Supply security for USD 6BN spend

Pre-covid and Brexit if procurement were to promote the virtues of Risk Management some folk would say things such as:“You’re being so risk averse” or “Don’t worry - I’m sure procurement can get some somewhere!”. Others could never seem to compute the implications of risks playing out.

As the World's playing field changed rapidly with the onset of Covid, one particular client fully appreciated the situation as they had so many nightmare risks playing out that they had to take action. I was flattered to be asked to lead their global supply security programme covering USD 6BN of spend.

My previous experience of risk management tended to be that there is over-analysis of the exact risk profile at the expense of not taking sufficient remedial action quickly enough. So, we simplified the risk mapping tools with an easy to follow playbook and the nifty use of software to provide global calibration and a clear overview of the trends amongst the vast amounts of data.

Supported by strong governance, we then systematically went about implementing the risk mitigation plans. We reduced the risk profiles across the board resulting in much more consistent supply to the end consumer.

Security of supply is no longer a given and so the competency of managing risk should be ingrained in the DNA of every procurement professional.

The Result?

Across the global footprint of factories and USD 6BN of spend we had almost no supply disruption at all