Tag Archives: innovation and technology
Supplier-Enabled Innovation Is An Opportunity To Add Value
July 9, 2019 Procurious HQ
Businesses are tapping into the expertise of their supplier network to bring new products to market faster and streamline their processes.
By REDPIXEL.PL/ Shutterstock
Where do new ideas come from? For many organisations, the answer is research and development. But imagine if the R&D department included not only your own people, but those from hundreds or even thousands of your suppliers too.
This is the promise of supplier-enabled innovation (SEI), which enables companies to tap into the expertise of their supplier network to develop new products and services or refine existing ones.
It’s not exactly a new idea, but according to David Rae, head of the Supplier-Enabled Innovation Center, it is an underutilised one. “If you have thousands of suppliers and a portion of them have R&D divisions focused on your sector, then you’d be mad not to tap into that resource,” he says.
Companies that combine their innovation efforts with those of their suppliers typically bring products to market faster, giving them a competitive advantage. The inevitable risks and costs of developing new products or services are also spread among a wide network of stakeholders. And due to their specific expertise, suppliers are often able to suggest product improvements that are unlikely to occur to internal teams.
It makes sense to partner with companies specialising in a particular area, says Omer Abdullah, co-founder and managing director of The Smart Cube, which provides procurement, analytics and research expertise. He uses the example of a packaging supplier to illustrate the point. “They’re the ones who have a vested interest in knowing what the latest packaging types are, what the latest packaging sizes are and what are consumers demanding,” he explains.
That’s certainly true in the case of Bayer, which works closely with suppliers such as Schott to find the best packaging for specific drugs. By collaborating early in the ampoule or vial selection process, with Schott contributing its expertise in how certain active ingredients interact with different types of containers, new medication can be brought to market in a quick and safe manner.
The procurement team are ideally placed to drive the innovation partnerships behind SEI, acting as the link between internal R&D, sales and marketing teams, and suppliers. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has focused on turning procurement into a team of “innovation scouts”, seeking out suppliers who understand emerging trends and plan their business accordingly.
This is one of the vital elements of SEI: if you can’t find innovative suppliers to work with, then the whole concept quickly falls apart. If you’re interested in using SEI to improve your R&D function, for example, “you need to take into account things like what percentage of their [the supplier’s] revenue they are putting towards R&D, their strategic goals and where they’re actually headed as a company”, says Mr Rae.
It can be tempting to focus on the current supply chain when selecting SEI partners, but this may not offer the kind of cutting-edge innovation that will really expand internal capabilities, says Simon McGuire, health systems leader for Philips UK and Ireland. “I believe a good procurement team will ensure any supplier activity is initiated with clear alignment and agreement on capability gaps and unmet customer needs, together with an ability to secure the required technology and skillsets from the marketplace,” he says.
An awareness of market trends and shifts, competitor moves and the company’s own patent pipeline is also a key part of an informed view of what suppliers might be able to offer. “For me the most essential element of a good supplier partnership that will deliver is the strong alignment of goals and visions, with clear definitions, responsibilities and objectives from the start,” says Mr McGuire.
Online platforms are a relatively common way of communicating innovation challenges to supplier networks. Philips, for example, has an open innovation portal called SPICE, which allows suppliers, companies and individual inventors to collaborate to both view Philips innovation challenges and suggest ideas of their own. But the success of these platforms depends upon suppliers receiving relevant, timely feedback on their ideas and transparency around the development of any proposals.
Indeed, the trust at the heart of any good partnership flows both ways. “Surprisingly, suppliers do not always take their innovation first to their largest or even their most profitable, highest-margin customers,” says Clive R. Heal, a procurement innovation expert who leads Voicinn, a group of global innovation keynote speakers, and founded and led the Roche Innovation Center of Excellence. “They target customers with whom they have the closest relationships and see the best longer-term growth opportunities.”
Both companies should also be clear about who will own the intellectual property (IP) for any new products or services before embarking on a partnership. For instance, would a licensing approach, with the company granted exclusive rights to use a particular technology or service for an agreed period, work best? Or is a joint IP model the better option? Many innovation partnerships fail to clear this hurdle due to competing interests, Mr Heal points out.
Regardless of which ownership approach is agreed, successful SEI initiatives nearly always follow a long-term approach to innovation, focusing on mutual benefits for both customer and supplier. In other words, a true partnership that runs counter to the “not invented here” syndrome still found in many businesses.
“Overcoming this is difficult,” says Mr Rae. “But with the disruption now happening – the platform business models cropping up, the growth in startups, the fact that innovation is taking place everywhere and not just in R&D labs – companies will have to change, otherwise they’re going to get disrupted too.”
This article, edited by Peter Archer, was taken from the Raconteur Future of Procurement report, as featured in The Times.
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Transactional Supply Chain Activities: Your Days Are Numbered
October 3, 2018 Procurious HQ
The days of transactional activities in supply chain management are numbered and look set to exit our organisations very rapidly…
Chris Crozier, Chief Digital Officer – Orica International has seen first-hand how the perception of supply chain management has changed over the years.
As little as thirty years ago he can remember there being “very little recognition [of the profession] and the nuances around the skillsets required. In fact, most people talked about the smartest people in the room being in marketing and I saw that there was plenty of opportunity around skillset affirmation around supply chain.”
On Day Three of Career Boot Camp we speak to Chris about the evolution of the supply chain management profession, the importance of embracing new technology and implementing digital transformation.
