“When we have more efficient [procurement] processes, we’re changing the way we work, and we’re open to those changes. To us, that is success.”
Everyone who works for the Clorox Company is encouraged to lead ‘with their head, heart and guts.’ For procurement, this meant boldly accepting – and even driving – change by reimagining their indirect procurement operating model.
Art of Procurement was recently joined by Kathy Thrasher, a Senior Procurement Manager at The Clorox Company, and Mike Caldron, Senior Group Manager at WNS Denali, for an AOP Live session all about their transformation journey. When asked what made the greatest difference in their success, Kathy knows the answer offhand, “Communicate, communicate, communicate.”
Clorox transformed their indirect P2P – half of their total spend as a company – in the middle of the pandemic, during a time when they were ‘all hands on deck’ trying to support the global spike in demand for antibacterial products. They were able to move from operating without any purchasing system to empowering distributed buyers and suppliers to meet their own transaction and information needs.
In this episode, host Philip Ideson speaks with Kathy and Mike about:
The role of IT in the transformation of Clorox’s indirect procurement
How the team revisited their talent and staffing to ensure that skills and system-related changes were addressed
The investments they made to improve the supplier experience, enabling their external partners in very challenging business conditions
