Want an Exceptional Supply Management System? Do NOT Forget the Supplier!

Exceptional results come from the right intersection of exceptional talent, exceptional technology, and exceptional transformation. The three T’s.

And while each piece is important, and no piece can be ignored, the importance of good technology is often overlooked, and, more importantly, key factors that differentiate good technology from great (and exceptional) technology are almost always overlooked — and this is one reason why there are so few true best in class Procurement organizations (and why the Hackett top 8% is the top 8%).

So what makes a great Supply Management System?

Factors include, but are not limited to:

  • ease of use as even a junior buyer should find it natural
  • customizeable workflow as it should fit the transformed organizational processes
  • data import/export as data will need to be imported from ERPs and predecessor systems and exported to successor systems
  • templates and template customization so that RFXs/Auctions/Orders/etc. can easily be created, customized, copied and reused ad infinitum
  • multi-currency support as most Procurement organizations have to deal internationally

And each and every one of these factors should be considered, and included in the evaluation of the supply management system, and systems that do not score well against each and every one of these factors tossed aside, but is this enough to insure you get a great system? Of course not!

First of all, it has to contain all of the specific functions required of the system you are evaluating. For example, if the organization is looking for strategic sourcing, then the organization needs optimization-backed RFX and Auction capability as well as analytics and spend analysis. For Procurement, requisition management, approvals, budget integration, automatic (split) PO creation, good receipt management, invoice acceptance and m-way comparison, etc. And so on. If all functions are there, and all work well, it could be a great system — for the organization.

But will it be an exceptional one? Not necessarily. Exceptional systems need lots of data — and use — to produce exceptional results. Some needs to come from the organization. Some needs to come from third parties. And some needs to come from suppliers. And typically that data is needed in (near) real time. Which means you need suppliers to use the system — which is something they are only going to (want to) do if it’s easier for them to do it in the system, than do it outside the system (and bitterly complain if they are forced to use it to submit invoices to get paid).

This means that the system also needs to be designed for the supplier — something many first, and even second, generation systems were not, even if they had a supplier portal.

Not only should the system be as easy to use for the supplier as it is for the buyer, but it should enable their workflows, provide them with templates, make data import and export as easy for them as it is for the buyer, offer them full multi-currency support as well, and support the internationalization necessary for all of your suppliers in the countries you do business with to use it in their native language.

For example, if you want a supplier to respond to each and every RFX and auction, make it easy for them to manage their catalogs and quickly select the relevant products, update price lists, define volume discounts, and define what you get to see — and don’t get to see. If you want a supplier to use it for e-Invoicing, make it easy for them to upload, create, manage, and track invoice status not just of invoices sent to you, but of all their invoices (as chances are their AR system or sales system doesn’t do that). Make sure they have the same rights to create user accounts, set permissions, and delegate work (especially with respect to RFX responses) to the right people as you do. Let them toggle between languages. And, most importantly, before they submit, let them see what you see the way you see it.

And if the system is truly exceptional, you’ll easily be able to see what they see (with a toggle view) before you send it. Suppliers are your supply chain, so it’s as important to support them as it is to support you — and an exceptionally designed system will do that.

If you want to stand out, don’t answer the top 10 procurement questions! Part II!

As per yesterday’s post, if you Google “top procurement question”, you get a bunch of links to articles about top procurement interview questions and how to answer them, including this Slideshare that has some decent questions and answers, but not questions the doctor would actually ask other than to see how sharp you were (at detecting hidden intent), and definitely not answers that showcase the true range of your Procurement capabilities — which is what the doctor would want to know (as he’d only interview for a senior position and only if a company wanted a true leader, which most companies, despite the talk, still don’t want — but that’s another book). In our last post, we took the first five one by one. In this post, we’ll take the last five one by one.

Question: What Do You Know About Us?

Suggested Answer What Googling that Sh*t told you.

Problem: Of course it’s important to know what the company does, what it’s (stated) values are, etc. — and any good candidate is going to know that. So how do you expect to stand out?

Real Answer: I know that you do … and that you are committed to … but I also know that this presents a number of challenges for a Procurement organization, including … What ones are you experiencing now, how are you addressing them, and what ones will this position get to tackle? With respect to … I feel I could be a big help because of my experience with …


Question: Why Do You Want To Work With Us?

Suggested Answer Honest answer that addresses the organization’s values and vision.

Problem: Every candidate and their aloof disinterested cats can bullsh!t a 100% acceptable response to this question and it often plays little into day to day responsibilities where the rubber meets the road.

Real Answer: I love your value and vision and the products you make, but most importantly I love the work that I expect I will be doing on a daily basis. I can’t wait to apply my skills in X, learn more about Y, and tackle new territory in Z. There’s just so much to do that I feel this is just a starter role and I can have a career at your company, and maybe even your job someday when you are promoted to COO or CEO (as all good CPOs should be).


Question: Why Should We Hire You?

Suggested Answer An answer that links your skills, experience, education, and personality to the job itself.

Problem: Again, every candidate and their aloof disinterested cats can bullsh!t a 100% acceptable response to this question and it often plays little into day to day responsibilities.

Real Answer: An answer that links your skills, experience, education, and personality to the job AND showcases the innovation you can bring.


Question: What Kind of Salary Do You Need?

Suggested Answer Turn it Around, because she who plays chicken first loses the negotiation.

Problem: Salary is only one aspect of the picture.

Real Answer: It depends on the overall benefits package. I’m looking to stick around, so what do you have for health/disability benefits, retirement savings matching, continuing education, work-life balance, etc. Don’t just turn it around, say you expect your worth, but you’ll consider the full picture.


Question: What Questions Do You Have For Us?