Supply chain management across company borders
As someone whose, very impressive, career has criss-crossed several industries, Chris is a keen advocate for supply chain professionals working across functions.
“Supply chain is such a beautiful function where you do get that end to end view of an organisation,” he explains. “We need to make sure that we leverage that and the relationships we have with other functions [including] any career opportunities – not just for ourselves but for our teams.”
He warns against leaders becoming too defensive of their supply chain talent; “I think that’s a real blind spot in some of the supply chain functions as they stand today. So share the talent and surround yourself with highly capable people but be prepared to move them in and out of supply chain.”
In seizing any opportunities to move talent in and out of teams supply chain pros are facilitating the creation of “a really virtuous cycle of understanding” and ensuring that there are “supply chain evangelists in other functions.”
Indeed, working in both tech and supply chain has proved to be the perfect balance for Chris, “one of the things you get from working in supply chain is a broad analysis and encompassing oversight of the organisation and I think that’s what technology also requires. So there was a lovely fit between the technology understanding that was necessary in a CIO role and that broad business perspective you get from [working in] supply chain.
“Having that very broad business understanding meant I could provide that bridge between business requirements and a technology outcome.”
The impact of technology on supply chain
As is the case with every single function in every single organisation, supply chain professionals will be significantly disrupted as a result of incoming technologies.
And Chris, a self-proclaimed advocate and evangelist for the technologies coming through his door believes it is imperative for supply chain professionals to have a decent understanding of the latest technology in order to be successful in the long term.
Professionals need to know “how to apply it, where to apply it, how to leverage it most effectively and, most importantly, what’s coming in in the future that can help you to be even better in your role and therefore have a more productive organisation and ultimately underpin the broader company that you work for.”
Chris believes that the days of transactional activities in supply chain are numbered and will exit the organisation very rapidly, which is, of course, bad news for the supply chain professionals who are doing these transactional activities! “We will move to the world of the seamless end-to-end supply chain, which we were talking about in 1998-1999! We were all talking at that stage about real-time supply and demand activity.”
And Chris believes we’re fast approaching that point today with “the compute power that we have available, the network capacity we have available and the technology we have available.”
“People will talk about blockchain and other technologies and, yes, that’s all part and parcel of the way forward. But ultimately supply chain professionals now need to continue to go up the value curve.
“A lot of the things we do around competitor intelligence, around negotiation strategy and so on will be superceded by the technologies coming through the door.”
“Those things are just going to become endemic as tools for professionals in supply chain so we need to be on top of that, prepared for that and able to leverage that because it’s going to hit us very soon.”
Chris Crozier is speaking on Day Three of Career Boot Camp 2018. Sign up here (it’s free) to listen to his podcast now.
AICareer Boot Campcareer boot camp 2018fear of technologyinnovation and technologyprocurement technologysupply chainsupply chain management
2017 Rewind- The Impact Of Blockchain On Procurement
January 3, 2018 Procurious HQ
As part of our 2017 Procurious rewind, we’re taking a look at the top blogs of the year. Blockchain was one of the hottest topics on the site this year. It’s time to brush up on your knowledge and understanding right here, right now!
Blockchain technology will not only impact procurement and procurement professionals but is expected to be more pervasive in our business and personal lives than the internet itself. To put the enormity of impact on procurement and procurement professionals in perspective picture yourself twenty years ago trying to explain how the Internet is going to change things. Where would you even begin?
Like the Internet the Blockchain is a network. In the case of Blockchain comprised of decentralized “ ledgers”, many are referring to it as Internet 2 or more commonly the Internet of Value or Internet of Trust.
The most important thing to understand is that Blockchain addresses many of the most critical problems we’ve encountered doing business on the internet.
1) Security: Practically speaking the Blockchain is unhackable.
2) Transactions are verified by network participants (consensus), eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries’ (banks) costly, time-consuming and predominantly manual settlement processes. In addition to slowing down our supply chains banks alone have estimated these processes are costing them more than $20 billion annually.
3) Eliminating high transaction processing costs for high volume/low margin retailers who accept credit cards could significantly add to their bottom line.
4) Once transactions are verified they are secure and immutable. (unchangeable)
5) The immutability of the Blockchain means that supply chain provenance can be assured. This is particularly important for conflict minerals, pharmaceuticals, food and many other supply categories where provable chain of custody is critical.
6) Payments can be made directly from buying entity to selling entity “ledgers” by-passing intermediaries (banks, brokerage, clearing houses, title companies, etc.)
7) Payments can be automatically triggered based on the codified terms of “ Smart Contracts” stored in transaction blocks.
8) Blockchain capabilities will change, if not eliminate the role of accounts payable and accounts receivable departments.
9) Blockchain enables the concept of micro-units and micro-payments. It is estimated that approximately one -third of the world’s economic opportunity exists for products and services such as energy or digital rights where backend settlement costs currently constrain those markets.
10) It is also estimated that 25 per cent of the global population does not participate in the global economy because they have no bank accounts and/or credit cards. Without these tools they cannot participate in the Internet economy. The primary reason they do not have these economic tools is because they cannot prove their identities. Immutability of the Blockchain can enable these people.
What do I need to understand?
The capabilities I’ve outlined just scratch the surface on how Blockchain impact all of us. Aside from the aforementioned, as a procurement professional are several important things to understand.
