Market Review
Exploring the world of post- pandemic procurement
Emma Botfield, managing director UK & Ireland at RS Components, shares some insights from the company’s 2021 Indirect Procurement Report ‘From Disruption to Recovery’
A
t a time when the effects of the COVID-19 crisis are still present, navigating the way through a global pandemic can be daunting
for many businesses in a wide range of industries. In the industrial world, where disruption to availability of products and parts causes havoc, and the functionality of equipment and operations is crucial, the effects wrought by the pandemic can be far-reaching.
But as we start to emerge, stronger and more prepared from this tumultuous period, we should certainly be proud to look back on what we have achieved and how we have worked through the unprecedented supply chain challenges. As RS executes an annual survey in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), we wanted to make this year’s survey our biggest yet, to really get to the heart of the issues affecting MRO procurement professionals in the current climate. Our 2021 Indirect Procurement Report ‘From Disruption to Recovery’ explores how the category of supplies for Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) is managed – and more than 1,300 global respondents from the procurement profession took part.
With respondents covering a variety of sectors, from manufacturing, technology and energy, through to logistics & retail, transport & defence and the public sector, we were able to identify some of the biggest issues and concerns, the main priorities and the advances that have been made in this rapidly evolving landscape. While some of the business pressures facing MRO professionals remained the same as previous years, we’ve unveiled some ‘firsts’, as well as highlighted day-to-day challenges.
44 December/January 2022
Sustainability comes to the fore as a key priority
With mounting evidence of the impact of climate change, it’s hardly surprising that sustainable and ethical procurement have become a priority for more organisations than ever before. For the first time, it emerged as a business pressure among the top three, preceded by reducing operational budgets and the need to reduce inventory costs. We believe that the pandemic halted some of the strategic projects that businesses were executing to tackle climate change, and that these have now been prioritised. Our survey revealed that respondents from more than half of the UK organisations reported they have a strategy in place for sustainable and ethical procurement – and the commitment was echoed across the respondents from
Components in Electronics
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions.
Sustainability practices being employed among the survey respondents included waste recycling (86 per cent), reducing plastic packaging (almost two thirds), using electric vehicles (41 per cent) and consolidating orders to reduce transportation (45 per cent). Optimising operations is a great way to increase environmental performance too – as efficient manufacturing processes and supply chains use less resources and result in less waste. Suppliers are recognising the importance of being ethical and transparent in their operations, and for MRO procurement professionals, sourcing from suppliers who can be trusted to share sustainability goals – and deliver on them – should continue to be prioritised.
Business continuity plans ready for a comeback
Most organisations’ business continuity plans probably didn’t include navigating a pandemic. Coping with maintaining supply chains throughout the pandemic for many operators has become a full-time job. Most have adapted well to a new way of working, however, it’s surprising that despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, the percentage of respondents having a strategy in place for business continuity planning (BCP) is only at 50 per cent. This is up just four percentage points from 2020.
Some respondents said they would focus on resilience more, having learnt from the impact of the pandemic on the supply chain, while others expected suppliers to step up and shoulder some of the
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