Suggested Answer Any question that will allow you to demonstrate how you might make an impact.

Problem: Actually, this is the only question the doctor does not have a problem with, if you take the right approach, and the question is broad enough for you to do that! Just be sure to use all the tips and tricks outlined in the last nine points to emphasize you want to understand better how you can help and prepare yourself to hit the ground running, tomorrow even.

If you want to stand out, don’t answer the top 10 procurement questions! Part I!

If you Google “top procurement question”, you get a bunch of links to articles about top procurement interview questions and how to answer them, including this Slideshare that has some decent questions and answers, but not questions the doctor would actually ask other than to see how sharp you were (at detecting hidden intent), and definitely not answers that showcase the true range of your Procurement capabilities — which is what the doctor would want to know (as he’d only interview for a senior position and only if a company wanted a true leader, which most companies, despite the talk, still don’t want — but that’s another book). To explain, we’ll take them one by one.

Question: Describe a suggestion of yours that was implemented.

Suggested Answer: Any suggestion you made that your employer adopted to some degree of success.

Problem: If your boss was the PHB’s (Pointy Headed Boss’) brother, then chances are your best suggestion wasn’t even understood, yet alone considered. Their failure shouldn’t be your failure just like their random success shouldn’t be your success. The real key to evaluating your innovation capability is the best suggestion you made (implemented or not), why, and the data you have to back it up.

Real Answer: The best suggestion that was implemented was … as it increased effectiveness/efficiency/sustainability in the following way … but … the best suggestion I ever had was … as it would have increased effectiveness/efficiency/sustainability in the following ways (and I did the following analysis to back it up) … but due to lack of risk tolerance / change management support / etc, it unfortunately never got implemented. Then ask, “how does your company support this process”?

Question: What Experience Do You Have in Procurement?

Suggested Answer Whatever you did to support Procurement, direct or indirect.

Problem: The best Procurement professionals ARE NOT from Procurement (fields).

Real Answer: I have the following Procurement experience, but the real contribution I am able to make is my background in engineering/manufacturing/IT/etc. as it will allow me to better support your engineering/manufacturing/IT/etc. as I know what they need, why, and where to find better alternatives, etc.

Question: What Is Your Greatest Weakness?

Suggested Answer What you honestly feel, why, and what you are doing to tackle it.

Problem: Your greatest weakness might be relatively harmless in your target role. Maybe it’s people skills, but you are applying to be the senior analyst to support the senior negotiator. Maybe it’s math, but the organization is one of the smart few with an optimization-backed sourcing platform. Etc. Little impact.

Real Answer: My greatest weakness is … and I am doing this to improve on it … but I feel, even though I’m relatively strong, the area I could most improve in is … as doing so would help me deliver my employer the following benefits …

Question: What Challenges Are You Looking For?

Suggested Answer Any challenge — past, present, or future — that will allow you to utilize your skills.

Problem: What you are seeking might be of zero help to your employer.

Real Answer: The challenges I expect to encounter in this position are … and I expect to be able to tackle them using … and expect these … benefits. You want to show that you’ve done your homework and know what you’d be getting into and are the perfect candidate.

Question: Have You Ever Had a Conflict? How Was it Resolved?

Suggested Answer Describe a conflict and how you handled it in a way that emphasizes your approach to conflict resolution.

Problem: If this is your first senior Procurement role, the conflicts of the past are playground to what you should expect to encounter.

Real Answer: Start out with the suggested answer, but move on to the methods you will use during communications and negotiations with stakeholders and suppliers to try and avoid conflicts in the first place. Conflict resolution is good … but conflict avoidance is better!

Want to Fail Faster? Automate it! (Repost)


This post first appeared six years ago. But it’s as relevant today as you plan your budget requests for the acquisition of new Supply Management systems, so it’s being reposted.

This article in the McKinsey Quarterly on a better way to automate service operations nailed it: processes and work practices are best designed and implemented before companies roll out the new IT. Otherwise, the COO will walk into the field operations control center after spending millions on a new automated scheduling and dispatching system (and over a year implementing the software and installing the hardware) only to find that response times have not improved, and the number of jobs each engineer handles in a day has not increased.

This experience is all to common for leaders of service operations organizations that manage large groups of remote or distributed employees, including those that have made multi-million dollar IT investments in areas such as automated dispatching, schedule prioritization, workflow automation, and performance management. This is because these systems require processes and work practices different from those used in non-IT enabled situations.

This means that before a company implements a new service management system, the company not only has to sit down and baseline its current operations, but determine how these processes need to change in order to appropriately utilize the capabilities of an automated system. This is because best practices developed over the years to insure that manual processes don’t break down tend to be over cautious due to the limitations of the average person to manually schedule hundreds, or thousands, of resources across thousands of jobs — limitations that today’s software doesn’t have.

To succeed, a company needs to go back to square one and define the goals of its service operations, the resources it has available, and the equipment at the resources’ disposal. It has to throw away all of the old rules and constraints and be sure to only define true constraints (an engineer is only available 8 hours a day, service for tier 1 contracts must occur within 24 hours, etc), not perceived constraints (an engineer can only handle two calls a day, the repair must be by an engineer at the closest office, etc.). And then it has to trust the system which can optimize across thousands of variables.


Remember, a good Supply Management function is a service to the rest of the organization, so it’s important they have the processes and platforms to serve the organization right.

Fifty Years Ago Today …

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act became law in the US and the roads got a lot safer for everyone. Considering that this was about the time that trucking became the major means of transport in the US (despite the fact that well designed rail could be more energy and cost efficient, but as per Tuesday’s post, many industries are not energy or cost efficient), this was a very good thing as safer roads make surer deliveries.

What do you think LOLCat?