1) Blockchain is a much wider and more pervasive concept than Advanced Cognitive Systems, Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Robotics, 3-D Printing or even the Internet of Things. In fact these technologies will become infinitely more practical and secure because of Blockchain.
2) Do not think of Blockchain and BitCoin, FinTech or Crypto Currencies as synonymous. They are not.
3) Do not think that it will take 20 years to mature and be mainstream. The estimate is 5-7 years for full maturity.
4) Do not assess progress by the US/Euro FinTech Community. While they were the first to recognise Blockchain’s inherent value and arguably have the most to gain by adopting it, they also have the biggest hurdles to overcome and could very well be last to cross the finish line.
5) Don’t make the mistake of waiting to become knowledgeable about Blockchain; it is the most highly disruptive technology we’ve seen since the Internet and it won’t wait until you are ready for it.
Michael Shaw is CPO and Executive Board Member of Sourcing and Procurement Executives (ACSPE) and Chief Information Officer at Blockchain Executive. This article was originally published on LinkedIn
blockchainfear of technologyinnovation and technologyprocurement technology
Don’t be Fooled and Underestimate Blockchain
December 15, 2017 Simona Pop
Do you find it comforting to dismiss blockchain as “flash in the pan”? Simona Pop believes you’d be a fool to do so and explains why it will live up to the hype.
There is a pattern emerging where new technologies are treated with a certain degree of skepticism. After the initial wave of excitement and expectation, many of the game changing advances are suddenly approached with a “flash in the pan” dismissal.
Is it meant to reassure comfortable people and businesses that carrying on as they are is the better option? Why risk innovation when you can draw out a tradition type stance?
But this isn’t the technology’s fault. Many of these advances are – when divorced from the Gartner hype cycle and the hashtags and actively placed in their proper context – exactly as exciting and game changing as they seem, if not more so.
Blockchain is a high-profile victim of this phenomenon: as a distributed ledger technology that promises faster, more secure payments, many industries have been exploring its possibilities and many more have been writing and talking about it.
Purchasing is no exception. And while blockchain technology may have limited application in other professions, in this one, it will live up to the hype. As a means of reducing costs, improving efficiency, controlling fraud, and boosting transparency, it has tangible, real-world benefits for procurement functions – whatever the market or business they work within.
In a recent article, Paul Clayton, Head of New Service Development for Basware, states:
”In 2017, blockchain is word of the year, it’s absolutely everywhere. But it’s not earth shattering, it’s not the third generation of the Internet it’s just an interesting concept with some obvious benefits and flaws.”
Let’s go through some of the reasons why Basware feel blockchain is not all it promises to be for finance and purchasing:
“Whilst a blockchain itself is safe, an application using it remains hackable” – This is also true of your bank software, or Apple Pay or pretty much any software we are currently using for payments. It should not stop us using it or leveraging its deep transformational effects in how businesses operate.
“It can be too transparent” – Technically true, but in reality the references to user wallets are encrypted key strings which, whilst easy to relate to the originating source and other related transactions, is not as easy to relate to an actual physical person. In much the same way as a credit card number isn’t easy to relate to a person without extra information.
“It’s not the most elegant solution” – Here’s where we strongly disagree. The elegance is in the simplicity. Banks have been trying to come up with distributed ledger technology since the 70s but they were hindered because they refused to be outside the transaction. By using TLS style encryption and cutting out the transaction verification at financial institution level, the whole transaction becomes significantly simpler.
“You can still lose things!“ – Of course you can. You can lose your wallet too.
The argument that there isn’t really that much value in blockchain when the benefits of smart contracts and removing the invoice are tangible possibilities is nonsensical. Removing the need for invoice processing is huge and any platform truly helping businesses handle their invoices and payments should know this. Invoice processing, and invoice fraud by proxy, are the biggest threats to company money out there today. Just look at Facebook and Google who were victims of $100M payment scam this year.
Blockchain automates trust
Trust is the cornerstone of every business relationship. On a fundamental level, you need to believe that the other person is who they say they are – and they need to believe the same of you.
In this age of phishing, malware, and general cyber security attacks, this seemingly simple principle becomes complicated. Login details are stolen and turned to criminal ends; high-level executives are being impersonated by hackers, who then persuade other parties to release vital funds; the sheer scale and variety of cybercrime is growing.
Blockchain provides a means of automating trust. By using permanently retained historical data to authenticate everyone involved in a deal, each side can be assured of the other parties’ trustworthiness: the seller and buyer alike are always who they say they are, and the product is the right product. What’s more, because prices cannot be modified, invoices will effectively be rendered obsolete.
This greatly simplifies the complicated, multi-faceted transactions that make up modern supply chains – maximising security and reducing the risk of fraud.
Blockchain is fast
Procurement functions will also benefit from the speed and efficiency of blockchain technology. For one thing, it’s fully digital: by taking the more time-consuming elements of a conventional transaction out of the equation, you immediately save time and resources that would have been spent on these tasks.
Shared access databases mean that it’s no longer necessary to manually scan invoices – dramatically accelerating the reconciliation process as all parties are allowed to view the same transaction.
Blockchain effectively cuts out the middlemen. By removing all intermediaries, it makes the processing of payments and transactions much faster: purchase order data can be exchanged on the blockchain at a far speedier pace than current levels will allow. This technology can also identify the nearest and most cost-effective vendors: decreasing lead and work time, and improving your operational efficiency.
