Podcast | A.T. Kearney PAS

Feb 3		Strategies to Manage Commodity Risk in Procuring Chemicals A goal for any procurement organization is to implement proper risk management of commodity inputs to generate a competitive advantage. Accurate commodity price projections are vital to sustaining margins and profitability. Understanding and quantifying exposure to commodity pricing, and strategizing to minimize risk, can be challenging. In this episode, John Moyer and Tom Gildersleeve discuss strategies for managing commodity risk with specific emphasis on chemicals.

Dec 16		Analytics in India Analytics is the rich application of technology and mathematical science, such as, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and mathematical optimization to solve problems in business and industry. Early adopters of analytics are placing themselves in a good position to make substantial gains in both performance and overall competitiveness. In this episode, Nitin Godawat and Sushil Pasricha talk with Stacey Rhodes about the analytics space in India and how it has evolved in the application of detection, direction and prediction.

Dec 2		Integrated Facilities Management Today's challenging economic climate is a steady catalyst for companies to aggressively seek cost reductions. Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) is a growing area companies are exploring to help reduce costs and focus on core businesses. In this podcast Bud Going and Daryl Watkins talk about implementing IFM solutions to help achieve operating efficiencies.

Oct 28		2011 Assessment of Excellence in Procurement Study Over 185 leading companies across the globe shared their best practices in A.T. Kearney's 2011 Excellence in Procurement (AEP) study. In this podcast, Alex Ferrer, the AEP project manager, discusses the study's landscape and results, as well as emerging trends among leading procurement companies.

Sep 30		Supply Management Market Update: Australia Australia -- with its cross-section of industries, supplier base, economic environment, and geographical location -- creates a distinct set of challenges for organizations and their procurement departments. In this interview, Enrico Rizzon, head of A.T. Kearney's Procurement & Analytic Solutions Melbourne office, shares information and tips on supply management in Australia.

Sep 16		Inventory Optimization Using Analytics A company's inventory metrics are often viewed as critical indicators of its supply chain performance. In this podcast Raj Narayanaswamy and Sarah Thuo talk about applying analytics techniques to identify opportunities to reduce inventory expenses and achieve operational efficiencies. The podcast emphasizes AT Kearney's cornerstone analytics methodology.

Jul 15		Opportunity Knocks: Careers in Supply Management Purchasing and supply management are evolving into strategic business disciplines due to increased complexity in today's supply chains. As a result, well-qualified, purchasing and supply professionals are now in high demand due to their ability to innovate and drive sustainable change. This podcast highlights Sourcing Analyst, Amanda DeCook's, procurement career path and Supply Management Director, Laura Shoemaker, gives advice to hiring managers looking to build a supply management team.

Jun 10		Operations Excellence Companies are constantly striving for operational excellence as a means to offset rising costs and competition. The lack of a clear road map and subsequent management needed for execution, are key factors that deter some organizations from achieving this target. In this podcast, Tony Lynch and Pramod Gupta discuss their experience in operations excellence and transformation projects. They share insights regarding typical challenges faced by companies embarking on operations excellence programs, critical success factors and case studies from a variety of projects.

May 13		Internal and External Warehouse Cost Reduction Are you struggling with your internal and external warehouse management? Highly seasonal product portfolios complicate this task even more. In this podcast, Chris Shriver, James Laureys and Venkatesh Ganapathy talk with Stacey Rhodes about warehouse cost reduction. They share how they utilized a RFP and an Activity Based Cost Modeling strategy along with network modeling technology to achieve desired cost reductions.

Apr 29		Three "Chess" Moves to Restructure Supply Markets Procurement professionals are often challenged with managing the fluctuations within supply markets. A.T. Kearney developed the Purchasing Chessboard in 2008 to help procurement professionals identify and manage market situations that occur between purchasing organizations and their suppliers. In this podcast, Jim Pearce and Alvin See talk with Stacey Rhodes, giving a high-level overview of the Purchasing Chessboard and in particular how it can be used to restructure supply markets and successfully achieve procurement strategies.

Mar 25		Supply Chain Management in the Restaurant Industry In this economy Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) operators are searching for ways to cut costs while still giving the customer the experience that will keep them satisfied and coming back. In this podcast, Sherif Mityas talks with Linda Butterfield about his on-going strategic sourcing project for a multinational QSR company. Areas of focus include: Total value chain cost perspective - Looking beyond the base cost of a product and Direct product and category improvement - Looking beyond individual products and considering the entire portfolio of food products.

Mar 11		The Sky is the Limit - Getting to the Right Destination with Your Airline Sourcing Strategies Consolidation is prevalent within the airline industry with alliances dividing the marketplace into spheres of dominant influence. In this podcast, Paula Wittbrodt, Chris Bakotic and Patrick Hoffmann talk with Stacey Rhodes about their recent airline sourcing project. They share insights regarding the general outlook of the industry, sourcing best practices and the importance of analytics to help overcome the challenges of a consolidated airline industry.

