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Current procurement methods do not support mini budget’s austere measures

Leave a Comment / Commentary, e-Procurement, Procurement Strategy, Smart Sourcing, Technology, Tools, Travel / Editor

Many of the key items subject to austere measures under Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s mini budget fall under the Travel and Expense (T&E) portfolio. While these cost-cutting measures are a step in the right direction to curb excessive spending, Tracey Shaw, of travel technology company TraveluXion, wonders how they will be implemented in practice […]

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Failing to compare prices and services guarantees squandered expenditure

Leave a Comment / Benchmarking, Procurement Strategy, Risk Management, Spend Analysis, Tools / Editor

By not benchmarking the prices and services you receive from suppliers and the way you use those goods and services removes valuable insight into what other organisations are achieving in the market and increases unknown risks, says Alan Low of Purchasing Index (PI), in this month’s SmartProcurement. “Benchmarking is the process of identifying and

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P-cards can ‘doctor’ your headache payment areas

Leave a Comment / MRO, Procurement Cards, Spend Analysis, Technology, Tools / Editor

After implementing a P-card programme to replace petty cash, and if the programme is working well, clients often ask: “where do we go from here?” Anita Carolus, Nedbank Corporate Card National Sales Manager, suggests that clients investigate all their payment processes and expand their P-card programmes into their ‘headache’ processes or problem areas. This

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Beyond labour unrest at BMW: Using technology to increase SCM competitiveness

Leave a Comment / Commentary, Procurement Strategy, Supply Chain Management SCM, Technology, Tools / Editor

Many South African businesses believe that the availability of cheap labour is the most important factor when it comes to being competitive globally, which may partly explain why the business community reacted with such alarm to the news that BMW cancelled it plans to expand production owing to labour unrest. “Whilst labour is a

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Successful procurement professionals’ 9 traits

Leave a Comment / Commentary, Procurement Strategy, Professional Development, Supply Chain Management SCM, Tools / Editor

Working extremely hard; being curious and eager to learn; and living in the present are just some of the traits of a successful procurement professional. That’s according to Tom Lovell, group managing director at recruitment website Reed, who was speaking at the CIPS Annual Conference in London during October. He said successful people were:

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How networked is your enterprise from a Supply Management perspective?

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Chances are you are already on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other networking sites to expand your personal network. And you have experienced first-hand their power to connect you to the right people and prospects faster. But how networked is your enterprise? The answer can be a major determinant of your business’ success, says Rob Mihalko,

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Is travel and expense expenditure NB in your organisation?

Leave a Comment / Category Management, Technology, Tools, Travel / Editor

Shirley Le Roux, MD of TraveluXion gives SmartProcurement her insights into the answer to this question that has resulted in companies not having visibility of all potential T&E expenditure prior to approval against applicable budgets, and thus not extracting the associated business value. How important is travel and expense (T&E) expenditure within your organisation?

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Total Travel and Expense Management is more than just online booking

1 Comment / Benchmarking, Spend Analysis, Tools, Travel / Editor

All too often a Travel and Expense (T&E) Management programme is considered completed and rolled-out if a company has successfully implemented an on-line booking tool that improves travel policy compliance and reduces overall transactions costs. Recent research indicates that global best practices for organisations is to embrace a total T&E Management technology solution, of which

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Cost accounting: public enemy no.1 to supply chain productivity

Leave a Comment / Procurement Strategy, Spend Analysis, Technology, Tools / Editor

Shortcomings in current methods of accounting must be addressed for improvement in supply chain productivity Thirty years ago, MRP and standard cost accounting were a good way for an organisation to try and figure out how much it was saving thanks to improvement activities, says John Darlington, Managing Director at Value Flow Consulting Limited and

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The true costs of self booking travel

Leave a Comment / Technology, Tools, Travel / Editor

Shirley Le Roux, MD of TraveluXion gives SmartProcurement her take on the true cost of self booking and, in turn, what clients should be prepared to pay for ‘self-booked transactions’. Self-booking tool vs. website booking “One must first unbundle the concept of ‘booking on-line’,” says Le Roux. Corporation’s transact on websites in a search of

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