“We have processes and we have technology, but at the end of the day, it’s about relationships. We have our stakeholders and our supplier partners, and the goal is to make their jobs easier, to make it more efficient for them to be able to do their jobs and add value.” – Keith Browning, Managing Director, Supply Chain Management, Delta Air Lines
At Mastermind LIVE Spring 2021, Art of Procurement had the opportunity to bring together a visionary panel of procurement leaders to discuss the urgency of the present moment and what can and should be done to support corporate growth. The panel included:
Adam Brown, Senior Manager of Procurement Transformation & Head of the Procurement Garage at BT
Amy Fong, Vice President, Sourcing and Vendor Management for Everest Group
Keith Browning, Managing Director, Supply Chain Management at Delta Air Lines
Keith Hausmann, Globality’s Chief Revenue Officer
Reunan Varene, Global Head of Procurement at Dropbox
Facilitated by Philip Ideson, this discussion-based session was focused on procurement’s sense of urgency as we pursue a growth agenda, the need for supplier collaboration and mutually beneficial third-party relationships, and the strategies and technology that will empower procurement to scale. While we heard some reflection on the challenges of the past year, most of the discussion was forward looking, taking procurement’s capabilities today and building on them.
In this episode, which was recorded live at Mastermind LIVE Spring, Philip asked the panelists about:
How they each define growth – both in terms of how they are developing procurement’s capabilities and in how that empowers them to contribute to the corporate top line
Ways procurement can better communicate and demonstrate their top-line, value-oriented investments to the rest of the business
The absolute criticality of partnering with suppliers while seeing them as much more than suppliers: current customers, potential customers, and/or sources of differentiation and market expertise
