We’re working to finalize the agenda and session descriptions for Categorypalooza – our virtual festival of category insights – and an interesting theme is emerging.
Global economies have been under strain for the last couple of years, and now the level and duration of inflation are forcing companies to revisit their cash and inventory management strategies. Procurement will certainly play a role in implementing those strategy adjustments, but they will also be the face of the company in tough conversations with suppliers as well.
Have we reached the end of the road for relational, value-oriented partnerships with suppliers?
The desire to be a customer choice is not new, but the drive hit a new level in 2020 and 2021. New suppliers were hard to find and tougher to qualify, and being left without a source of supply is not an option. Many procurement teams put on kid gloves for dealings with suppliers just to keep the lights on.
Now we are regularly receiving cost increase letters from suppliers. Labor is more expensive and in short supply, inflation is increasing the cost of overhead, and commodity-driven input materials are volatile at best. Suppliers may actually be struggling to absorb cost increases or they may be opportunistic, but what options does procurement have in response?
We’ll be discussing this challenge in multiple Categorypalooza sessions featuring the team from Fine Tune and their partners. And because Categorypalooza is run through the live event platform Hopin, you’ll have the opportunity to engage directly with other procurement professionals and the session speakers on this topic and more.
Click here to register for this free Art of Procurement event, taking place on August 11th from 11am to 2pm ET.