Blockchain creates strong audit trails
Blockchain technology stores every detail of every transaction at every level of the supply chain. This will – as mentioned above – facilitate greater fraud control, and it will also offer transparency into issues of legality such as money laundering and the use of child labour.
And though it’s a digital technology, blockchain will also assist with the tracking and recording of physical items. As they are transported across local and international borders, they can be identified at each location – creating a strong and fully documented audit trail.
This kind of end-to-end visibility ensures that delays are rare and that missing items are found and allocated to supply routes more easily. This allows you to manage and optimize these supply routes with maximum efficiency – ensuring that no space is wasted and no customer disappointed.
It’s clear blockchain will have a significant influence on procurement and finance. The advantages of being able to streamline business processes, secure payments, and automate workloads shouldn’t be understated. Do the research, ensure you’re positioning your business correctly and you’ll be in the camp that benefits – today, and in the future.
See InstaSupply’s co-founders chat about blockchain and its vital role on our roadmap.
Baswarebitcoinblockchaininnovationinnovation and technologytechnology
IIoT: Tomorrow Thinking for Supply Chain
June 14, 2017 David (Dave) Food
The Internet of Things (IoT) is designed to make our data more useable. What opportunities and concerns does it present within logistics, where it is referred to as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ?
The trends of Supply Chain technology are shaping the future of logistics management.
The common thread is the push toward hyper-interoperability, where technology, people and process collaborate to create true visibility, accurate orders, and happy customers.
It is impossible to ignore the pressure on retailers and distribution centre (DC) to re-engineer operations to meet the Omni-channel fulfilment mandate. The evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT), designed to make data more usable, is quickly becoming a reality across global supply chains.
The Industrial lnternet of Things
Definitions of IoT spin around connecting sensors, programmable logic controllers, and RFID data with the internet so that other systems or analytical software can respond to or make sense of the data. An RF gun, voice recognition, and RFID in the warehouse all provide IoT–style sensor data; it is called the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT) to differentiate from consumer applications.
The order management system needs to orchestrate the fulfilment by interacting with inventory allocation, warehouse, management, transportation, and workforce scheduling systems using user-configurable business rule. The overall goal for Omni-channel is to satisfy more consumer demand with acceptable profit margins.
Logistics management in the warehouse
Many opportunities for improvement through smart forklifts, diagnostics of the equipment, speed controls, anti-slip technology, collision detection, fork speed optimisation, promoting new process flows, autonomously trip to a shipping dock for unloading, etc., are some of the applications and possibility a multi-channel system provides for the improvement of the overall process.
Tracking trucks based on RFID, GPS, RF scans, temperature, sensors embedded in the freight -all of these fit the definition of IIoT, the benefits being: improving network-based routing, the use of a smart phone for routing to determine congestion and better alternative routes.
Security is the number one concern around IIoT, working hand in hand with public cloud solutions. It helps to detect Cyber attackers’ techniques quickly and avoid being tricked by them.
This is a hidden key to success. A major application of Omni-channel is a customer ordering a product and the retailer fulfilling the order from within their store network versus a distribution center. This introduces the requirement of advanced information systems to provide awareness of inventory throughout the store network. The omnichannel system would identify the stores with the right inventory and determine the most cost-effective location to fulfill from to provide the promised service level. Retailers challenge is the implementation of new order of management systems, to build a single view of inventory availability – foundation of Omni-channel fulfillment – and to recognize the new consumer’s expectation, the goal being to optimize inventory deployment so that the required inventory is where it should be to satisfy consumer demand at a lower cost.
The first step is for the retailer to understand the Omni-channel strategies and how the customer’ buying patterns have changed (ordering an item online, by a mobile, from a store and picking it later, the item being shipped to the customer’s home, the customer calling to a call centre, etc. A fully-functional technology Omni-channel fulfilment operation has to be integrated according to the various selling systems.
Omni-channel technology, as the one IIoT provides, plays a vital role in this environment by enabling store employees to efficiently navigate the store floor to find the ordered inventory. Once the item is retrieved, store employees utilize packaging stations to prepare order for shipment and utilize small parcel carriers to pick-up and deliver the orders. Using the same trailers scheduled for normal store delivery, however, separating these pre-ordered items on the trailer is the critical piece in this strategy. Loading these items at the front of the trailer, labeling them with special tags utilizing barcode-scanning technology, and using colored totes are a few ways to flag the inventory.
Returns processing is still an improvement opportunity for many Omni-channel retailers. The goal is to allow a consumer to return purchases to either stores or a central returns facility regardless of where the sale originates.
The top three priorities identified are inventory planning, fulfillment capabilities and returns processing. Retailers have to keep working on the enterprise-wide visibility of available inventory. Inventory must be deployed differently in an Omni-channel world; many retailers are beginning to address that challenge, developing flexible fulfillment capabilities that leverage stores, DCs, and vendors to fulfill consumer demand. However, store fulfillment processes are not as efficient as they are in a DC where conditions are more controlled. Omni- channel is having a profound impact on supply chain organizations-especially logistics across all levels of maturity, being better equipped to embrace Omni-channel from a people, process and technology perspective.
So what new approaches are you applying to your Supply Chain? Let us know in the comments below.
This article was first published on LinkedIn
innovation and technologyInternet of ThingsIoTlogisticslogistics technologywarehouse
What’s The Catch-22 In Procurement Technology?
