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What are the 3 biggest challenges faced by supply chain/purchasing professionals today? (Survey Result 13)

Written by: Jon Hansen

Article Overview: There are many factors both internally as well as externally that are affecting supply chain/ procurement practices today. From the growing talent vacuum to the continuing lack of collaboration between Finance, IT and Purchasing relative to corporate initiatives. What in your own experiences and opionions are the top 3 issues that procurement professionals face?

What are the 3 biggest challenges faced by supply chain/purchasing professionals today? (Survey Result 13)

Martin, Independent Education Management Professional, Goteborg, Sweden

My experience is based on retailing, fashion goods and the car industry. Here's what I suggest:

1) Time.
2) Cross functional teams
3) Managing cultures.

In several industries the time to market is crucial. Sourcing is increasingly off shore/china/global ( this means longer lead times for transportation, sourcing and contracting) while competition and market demands more frequent product introductions and updates. This is manageable if the design/product upgrade is improved and the SCM aspects are considered from the beginning.

Integration of design, market, purchasing- early involvment. Easy in theory but hard in practice, is it possible to consider sourcing/purchasing aspects while designing according to market needs?

Managing cultures is more about mind sets and how to do successful business. How to manage the overseas offices? How to negotiate and do business on a global basis- the mind set "I want to win and reduce MY costs" without considering how this affects the supplier and fits the cultural context in countries where "win- win" is the norm for a successful business relationship.

My 0.02¢

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Article Tags: business relationship, car industry, china, cultural context, cultures, education management, fashion goods, functional teams, global basis, goteborg sweden, independent education, involvment, management professional, market demands, norm, product introductions, successful business, time to market



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