Case studies
Best In Class Global Procurement Systems
SECTOR
FMCG
SPECIALISM
Procurement
FOCUS
Strategic Technology Shift
OVERVIEW
The client, a Multi-€B turnover global food manufacturing organisation, had embarked on an ambitious programme to develop its newly established global Procurement function to achieve best in class levels of performance as a means of driving competitive advantage by leapfrogging its competition in the management of $2.8B external spend across Direct and Indirect goods and services.
Having secured the account on behalf of another Procurement consultancy provider we were appointed to form and lead the Global Procurement Systems and Technologies Programme.
VISIBILTY
We created and led the Programme Management Office, secured and managed resources (direct and indirect reporting lines), and created detailed plans and reports to identify and manage progress, delivery, and risks. Coordination was achieved by the selection, configuration, population and management of a real-time online collaborative programme management platform.
To initiate and build understanding and support from across the organisation we engaged stakeholders across all in-scope aspects of the programme :
Geographies : North America, Canada, Brazil, UK and the EEA
Operating companies Bakeries; Food Solutions; Business Services
Departments : Procurement, Accounts Payable, Finance, Business Information, Legal, Master Data
The programme team, the Procurement leadership team, the wider Procurement organisation, and key departmental and operations stakeholders were updated via detailed weekly and monthly reporting packs including progress against programme, dependencies, risk identification and mitigation.
VALUE
The full system blueprint was achieved within 12 months. Once configured, tested, populated, and implemented the new system would provide a fully integrated suite of Procurement modules to ensure the seamless flow of complete, comprehensive, and near real-time information through the entire supplier and spend management lifecycle, increasing the organisation's ability to operate more efficiently and effectively and to increase value.
A series of detailed and intense negotiations with the ERP platform provider unlocked savings of >€500K across software licences and associated services.
By request, the programme was then transferred to the client's Procurement team to ensure buy-in and accountability for the implementation and adoption of the new system.
€10.5M
Business Case
12 months
From appointment to full system blueprint
€500K
Cost reductions secured
EFFECTIVENESS
In addition to our role as PMO we directly led several Work Streams, managed the lead roles for the remainder of the Work Streams, and mentored and developed team members from the the lead consultancy provider and the client’s Procurement talent development programme.
The scope of the procurement solution comprised the following key modules :
Master Data Governance & Administration.
Analytics.
Supplier Marketplace.
Source To Contract.
Purchase To Pay.
Contract Lifecycle Management.
Supplier Performance & Relationship Management.
We created Work Stream teams, which included key stakeholders, departmental operations staff, and IT, and and ran multiple workshops to define the strategic and operational business objectives and capabilities. These activities included documenting and analysing exisitng business processes, roles, and responsibilities to identifying inefficiencies and lack of governance, and highlight areas for improvement.
Our services scope and key outputs included :
Defining the programme structure, resourcing requirements, budget, programme, and business case.
Selecting, configuring, and implementing collaborative programme management tools and methodologies.
Monitoring and reporting of programme status, issues, risks, and their mitigation.
Flow diagrams setting out current and future business processes, and the efficiency and effectiveness benefits arising from process optimisation.
Detailed evaluation of the Procurement systems market, software capabilities, interoperability, and system-level technical interfaces.
Identifying the required systems users and licencing requirements.
Creating and managing the formal enquiry process as the basis for evaluating multiple systems solution including single platform, Cloud and on-premise environments, best-of-breed hybrid options, and platform/process integration.
Recommending the Procurement systems future operating model.
Negotiating commercial and contractual terms for the selected technology/ies solution and the Systems Integrator.
Coordinating the technical design blueprint for the selected solution.
Working closely with key stakeholders we ensured that the client’s comprehensive business case was prepared and submitted, which led to Board-level Capex approval (€10.5M) for the proposed strategy and solution.