March 31, 2017 Daniel Ball
From here to eternity: what does the future of procurement technology look like? Download Wax Digital’s Procurement 2020 report here
Procurement technology has undergone a long road of change that has consequently altered procurement functions, processes and the very nature of the business itself. But while we spend much of the time understanding how technology is governing what we do today, it’s how technology is shaping the procurement role in the future that should be our focus.
There is a widespread belief that procurement ‘intelligence’ could significantly change the goalposts for the profession, and go beyond informing and processing data, to predicting, learning and deciding.
Procurement technology’s Catch 22
With analytics and intelligence comes a dilemma. Do you outline the questions you need to answer before you perform analysis, or use the data to work out the answers to ‘what you didn’t know, you didn’t know’? It’s a catch 22 scenario.
Thanks to big data and artificial intelligence (AI), this dilemma is becoming easier to manage. A procurement system using intelligence exhibited by machines can learn from users’ mouse clicks, purchases, and line of information to make its own choices, rather than requiring approval from users.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that procurement skills and knowledge will become any less sought-after. But those in demand are likely to change, perhaps even for the better, if cognitive technologies allow experts to think, consult and use their human skills more wisely.
Our panel’s three key intelligence priorities were:
Anticipating supply and demand decisions
The power of big data enables procurement systems to foresee the needs of the business, such as anticipating demand based on historical spending or seasonal demands. And the data that systems are based on will only expand as new internal and external dimensions are added to the mix, such as social media and newsfeeds, assessing demand more accurately. Intelligent systems may then begin to question human decisions, such as the validity and need for supplier orders and assessing the risk and ongoing performance of suppliers. Supercomputer IBM Watson’s ability to answer questions shows AI’s and sophisticated analytical software’s ability to surpass a human’s ability to answer high-functioning questions, and to work as an instructor to human processes.
Uber-personalisation
From marketing to IT, departments across the organisation use purchasing systems, meaning that there are different roles and backgrounds to accommodate. Through machine learning, procurement could lead the way in uber-personalisation, in which its systems are integrated with others such as ERP and CRM to determine and define each users’ preferences and needs.
Intelligent supply relationships
With the introduction of AI comes a potential new landscape of supplier management, as eTendering, eSourcing and contract management have the potential to become more automated. This could see systems monitoring supplier behaviours and performance based on buyer feedback, or keeping a close check on adherence to contract terms; and possibly even interpreting eAuction behaviours and leading negotiations to make sourcing decisions on the procurement professional’s behalf.
Even with vast use of intelligence, the procurement department will still require human involvement. While intelligence can be used to purchase everyday office products such as paper, strategic projects like building a new office will require procurement’s involvement in business planning and meetings, meaning that procurement professionals should strengthen their strategic skills in this area to ensure that they’re indispensable. But a new type of ‘colleague’, which is highly efficient and has extreme attention to detail, could well be on the way. Combining intelligence with vital people skills is how you can make procurement a strong and effective force in the business.
Learn more in Wax Digital’s Procurement 2020 report, a set of future gazing in-depth interviews with global senior procurement professionals and experts. Integration of procurement technology in the wider business was the first topic.
future of procurementinnovation and technologyprocurement 2020procurement futureprocurement technologysupplier relationshipswax digital
How To Inspire Creativity With The Three Fs!
February 14, 2017 Procurious HQ
To achieve creative cultures within our organisations and inspire creativity in individuals, we need to Fund, Foster and Fill!
Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock.com
Register as an online delegate for the London Big Ideas Summit 2017 here.
James Bannerman, a creative change agent and author of Non-Fiction best-seller Genius! firmly believes that everyone has the capacity to be creative and innovative. He’ll be speaking at the Big Ideas Summit 2017 in London on 23rd February but we’ve picked his brains ahead of the event to find out his top tips for inspiring creativity and his plans for the future..
What is a creative change agent?
A creative change agent is essentially a ‘lateral thinking’ specialist. It’s someone who combines creativity with psychology to help businesses innovate and perform more effectively in a rapidly-changing world.
What’s one thing you know now, that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
When I was younger I was a laid-back song-writer and did not fully appreciate how important it is, in business and life, to ‘make your own sunshine’. Over the years, however, and especially when I wrote my books Genius! and Business Genius! I came to realise that books don’t write themselves; they ended up taking me far longer to write than I ever imagined, and involved far more hard work than I ever envisaged. However, fortunately the hard work paid-off – because they ended-up becoming best-sellers in the UK and then being translated into multiple languages from Chinese to Japanese, and Italian to Thai – and that taught me that ideas alone are not what makes the difference; it’s turning those ideas into reality that makes the difference.
What are your three top tips for inspiring creativity in organisations?
My three top tips for inspiring creativity in organisations would be what I call The 3 Fs: Fund, Foster, Fill.
Fund (i.e. invest in) ‘Creative Thinking’ training
Upskill people by teaching them ‘how’ to be more creative. Evidence suggests, for example, that virtually all of us were incredibly creative up until the age of about 5, but then this natural creativity was ‘schooled’ out of us by the double whammy of criticism and conformity. Effective ‘Creativity Thinking’ training can help to redress this situation by inspiring people to re-become creative.
