A Procurement Guide to the D.I.S.C.O. Manifesto: How to Get Breakthrough Results in Category Management

By Steve Carter

The world in general and business in particular, is getting more and more complex. Both private and public sector organisations are re-shaping by outsourcing, forming partnerships, collaborating in joint ventures and going back to the basics of what made them a success in the first place.

Add to this the ever-increasing levels of expectation from customers and citizens in terms of the products and services they expect to receive, their quality and their price and you have a situation in which making a profit or keeping within budget is extremely difficult.

What this means for the procurement community is that you can no longer (if you ever could) work in isolation from the rest of your organisation and the people it serves. Asking you to get price reductions every year is increasingly a futile task.

What you need to achieve is a breakthrough in both supply costs and service if your organisation is going to continue to prosper. This needs a strategy for how you source things ... a strategy that has been developed and agreed by all the major players in the design, delivery and use of the goods and services you buy. In other words ... a Category Strategy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Carter
• Release date: Jul 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311730527

Steve Carter

My name is Steve Carter and I’ve been a procurement practitioner, management consultant, interim and trainer for more than 30 years.During that time I have had the privilege of working with businesses of all sizes (some at the leading edge of their industries). These clients have been in both the public and private sectors.I don’t say all of this to brag but to state my credentials as someone who has honed what it takes to succeed in this difficult but rewarding world of Procurement.One of the key things that I have learned over the years is building your career as a knowledge worker can be a lonely life unless you have someone you can turn to for advice yourself as well as alternative tools and techniques to try out in your business. That is why I formed The Academy for Procurement Excellence.On my website and blog you will find an ever-expanding resource of free knowledge and insights that you can apply to your own career as well as paid for services and products such as the “Special Report” series.

Book preview

A procurement Guide To The

D.I.S.C.O.

Manifesto

How to get breakthrough results in category management

Steve Carter

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 Crest Business Services Ltd All Rights Reserved

T/as The Academy for Procurement Excellence

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by

Crest Business Services Ltd

T/as The Academy for Procurement Excellence

Suite 14325

145-157 St John Street

London

EC1V 4PW

United Kingdom

Tel. [phone]

www.a4pe.com

Edited by Stephen Carter

Cover image by kwest19

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.

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DISCLAIMERS

The information presented in this report is intended to be for your educational and entertainment purposes only.

Please do not construe any statement in this report as a claim or representation of average or typical results. There are NO average results. Testimonials and statements of individuals are not to be construed as claims or representations of average results. We cannot, do not, and will not make any claims as to results, average, or otherwise.

Success in any endeavour is based on many factors individual to you. We do not know your educational background, your skills, your prior experience, or the time you can and will devote to the endeavour.

Many factors will be important in determining your actual results and no guarantees are made that you will achieve results similar to mine or anybody else’s. No guarantee is made that you will achieve any result at all from the ideas in our material.

About the author

Steve Carter – Procurement Practitioner, Consultant, Author and Publisher

My name is Steve Carter and I’ve been a procurement practitioner, management consultant, interim and trainer for more than 30 years.

During that time I have had the privilege of working with businesses of all sizes (some at the leading edge of their industries). These clients have been in both the public and private sectors.

I don’t say all of this to brag but to state my credentials as someone who has honed what it takes to succeed in this difficult but rewarding world of Procurement.

One of the key things that I have learned over the years is building your career as a knowledge worker can be a lonely life unless you have someone you can turn to for advice yourself as well as alternative tools and techniques to try out in your business. That is why I formed The Academy for Procurement Excellence.

On my website and blog you will find an ever-expanding resource of free knowledge and insights that you can apply to your own career as well as paid for services and products such as the Special Report series.

I do hope you find this booklet and my other offers of use. If you have any comments, suggestions or testimonials, please feel free to drop me a line at …

[e-mail].

Some testimonials:

Steve has been a huge asset. As well as driving tactical savings, he has successfully introduced the concepts of category management and supplier relationship management, both of which have started to pay off and kick started the Council on its transformation journey. I would have no hesitation in recommending Steve to any organisation that required a high level procurement professional who can deliver both short term, impactful results as well as longer term strategies. Nick Bell, Deputy CEO and Group Financial Director, Essex County Council

... you demonstrated a level of professionalism I didn’t believe existed in the consultancy world Graham Jackson, UK Head of Commercial Services, Compaq Computer

... thank you very, very much for the magnificent contribution you have made this year and the way in which you have driven professional purchasing practice in this company forwards Pete Wilkinson, Group Director of Strategic Procurement, AXA UK

Steve brought critical thinking and strategic clarity to a complex and under-performing area of TfL's business while mentoring the TfL team and impressing a professional client base enough to secure their support for a wide ranging programme of commercial change in one of TfL's most crucial areas of spend Dave Williams, Group Director of Procurement, Transport for