It’s not too late to register for eWorld Procurement and Supply which takes place next Tuesday March 3rd in London. eWorld gathers procurement practitioners, solution providers, heads of supply chain, heads of finance, academia and third sector organisations from all industries and from all over the globe to learn about and share better procurement practices and processes, market trends, strategy improvement, technology adoption, relationships, innovation and more.
The day will deliver this through presentations, round tables and panel debates. The keynote will be given by Cate Warman-Powell, Head of Procurement Consumer Technology & Supply Chain at BT. Cate will be sharing her insight on ‘Transforming Procurement at BT,’ so we asked her a few questions about her choice of topic and what you can expect to be hearing from her.
What’s the overall theme of the keynote?
My overall theme relates to Procurement value transformation; what I mean by that is how Procurement can create and drive value in the organisation by influencing and helping transform business strategy.
How do you see Procurement’s role expanding in the near future?
One of the things I have loved about my career in Procurement is the ability to see across multiple business areas and align sourcing strategies to optimise that. Clearly the ability to collate and use data in meaningful ways will enhance this but we can offer much more. Minimising risks in our supply chain as highlighted by the Coronavirus is another example of where we can add more value to the business.
What’s the key thing in your experience that has helped Procurement become a strategic partner to the business?
Definitely stakeholder management and building relationships. I have achieved the best outcomes for the business and Procurement when I’ve been able to combine a challenging procurement strategy with collaboration from the stakeholders. The only way this happens is to build relationships at all levels – and deliver!
What’s the main challenge you faced in your procurement transformation?
Often budget for investment can be an inhibitor to change. Getting a balance between short-term gain and longer-term benefits to underpin an investment is key.
Cate is a Procurement Leaders winner of 2019 for the Future Leader award. You can learn how she led the procurement team to play a powerful part in influencing business success. In her keynote she will share her experiences of driving transformation in business strategy through sourcing.
We hope to see some of our readers there and you can register for free here.