Foster an atmosphere of Psychological Safety
Einstein once said that ‘a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.’ With this in mind, if an organisation genuinely wants to inspire creativity, it needs to provide employees with enough ‘wriggle room’ to make the occasional ‘excusable’ mistake – rather than ‘inexcusable’ mistake (which is a very different matter).
Fill the well
I’ve long believed that in order to inspire others we need to feel inspired ourselves. Psychologists refer to this as ‘mood contagion’. So, if an organisation wants to inspire creativity, it needs to keep ‘Filling the Well’ (as the author Sheila Davis describes it) by encouraging people to branch out and watch new films, read interesting books, travel to different places etc… After all, bang in the middle of the word ‘Innovation’ we find the word ‘Nova’ – which meant ‘new’ in Roman times – so a constant inpouring of fresh stimulus is likely to inspire a culture that goes beyond ‘what is’ to explore ‘what could be’.
You’ve composed hit pop songs, written best-selling books and work as an innovation consultant. What’s next?
I’m currently working on a wide range of projects – linked to ‘Lateral Thinking’ in business and academia. However, longer-term, I’d love to take my Business Genius and ‘Lateral Thinking’ work to whole new level, and develop Lateral Thinking TV, movies, and animations etc…
How do latest technology developments influence the way you consult with organisations and drive innovation?
To be honest, although technology developments have influenced the way I consult with organisations and drive innovation – eg. by making it far easier for me to communicate with clients around the world without always having to ‘be there’ in person – technology itself does not influence me as much as it helps other innovation consultants I know. I tend to focus more on ‘innovativeness’ than ‘innovation.’ In other words, I focus more on the people-side of innovation – the psychology side.
It’s easy to think that our modern age is infinitely more ‘innovative’ than any other with its amazing advances in technology. Without a doubt the ‘pace’ of change does keep getting faster and faster, which academics label ‘accelerated evolution.’ However, just look at the Edwardian Age. Within ten years along came the Car, the Plane, the Radio and the TV. Each one of them radically transformed the world we live in, far more than the latest XI78 or X189, that will soon end up somewhere in a design museum like the DVD or the first Blackberry.
I work with the ESA, European Space Agency, who are putting 3-D printers on Space Stations. In fact, there are even 3-D printers now that can make 3-D printers ! We must not lose sight, however, of how technology is driven by ‘people’, and inspired by ‘people’. The human factors that make innovation happen can also ‘stop’ innovation from happening if they are not addressed and resolved.
Do you ever get tired of thinking up ideas?
Yes and no. I personally get a buzz from ‘divergent thinking’ – i.e. thinking outwards towards multiple possibilities – more than ‘convergent thinking’ – i.e. analysing and dissecting data.
However, when I’m working with groups on Idea Generation, I fully appreciate that ‘thinking up ideas’ can be deceptively tiring for some people. Especially those who have a strong preference for sequence and structure.
Tony Buzan, the inventor of mind-maps, is a great inspiration of mine. I spoke with him a few years ago and was struck by how well he manages to fuse the two. Mind-maps, for example, can energise people by stimulating ‘radiant thinking’. They also make it easier for them to think up new ideas, yet at the same its ‘systematic’ approach can also give people a flexible structure to prevent them feeling overwhelmed and swamped by imaginative solutions.
It’s important to remember that everybody has an imagination. We continually ‘think up ideas’ whether we see ourselves as creative or not. In fact, one of the biggest buzzes I get in business is helping people to realise that they are a lot more creative than they give themselves credit for…
Join the conversation and register as a digital delegate for Big Ideas 2017 in London.
big ideas in procurementBig Ideas Summit 2017career advicecareer tipscreativitydigital conferencefear of technologygenerating big ideasinnovationinnovation and technologyprocurement careerprocurement careersprocurement conferenceprocurement innovation
Taxi! Have Google & Uber Been Pipped to Self-Driving Cabs?
August 29, 2016 Procurious HQ
A number of major companies are developing self-driving taxis. But have they been pipped to the post by a Singaporean start-up?
Over the past few years, a number of organisations have been in a race to develop, and launch, self-driving vehicles.
Google and Ford have both entered the market for self-driving cars, while Uber has been more active in the taxi market. It’s even rumoured that Apple are set to join the competition in 2021 with ‘Project Titan‘.
But it appears that they have all lost the race to put a car on the road to a small, US and Singapore-based start-up.
Self-Driving Taxis in Singapore
nuTonomy was founded in 2013 by two MIT researchers, Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli. It has both a US and a Singapore base of operations.
On Thursday last week, nuTonomy started a trial of its self-driving taxis in the business district in Singapore. The company is starting its test with just six cars, but hopes to double this number by the end of the year.
However, the timing of the test makes Singapore officially the first country to allow autonomous, self-driving cars on its roads.
Passengers in the business district will be able to hail the cabs using a smartphone app. In the early stages at least, nuTonomy engineers will be sitting in the vehicles, partly to monitor performance, but also to take over driving if needs be.
Significant Market Developments
The nuTonomy testing marks a significant development in the self-driving car market. Ford has made large investments in new technology companies, and increased its development team in Silicon Valley.
This is all part of the company’s ‘Ford Smart Mobility‘ plan, which aims to make Ford a leader in autonomous vehicles, particularly those for ride-sharing.
Uber have also confirmed that they will start testing of autonomous taxis in the coming months in Pittsburgh. As with nuTonomy, cars will be hired via their smartphone app, and a driver and engineer will be in the vehicle too.
