TPI
Procurement Outsourcing:
Here at SIG, Rajeev Menon, VP & head of Procurement Services for Genpact based in Hyderabad, and Judy Burds, VP Business Development, reported that Genpact has seen a significant pick up in procurement outsourcing awards in recent months. This has included stand-alone purchase transaction processing for a global pharmaceutical company, expansion of addressed spend with existing customers, and significant procurement work as part of several larger F&A engagements. Genpact is also seeing interest growing in their tail-end spend management services.
New Position Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO)
IBM showed its recent research on "The Supply Chain of the Future" which included fascinating data on five critical issues: Cost Containment, Visibility, Risk, Customer Intimacy and Globalization. According to IBM, the CSCO combines the role of the CPO and the COO. It was a visionary session which provided much food for thought for all in the room.
Our view
We have rarely seen a higher level of intellectual engagement at a conference, and there has been significant exchange of best practices. The consensus is that despite the current political climate, sourcing decisions are now, more than ever, critically focused on solutions that will provide greater value to the customers for the same or lower price. This suggests an increase in the emphasis of capability in the "3C Framework for Successful Sourcing Strategies" (Capability, Capacity and Cost). I expect to see many of the approaches discussed at this event increase and become more mainstream during the next year. The silver lining in all this is likely to be meaningful innovation and improved productivity in sourcing.
