pRoFILES
Ge
short and mid-term strategy planning, ex- a monthly review, we’d be safe for next
Un
t Disc
ecution and continuous improvement of month but would miss several oppor- til Mar
leveraged supply chain processes, which tunities within the month – things that
oun
ch 17
includes demand management, inventory you can’t detect from historical data, or
ts
management (raw, semi-finished and fin- monthly data. It’s a lot more work, but
ished), scheduling, order handling, ware- it definitely improves our company’s flex-
4
th
Indirect Spend
house logistics, transportation planning ibility.
China Summit
and distribution. What’s the biggest obstacle your de-
partment had to hurdle last year?
Renaissance Hotel, Shanghai
What is the hardest part of your job During Q4 of 2008, we saw demand
March 17, 2010
now? decrease sharply -- like a cliff -- and the
For many companies in China, services
Recently, with this economic recession, challenge we faced was how to maintain a
account for one-third of every purchasing
the hardest part is answering this ques- healthy cash flow and secure the health of
dollar spent. And yet, few companies
tion -- how do you capture all the demand our company as a whole. It was a major
have standardized procedures specifically
designed for the complexities of services
as opportunities while at the same time shareholder concern. What we’ve been
procurement. Often, the result is excessive
mitigating the risk of having too much doing very aggressively is reducing our
costs, drawn-out purchasing cycle times,
inventory? In the current economy, our inventory by 30-35%. The project started
and inconsistent workflow procedures.
product lifecycle is becoming shorter and last October and continues to date. We’ve
By attending this summit,
shorter. Our supply chain actually needs cleared a lot of slow moving inventories
you will be able to:
to be really flexible in order to quickly out – This is very difficult especially dur-
respond to market dynamics – Demand ing recession time, but that is the only
Learn how to translate your knowledge
of buying physical goods into the service
management is a true art – you can have way we can generate more cash and keep arena.
all kinds of software to help you do a job, the cash flow healthy.
Hear how leading companies are
but at the end of the day its really comes
managing travel and entertainment (T&E)
as well as marketing expenses.
down to human intuition. Will this make it easier to move for-
Uncover and manage “hybrid” or
ward?
“bundled spend” e.g. services purchases
So, how do you sharpen your intu- Well, it’s hard to say if it’s going to be
bundled with goods.
ition? easier next year – there is a debate on the Develop formal supplier management
I actually rely a lot on my communica- whether the world economy is going to
programs across all service categories.
tion with our sales team. The sales team plateau or continue to climb – we just
Integrate key distributors to optimize
your indirect spend across China.
has got to under- have to keep working
Evaluate new solutions, tools and
stand the market to be one step ahead
services that can help your services
place in order of the trend. If
procurement and management.
to detect market
You can
we’re 10 steps, we’re
Join the debate with China’s
changes – and then too far ahead and
both they and my
have all
leading procurement experts from:
build up too much
demand planning
team have to filter
sorts of
inventory – too far
behind and we’re
this market knowl-
software,
behind the curve.
edge into which When I’m looking at
part is meaningful
but it really
this issue, I have to
information and look at both sides of
which parts can be
all comes
the coin – one side Network with industry peers in
overlooked. shows a growing
an intimate gathering of senior
While in reces-
down to
procurement executives
demand during the
sion, we’ve also in-
human
recovery period that
creased our market has been postponed
Organized by:
review from every
intuition
since the recession,
month to every the other is keeping
week. This means my working capital
Media Partner:
we look at every- healthy. However,
thing -- consumer interests, supply and DuPont knows that Asia is where a lot
THE MAGAZ NE FOR GL O BAL SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERS
demand – at least four times a month. of future business and capital lies, and we
You have to do this in order to stay on have certainly not been hit here as hard as
Web:
www.supplychains.com Call: +86 (21) 62081232
Email:
info@supplychain.cn
top of things. If we were to still stick to in other places of the world.
www.chainaonline.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 29
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