However, there are questions about how much autonomy the cars will be given on the Pittsburgh streets. Experts have pointed out that there are still limitations behind Uber’s, and other companies’, vehicles, and that completely self-driving cars are still a way off.
“The reality is these cars will be closely supervised systems because it doesn’t matter if they are 80 percent self-driving or 99 percent self-driving, you will still need a human involved for the bit that is not,” says Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor of law and engineering at the University of South Carolina.
Significant Issues to Overcome
It raises an interesting question as to when truly driverless vehicles will be on the road, and on the market. There still appears to be a number of issues that must be overcome before this can happen.
As one article from The Register points out, no matter how advanced the technology has become, there are still glitches. While the rules of the road are common nature for many of us, it takes a lot longer to programme this into a computer.
Google’s self-driving cars are prone to be confused by traffic lights (or things that look like them), poor road markings, and glare from sunsets. Junctions, cyclists, bad drivers, and adverse weather conditions also create issues that need to be solved.
And, of course, there’s no accounting for human interactions. Tesla have recently been forced to tweak the definition of their ‘Autopilot’ software to a “driver assist function”. This comes after confusion that it was actually a self-driving function you might find in an aircraft, or science-fiction movie.
There is an argument that people want a self-driving car that doesn’t require them to have any input. But, without the technology to support this, there will be a reliance on some level of human interaction for some time yet.
Would you be happy to get into a self-driving taxi? Or buy a self-driving car? What would be holding you back from taking this journey?
In a week full of scandal in the procurement press, we’ve been scouring the headlines for the hottest topics…
Major US Retailer to Investigate Fake Cotton Claims
Major US stores are investigating if bedsheets and pillowcases are made from non-Egyptian cotton despite being labelled as such.
The investigations follow Target’s severance of ties with large textile manufacturer Welspun India.
Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Costco and Macy’s are all supplied by Welspun India.
Welspun has announced the appointment of an external auditor to audit supply systems and processes.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune
Australian Companies Embroiled in Foreign Bribery Scandals
Two major Australian companies have been implicated in bribery scandals relating to foreign contracts.
Staff from mining company, Sundance Resources, have allegedly bribed the leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo to secure approval for a major iron ore project.
Additionally, Snowy Mountains Engineering Company staff allegedly bribed officials to secure a $2.3 million sewerage project in Sri Lanka, and a $2.2 million power plant project in Bangladesh.
The list of Australian companies implicated in foreign bribery continues to grow, with recent allegations implicating Tabcorp, Leighton Holdings and BHP Billiton.
Read more at The Age
Safety fears as Mylan Hikes EpiPen Prices
Pharmaceutical company Mylan is under intense scrutiny after raising the price of its epinephrine delivery system, the Mylan EpiPen, from $57 to over $500 in the US.
Mylan acquired the EpiPen auto-injector in 2007, but has only recently raised the price after the demise of its competitor Auvi-Q.
The single-use EpiPen delivers approximately $1 worth of epinephrine per injection.
Commentators fear patients will stop buying the EpiPen, opting instead to inject by syringe. This risks an incorrect dosage or accidental injection in a vein, which can be fatal.
Read more at Forbes
Fire Services Told to “Collaborate” on Procurement
The UK Government has told fire authorities across the country that they need to collaborate more on procurement.
It comes after a report that many authorities are paying vastly different sums for similar items.
The government said in a statement it was “determined to help authorities adopt a collaborative approach”.
This is the first time nationwide statistics on fire authority procurement have been released.
Read more at Supply Management
innovation and technologyprocurement newstechnological disruption
Procurement Turns to Supplier Relationships for Innovation
As procurement seeks to increased its involvement in innovation, it’s turning to its supplier relationships to drive change.
This article was written by Daniel Ball, Director at Wax Digital.
Wax Digital’s Procurement Innovation Pathway research is based on 100 interviews with the UK’s senior procurement professionals, to canvass their opinions of the key topics in the profession.
Previously, we highlighted that procurement wants to be more involved in innovation. However it is the risk averse nature of procurement that appears to be holding it back.
In this article, we assess the importance of good supplier relationships.
Mutually Beneficial Relationships
Achieving effective, mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers can be a great way for procurement to drive positive change. That’s just one reason, according to new research, why procurement professionals are prioritising suppliers in their quest to innovate.
In fact, Wax Digital’s research showed that procurement’s top two innovation areas relate to working with suppliers.
In first place, 57 per cent cited supplier relationship management as an area that can aid innovation. Sourcing suppliers for product innovation came in second, with 49 per cent. Reducing supply-chain risks also scored highly.
Turning to Supplier Relationships
Compared to lower scoring areas, like automating processes to save time/resource, and improving spend management by empowering people, the supplier is clearly where procurement is turning its attention to innovate.
New ways of engaging with suppliers, through self-service portals for instance, and ensuring supplier compliance through automated contract management, are key priorities.
But it’s equally about what suppliers can do for procurement. There’s a desire to find partners who can be a catalyst for innovation at the core of the organisation’s products and delivery.
Technological Investment
These priorities remain the focus into 2017 too. This means the future could see an even more supplier-focused innovation mind-set in the procurement function.
Adding weight to this, the two most commonly used procurement technologies are also heavily supplier-focused. 51 per cent of organisations favour supplier information management, while 49 er cent are looking to contract management systems.
