Art of Procurement Philip Ideson

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“Sustainability is at the top of the agenda for businesses, because now they have to demonstrate exactly what their carbon footprint is and demonstrate with complete credibility and transparency exactly what they’re doing.” - Melanie Blackmore, Founder & CEO Blackmores (UK) Ltd and Carbonology Ltd
When Melanie Blackmore, Founder & CEO Blackmores (UK) Ltd and Carbonology Ltd, says that she is deeply passionate and “in love with” standards, she readily admits not everyone will be able to relate to her enthusiasm. But, applying ISO (International Organization for Standardization) can give organizations, and specifically procurement teams, the direction they need to ensure quality, safety, efficiency, and even compliance across industries and for both goods and services. 
The stakes can be high, but the benefits of implementing ISO standards are often even higher. 
In this episode, Philip Ideson explores the ins and outs of an ISO framework and how it can help a business improve their processes by following a set of internationally recognized best practices. 
They discuss:
An overview of current ISO standards and how they have evolved How organizations can apply ISO standards to achieve their sustainability goals The differences between standards and certifications and how this impacts implementation  Links:
Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Melanie Blackmore on LinkedIn  Visit IsologyHub to learn more about how to achieve ISO compliance
Melanie’s Book on Amazon: Net Zero Planner: Design a Net Carbon Zero plan for your business in 90 days Blackmores (UK) Ltd Carbonology Ltd  

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“I think category management is great fun because you have the freedom to do things. It’s not following a rote process. It’s using structure to be creative. I think that’s the great benefit of it.” - Mark Webb, Managing Director at Future Purchasing
For many in procurement, category management is “old hat.” Some even assume that widespread adoption and integration of category management structures and processes within the business are non-issues in 2024. They see category management as a mountain that has been scaled, and now procurement just needs to sit back and enjoy the view.
When we look more closely, however, there is still significant room for improvement in category management strategy and for expanded scope of implementation throughout the business. 
In this episode, Philip Ideson welcomes back Mark Webb, Managing Director at Future Purchasing, for a deep dive into the current state of category management, including where we’ve been and how far we have left to go. Mark also shares the results of the 2024 Global Category Management Report, a large, comprehensive study Future Purchasing conducts in partnership with Henley Business School. 
They discuss the importance of stakeholder involvement, the need for more consistency and effective communication, the distinctions between category management and strategic sourcing, and the delicate balance between internal expertise versus external resources in implementation.
Philip and Mark also explore:
Why 80 percent of stakeholders don’t fully understand their role in category management, and what procurement can do to fix that Practical advice to streamline category planning and improve stakeholder engagement The ideal model for category management when considering big versus small teams Links:
Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Read the 2024 Global Category Management Report Mark Webb on LinkedIn The Differentiators of Category Management Leaders & Followers, w/ Mark Webb

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

“It’s incumbent upon all of us to be change ready, to be curious, to always be learning because this overestimated technology today will truly be delivering huge results tomorrow.” - Alan Veeck, CEO & Founder at Summit Procurement
There are very few voices in procurement right now – or businesses in general, for that matter – who are raising the flag that all of the fear, enthusiasm, and hand-wringing over AI’s growing influence might be one big, collective overreaction. 
Alan Veeck, CEO & Founder at Summit Procurement, is one such voice. In this episode, he shares with Philip Ideson why his contrarian attitude toward AI has little to do with his belief that AI will indeed revolutionize the space.
Alan explains how decades of seeing other technology hype cycles come and go have given him a more measured outlook for innovative or emerging digital breakthroughs (including generative AI) and why he thinks other procurement leaders should dial down the frenzy around AI that likely isn’t doing their teams, or the business, any favors. 
In this conversation, Alan also talks about:
Why he thinks AI is not going to disrupt the procurement job market nearly as much or as quickly as many people think How to separate the overblown capabilities from real-world use cases where AI can genuinely move the needle for procurement today How CPOs can embrace AI and maximize its impact without leading their teams, and the business, down a rabbit hole of new solutions and platforms that cause more problems than they solve Links:
Subscribe to This Week in Procurement Alan Veeck on LinkedIn Alan Veeck on Twitter