Feb 25		Six Sigma in Procurement Transformation There are applications for Lean Six Sigma Principles outside of manufacturing. In this podcast, Falyne Chave and John Moyer talk with Stacey Rhodes about their recent procurement transformation project using six sigma principles. They share insights regarding their project analysis, observations and an in-depth walkthrough of each six sigma principle applied to successfully achieve client objectives.

Feb 11		JumpStarting Your eSourcing Initiative eSourcing was introduced to the procurement professional a little over a decade ago. Research indicates, approximately 75% of companies have used eSourcing tools at least once but only a few have used the technology effectively. In this podcast, Gregg Brandyberry talks with Stacey Rhodes about how eSourcing has evolved, along with some best practices as well as pitfalls to avoid while successfully jumpstarting an eSourcing initiative.

Jan 28		Group Purchasing Organizations - a Low Risk, High Value Proposition What type of organization can help procurement professionals free up scarce sourcing staff and still achieve great savings faster than expected? Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) have the ability to do this and more. In this podcast, Rosanna Yang and Tom O'Neill talk with Stacey Rhodes, sharing insights about Group Purchasing Organizations and in particular CoVest Sourcing Network, a Group Purchasing Organization which has a strategic alliance with A.T. Kearney's Leveraged Sourcing Network.

Jan14		Collaboration Optimization for MRO Sourcing Collaborative Optimization tools are adding great value and a little stress relief when sourcing some complex categories. In this podcast, Laurent Pirard and Dietmar Menzel talk with Stacey Rhodes regarding their project using collaborative optimization to successfully source commercial MRO. Laurent and Dietmar share insights regarding their challenges and specific approaches to achieve outstanding results.

Nov 12		Procurement Compliance Some procurement departments directly impact nearly 70 percent of companies' spending decisions resulting in approximately 5 to 20 percent savings year-over-year. However, chief procurement officers are still having trouble getting employees to comply with processes and strategies that will generate major bottom-line savings. In this podcast, Falyne Chave talks with Stacey Rhodes about a recent study A.T. Kearney conducted examining best practices in compliance and shares key insights for implementing a successful procurement compliance program.

Oct 29		Intermodal Transportation Every $1 invested in the US intermodal transportation network would yield $5 to $8 of benefits in terms of less highway congestion, reduced shipping costs and fewer traffic accidents. Randy Garber talks with Susan Montgomery about why America's freight railroads are one of the unsung transport successes of the past thirty years and how enabling the increased use of intermodal services can deliver the highest ROI on transportation investment.

Oct 08		From G7 to G20: How the New Global Economy Will Shape the Global Business Environment As the Old World G7 nations no longer have the clout or cash to provide lasting solutions to global economic problems, the cash-rich G20 nations take on the job of global governance. In this podcast, Martin Walker talks with Susan Montgomery about the challenges ahead for the G20 and how they will shape the global business environment in the future.

Sep 17		How the Emergence of the "Top Ten" Will Shape the Global Business Environment Ten middle income countries are emerging as a new locomotive for the global economy. Their growing purchasing power is creating a whole new economic constellation. Martin Walker talks with Susan Montgomery about who these countries are and how they will shape the global business environment in the future.

Sep 03		How to Create and Sustain a New Procurement Organization The optimum organization structure is a key success factor in procurement. Attempting to develop new metrics, objectives and expectations presents challenges that often hinder an organization's success to implement change. In this podcast, Jane Wanklyn and Daryl Watkins talk with Stacey Rhodes sharing a step-by-step approach of how to successfully create and sustain a new procurement organization.

Aug 20		Food Waste in America: Solving the Paradox Hunger and food insecurity persist in America despite the abundance of food that is produced. It is estimated that 78 billion pounds of food is wasted annually. In this podcast, Dave Donnan and Alok Agrawal talk with Stacey Rhodes regarding the amount of food waste in America, where it comes from and ideas on minimizing this waste.

Jul 14		Make vs. Buy Revisited Amid limited capital, lagging demand and restructuring, top executives today are revisiting the Make vs. Buy question. Sean Monahan, Patrick Van den Bossche and Fidel Tamayo talk with Susan Montgomery about why Make vs. Buy is still a relevant question and what the keys to making successful Make vs. Buy decisions are.

Jun 23		Carbon Disclosure Project Stephen Easton and Randy Watson talk with Susan Montgomery about the findings from the supply chain study that A.T. Kearney recently completed for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) . The need to drive carbon reduction targets throughout the supply chain is clear. While awareness is increasing, procurement organizations still have a lot of work to do with their suppliers to reduce CO₂ emissions.