And the most common technology investment planned for the coming 12 months is supplier relationship management (SRM) tools. Procurement is clearly doing more than talking the talk on supplier innovation.
Challenge of Involvement
The future looks promising in this regard but there are challenges ahead. Procurement sees the value of supplier focused innovation but it is not always in control of it.
84 per cent of respondents said they were currently involved in innovations around supply chain collaboration. However, less than half of these, 40 per cent, said that they were leading it. Although this figure rises to 50 per cent in the future, there’s still some way to go before procurement fully takes the reins of innovation.
Now that many procurement professionals have already achieved some of the more transactional and process based quick wins, it’s natural that we see more and more looking to strategic supplier management as the next frontier to conquer.
Building better relationships with the right suppliers, whether existing or new, is clearly uppermost in their thinking.
The Innovation 2016 research was conducted by Morar Consulting. The research involved 100 interviews to canvass the opinions of UK senior procurement professionals, working in small to large UK enterprises.
You can find out more about the research, and download the report, by visiting the Wax Digital website.
innovation and technologyprocurement innovationsupplier relationship management
Dubai Securing Its Future Through Innovation
Traditionally a prime hub for trade, logistics and communications, Dubai, the UAE, are looking to secure the future as a hub of business innovation.
On the 27th of November 2013, Dubai was voted as the host city for Expo 2020, an event that aims to bring together a global audience to discuss issues pertinent to every person in the world. Based on central theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, Expo 2020 will also cover key sub-themes of sustainability, mobility and opportunity.
While the event will place the country at the heart of an event with an estimated 25 million visitors, it also helps to cement Dubai’s place as a centre for technology and business innovation.
Dubai is already well on its way to becoming a ‘smart city‘, with huge sums of money being invested in making the emirate a hub for IT and technology. In September 2015, Dubai was named as the second-best city in the world for expats wishing to start a business, while the UAE was among the top 10 countries for expats to work in.
These titles run in line with Dubai’s aim to open its doors to the best and brightest technology innovators and entrepreneurs. As part of its investment in infrastructure during its ‘Year of Innovation‘ in 2015, provisions were made to assist small to medium-sized startups with technological assistance, aimed at creating growth in this sector.
And, as part of this drive to encourage more global technology organisations to come to Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced a $544 million fund to finance innovation in the city.
While the fund doesn’t actually go live in terms of investment until later this year, it is anticipated that it will provide funding to companies based in the UAE, as well as those providing “exceptional innovative ideas“, helping to drive growth and economic development across the region.
Innovation…and Procurement
All of this comes as part of the UAE’s ‘Vision 2021‘, which aims to make the country one of the most innovative in the world. And it’s good to know that procurement and supply chain have a key role to play in this process too.
In the coming months, a huge procurement and contracting effort will be undertaken to award build work for the site, infrastructure and transportation to support the hosting of Expo 2020. Dubai is forecast to spend around $8 billion on infrastructure mega projects in the build up to Expo 2020 including hotels, new metro links and malls.
Kicking it off last week, the RTA awarded a $2.88 billion contract for the construction of its Expolink metro. This will be followed by purchase of trains to service both the new, and existing, Dubai metro lines.
It’s estimated that Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) will look to 30 per cent of the project cost through private funding, with public-private partnerships mooted for the remainder.
Is it too much to ask for to have a little innovation in the procurement process? While traditional processes might still hold sway, we can only hope that the profession can get in on the act in the next few years.
Need something to chat about in the tea room? Or something to enjoy with your coffee? Here are the week’s big headlines…
States Come Together for Purchasing Agreement
TheNational Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) has been formulating a collective procurement agreement which is expected to benefit 34 states in America.
The Value Point platform will give states purchasing similar items cooperative buying power as one organisation, rather then by state basis.
The Cloud-based platform will enable information storage and allow for different payment structures.
The final agreement is expected to be signed off in August and will the states to move forward with a cohesive, cooperative approach to procurement.
Read more at Government Technology
Rolls-Royce Announce Robot Cargo Ships
The Rolls-Royce led Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) presented their vision of autonomous shipping at the Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 in Amsterdam.
The group is working on a series of virtual decks, where land-based crew would control every aspect of the ship
There will also be drones and VR cameras to assist with spotting issues that humans cannot control.
Rolls-Royce aims to launch first remote-controlled cargo ship by 2020, with the aim for automated fleets to follow soon after.
Read more at Futurism
New World Bank Procurement Framework Live
The new procurement framework at the World Bank was officially launched on the 1st of July.
The new Procurement Framework will allow the World Bank to better respond to the needs of client countries, while preserving robust procurement standards.
The Framework also enables the Bank to work more closely with country partners in improving their own procurement systems.
Hart Schafer, World Bank Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services, said, “The Bank can now offer a more modern and nimble procurement system to help promote sustainable development.”
Read more at The World Bank
US-Japanese Underwater Cable Goes Online
A 9,000km, six-fiber cable linking the USA and Japan, and backed by Google, went online at the end of last week.
The $300 million ‘FASTER’ cable is a project backed by a consortium of six companies including NEC, China Mobile, China Telecom, Global Transit and KDDI, aimed at better connecting the two countries.
The cable can deliver up to 60 terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth, about 10 millions times faster than standard cable modems.
The cable will support Google’s Cloud Platform East Asia region, with dedicated bandwidth supporting faster data transfer and reduced latency.
Read more at Tech Crunch
Expo 2020innovation and technologyprocurement news