Profit from Procurement

14CONCLUSION: Summary and Final Thoughts

You've made it to the end of the book, and we really don't have much left to share at this point. Nothing to do but to recap the key messages that we'd like you to take away.

You will have noticed a number of themes that run across the chapters of this book. They are our key messages (Figure 14.1); if you remember nothing else, try to remember these. If tomorrow or next week or next year you design a Procurement transformation program for your organization, cross-reference your plan against these seven themes, and make sure you have all the right elements in place and are approaching them in the best possible way.

When you read these themes, you'll notice that none of them are rocket science, and none of them offer a huge “a-ha! moment.” And that's because they are all straightforward, obvious things: good people, working cross-functionally, making sure the savings are credible. None of this is “next level Procurement,” it's just strong Procurement that delivers results.

Figure 14.1 Chapters and Themes

Procurement Is Not Rocket Science, but It's Difficult to Do It Right

The fact is that most Procurement strategies, approaches, and ideas sound simple but can be very difficult to execute in practice. We think sourcing office supplies must be easy, because office supplies are not strategic to our organization. In reality, sourcing ...