In many of our recent dealings with South African companies, there has been a common issue with abuse and fraud committed by employees on their company-issued credit cards. These cards are generally provided to employees on the understanding that they are to be used for business expenses only, and in most cases this is reinforced […]
Fraud prevention is better than cure Read More »
In the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s search for budget balancing savings of tens of £ billions annually, as led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, attention is increasingly directed to the more than £160 billion that the public sector reportedly spent on the procurement of goods and services from third party suppliers (half of which is
Procurement visibility needed at compulsive buyer: UK National Health Service (NHS) Read More »
Part 10 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at Absa During 2008 at a large South African bank, a purchasing hub was set up to centrally process and support all ordering from the bank’s
A case study for centralised purchasing – World Class Operational Procurement Read More »
While shareholders’ visibility requirements have been responsible for the growth of the audit industry, organisations continue to be plagued by other stakeholders requesting information on risk and performance. These include potential joint venture partners, benchmarking agencies, credit-rating agencies, environmental impact organisations, local government and customers. Customers, in particular, are increasingly looking for information on risk
Shed light on your suppliers Read More »
At present there seems to be two schools of thought regarding the impact that the global economic recession is having in South Africa. People are either sure it is real and are dramatic in their response, or they are pragmatic in a perception of resilience through non-exposure. The recession is real. For the average housewife
The toughening economic climate – A ‘call-to-arms’ for the procurement function Read More »
What is an Opportunity Analysis? “An Opportunity Analysis is an initiative that attempts to identify ways to capture value through sourcing. These opportunities are identified after analysing organisational requirements, supplier spend, current sourcing processes and other data sources. An Opportunity Analysis initiative can differ in the number of categories in scope and type of outcome”,
An opportunity analysis process for sourcing initiatives Read More »
Part 8 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA “The request was authorised, the Purchasing Order (PO) was created and communicated to the supplier, and now the goods or services are expected to
World Class Operational Procurement: Where’s my stuff? Read More »
One of the first organisations to benchmark in the modern business world was Rank Xerox, who in the 1980s formed a dedicated team to find out how other organisations outside of the photocopying industry managed functions, such as transport. The results provided Xerox with invaluable insights into how to spend money more effectively and, in
Why should Procurement organisations benchmark? Read More »
It seems as though climate change and recent economic upheavals may have more in common than one might expect. It isn’t so much that the weather is getting notably worse, but that short-term changes seem to be becoming more extreme. Recent fatal storms in KwaZulu-Natal this holiday season and flash floods in the Cape last
Valuable spend information so important in the current economy Read More »
Part 7 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA Paper, paper, paper – still remains one of the most pervasive raw materials of the modern day office, which has still not been eradicated
World Class Operational Procurement: Three-way matching vs. two-way matching Read More »
