Latest news & insights

In everyday life, deadlines are extremely important, however creating an unnecessary risk in order to achieve a deadline is not okay. In the world of business, this principle is the same. All businesses will require goods or services to be provided by suppliers at some point, and quite often they will find that they are always needed yesterday! Urgent requirements

If you are involved in managing an organisation's Fleet, you will be all too aware that it is an ever-shifting landscape. Economic pressures, technological advancement, regulatory changes, and the drive towards sustainability within the marketplace has changed tremendously over the past few years. With this in mind, if your Fleet has not been reviewed recently, now is the opportune moment

In the grand circus of corporate life where your boardroom call the shots and sales are the sideshow, there exists a quiet hero, often overlooked but undeniably essential: Procurement. Yes, that's right, the unassuming department that keeps your company's wheels turning.  So, let’s dive right in with some facts that will have you reconsidering your stance on procurement.  Now, let's

In the fast-paced world of procurement, challenges and uncertainties can often be uncharted territories. Every supply chain professional knows that one wrong step can lead to a domino effect of disruptions, setbacks, and unexpected costs. That is why mastering jeopardy management is essential for procurement success. Understanding Assurance Management Assurance management in procurement refers to the strategic approach of identifying,

In today's fast-paced business landscape, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for success. Recently, I had the privilege of spearheading a vehicle CCTV and telematics procurement project with a client that highlighted this principle.  By transitioning from our existing technologies to cutting-edge intelligent vehicle CCTV and telematics solutions, we achieved remarkable cost savings and transformed the fleet management operations. 

In the complex world of procurement, there is a secret weapon that transforms the way organisations buy both direct and indirect items - it is called Category Management. Today, I am here to demystify this powerful concept and share how, as the Principal Consultant at 7 Step Solutions, I've helped numerous organisations embark on this transformative journey. Category Management is

(Warning - Satire Alert!) Negotiation, the art of turning a perfectly reasonable conversation into a disaster. Whether you are determined to tank a business deal, create tension or just annoy everyone at the table, we've got you covered with these steps on how to execute a truly terrible negotiation. Step 1: No Preparation Necessary Who needs preparation when you can

Within the buyer-supplier relationship arch, it is key that performance (on both sides) is tangible. Therefore, setting key-performance indicators (KPIs) before the signature of any contract is incredibly important. Best practice would dictate that procurement professionals identify associated KPIs with any new requirements at the start of the tender process. To set effective KPIs, one method is to use the

Everyone loves a triangle, right? Procurement has one of the most ferocious: the cost, quality, time triangle. You can optimise for two maybe, but never all three, something always gives.  

In the globalised business landscape, our clients are continuously seeking ways to optimise their supply chains for better efficiency, cost reductions, and improved customer service. Over the past two decades, there has been a consistent trend in offshoring to distant geographies. This, primarily a consequence of organisations looking to leverage differences in labour, manufacturing, and raw material costs for the

In today's data-driven world, organisations across industries are realising the immense potential of leveraging data to inform decision-making and drive strategic initiatives. Procurement, being a critical function within any organisation, can significantly benefit from harnessing the power of data. By utilising it effectively, procurement professionals can gain valuable insights, optimise processes, mitigate risks, and ultimately elevate their procurement strategy to

Business strategies and operations rely on the IT infrastructure in place to drive success and a company will typically spend a substantial amount of their indirect supplier budget on IT hardware, software, and professional services. With this level of spend in mind it is essential that businesses implement a suitable IT supply strategy to ensure successful supplier relationships, best value

As progressive strides continue to be made in integrating technological advancements into our daily work routines, it is evident that the rate at which this dissemination is occurring within Procurement and Supply Chain is on the rise. An example of the increasingly sophisticated tools being employed involves harnessing Predictive Analysis to uncover potential risks, fine-tune inventory levels, enhance supplier management,

Social value is one of our generation’s buzzwords, everyone is talking about it and businesses want to know how they can generate and use it to add to their customer base. Contrary to popular thinking, this isn’t a new concept, the Social Value Act came into being in 2013 and compelled public authorities to think about how their contracts can

What is a Rebate From a buyer's perspective, rebates are a useful way to extract greater value from suppliers. Connecting any repayment to 'actual' spend or volume thresholds gives the customer greater opportunity to negotiate a more significant saving than an upfront discount. In tandem with this, some buyers may use rebates to keep cash on hand within their function

The European Union (EU) is implementing the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which was announced as part of the new Digital Finance Strategy, to standardise Information and Communications Technology (ICT) risk regulations across Europe. The European Union is taking a stance to enhance the financial sector’s resilience to ICT-linked major incidents. With strict requirements for both financial entities and crucial

Last summer, the European Commission published long-anticipated Standard Contractual Clauses ("2021 SCCs")  which modernised older pre-GDPR versions of the SCCs ("pre-2021 SCCs"), and incorporated new obligations on controllers and processors in light of the GDPR and the Schrems II judgment. Notably, the 2021 SCCs put the transfer impact/risk assessment emphasised in the Schrems II judgment on a mandatory contractual footing. The European Commission also recently

Cloud computing arrangements are arrangements in which the customer does not currently have possession of the underlying software used in the arrangement. Rather, the customer accesses and uses the software on an as-needed basis (e.g., through the internet, or via a dedicated line). Examples of cloud computing arrangements include software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a

Software as a Service, also know as SaaS. It is a cloud-based service where instead of downloading software to your desktop PC or business network to run and update, you instead access an application via an internet browser.  This is becoming prevalent in the software world with more and more vendors moving to product rich features only into their SaaS offerings rather

Most Procurement teams are measured on the value of the savings they can secure but run into difficulties when baselining the budget or calculating the savings that have been secured.  There are some simple guidelines that you can use to baseline your budget (even if you do not have a formal budget in place) and to show how you can

To many procurement professionals, a contract database is somewhat of a bible. It contains a myriad of information that can be analysed and reported on, making it a powerful procurement resource. However, it is becoming increasingly common outside of larger of the blue chips to find that organisations either track their contracts through an Excel spreadsheet or do not track them at all.  This

With variants of 'reverse', 'step', 'japanese, 'dutch' and 'cherry lot', it is easy to understand why eAuctions can be seen as a 'mystic art' to new practitioners. However, the central vein of ensuring competition between buyer and seller remains constant through all variations. First popularised in the early 1990s, this strategy is seeing a resurgence for buyers who wish to

There has always been a view that Private Equity Companies prefer not to aggregate portfolio buying volumes where synergies exist as this may add to the complexity of the financial structures. Agreed that some categories do not lend themselves to an immediate synergy benefit, but 7 Steps have been working closely with some PE houses on delivering synergy benefits across

A first-time outsource is fraught with challenges. It's important to engage a skilled Procurement team (internal or external) who can ensure the right supplier is chosen; the process runs smoothly without time overruns, as well as those commitments made during pitching and negotiation are clearly scoped out within the contract. Engaging Procurement to fill a check and balance type position