Clearly doesn’t understand the goals of their function!
the doctor keeps an eye on Procurement news, even though it always
- depresses him
as every day it seems there is a new public scandal - tires him
as many publications push the same non-innovative agenda that seems to come out of a Big 6 2007/2008 play-book
and at this time of year
- causes major eye rolling
because it’s conference season and it seems all the big S2P suites have to hold their shows at the same time, go head to head, and see who can come out on top in the classic Bugs and Daffy duck-season rabbit-season argument
And then, once in a while, he sees a headline so ridiculous that he has to wonder just what brand of pharmaceuticals the writers are on. As he writes this, after doing a search for “Procurement” and having the top headline be about how drones are going to be central to tomorrow’s role, he can’t decide if he should shake his head and cry or scream at the idiocy at the top of his lungs until somebody listens.
As a Procurement Professional, you have one primary goal:
- Save Money
and two secondary goals
- ensure availability
- reduce spend through reduce demand
and a plethora of tertiary goals (that the C-Suite spew lots of rhetoric on, but never measure you on)
- lean process (time) reduction
- unit cost reduction through product redesign to use less costly / more renewable materials
- faster acquisition time
- proactive risk mitigation
How does a drone?
- Save Money? It doesn’t. It costs money, can’t deliver large products, has little security, etc.
- Ensure Availability? It doesn’t. Radio interference and your product goes off course. A small EMP and your product ends up in pieces.
- Reduce Spend? It doesn’t. No explanation should be needed.
- Lean Process Time? It doesn’t. They don’t go that fast. Require careful planning. And so on.
- Reduce Unit Cost? It doesn’t. No explanation should be needed.
- Speed up Acquisition? Unless you’re trying to get a product to the 100th floor when the elevator is broken, it doesn’t.
- Reduce Risk? Considering another unmanned piece of hardware adds risk, it obviously doesn’t.
You use drones when you need to get products where a human shouldn’t go. And in what part of your Procurement operation are you sitting a desk somewhere humans shouldn’t be. Seriously!
Now get your drone off my lawn!