May 26		Trends in Transportation Sourcing Transportation is a difficult category to source, involving hundreds or thousands of lanes, multiple modes and specific service requirements. Josh Brogan talks with Susan Montgomery about sourcing approaches that turn the complexity of transportation sourcing into a lever. He also gives us insights about how market timing and business cycles affect the sourcing strategy.

Apr 14		Demand Management Demand management can add significantly to sourcing savings. Decreasing demand is, in effect, "100% cost reduction." Bob Boll talks with Susan Montgomery about five levers for managing demand and how to measure the savings achieved through effective demand management programs. He also gives us an insight into two projects that achieved significant, measurable savings from demand management over and above the cost reduction savings.

Mar 10		ISM Manufacturing Indexes The ISM Manufacturing Indexes are one of the best measures of economic activity for supply managers. Norbert Ore, Chair of the ISM Report on Business®, talks with Susan Montgomery about the ISM Indexes and why they are recognized globally as a leading indicator of the US economy.

Feb 24		Expanding the Profit Frontier Attempts to improve profitability often focus on just one aspect of profit creation such as manufacturing cost reduction or marketing effectiveness or pricing strategy. Steve Mehltretter talks with Susan Montgomery about Expanding the Profit Frontier, a more holistic perspective to help achieve maximum profitability.

Feb 10		Sourcing Complex Global Service Categories Procurement professionals are faced with a number of challenges when sourcing complex service categories on a global scale, for example, site support services, MRO of factory equipment or maintenance of customer premise equipment. In this podcast, James Rooke and Darren Chew discuss with Helen Clegg the drivers of complexity for these complex service categories and outline the most effective sourcing strategies. They emphasize the key need for strong data analytics capabilities in the sourcing team and note the importance of detailed due diligence and robust transition planning.

Jan 27		Sustainable Complexity Reduction Complexity reduction provides a real, workable tool that enables a company to take actionable steps towards sustainability at the same time as reducing unnecessary product costs: a true win-win situation. Chris Callieri, Tom Peddicord and Cary Shiao talk with Susan Montgomery about Sustainable Complexity Reduction and how marrying the two concepts not only generates material benefit in the short term but also broadens the long term impact of the project.

Dec 16		The Complexities of Sourcing MRO Characterized by a high number of sub-categories, huge item counts and multitudes of suppliers, MRO is a complex category to source. Eric Foster shares insights with Stacey Rhodes about how to prepare for and overcome the complexities of sourcing MRO to achieve successful results.

Nov 25		Collaborative Approach to Sourcing Indirect Materials and Services Indirect materials and services can present a challenge for sourcing teams because they encompass a very large number of items, supplied by hundreds of suppliers and are used by many people across the organization. Bernard Going and Stacey Rhodes discuss a collaborative process for conducting supplier conferences to rapidly identify and implement cost reduction ideas related to indirect materials and services.

Nov 11		Analytics and Procurement Process Spend data is a crucial determinant of the success or failure of Enterprise Spend Management efforts. In particular, gaining in-depth spend visibility when determining sourcing strategies is an ongoing challenge for sourcing managers. Margaret Brown and Parag Shah talk with Stacey Rhodes about the effectiveness of analytics when properly applied to the sourcing and procurement process. Margaret and Parag share insights regarding different types of data analytics and where the future of analytics and sourcing are moving.

Oct 28		Strategies for Sourcing Chlor-alkali Chemicals Chlor-alkali chemicals (caustic soda and chlorine) are essential building blocks of many industries. John Moyer talks with Stacey Rhodes about strategies for sourcing Chlor-alkali Chemicals and shares insights regarding the importance of monitoring key raw material supply markets.

Oct 7		Group Buying Consortiums During these tough economic times, some companies are pooling their resources, experience, and sourcing budgets to obtain substantially better rates and terms than they could individually negotiate. Rosanna Yang and Bharath Thota talk with Stacey Rhodes and share insights they have gained from A.T. Kearney's group buying consortium, the Leveraged Sourcing Network, about the benefits of joining buying consortiums and how they can help your procurement team.

Sep 23		Supply Management Transformation Organization design is less about lines and boxes and more about ensuring that supply management is focusing on the right strategies, capabilities and categories to drive strategic value. Bob Boll talks with Susan Montgomery about A.T. Kearney perspectives on supply management organization design and describes a recent project where we helped a client to design a new organization model

Sep 9		Supply Risk Management Planning Managing supply chain risk is more complex today than ever. Gregg Brandyberry talks with Susan Montgomery about procurement strategies for protecting both revenue and corporate reputation. Gregg provides insights based on his experience as CPO of GlaxoSmithKline.

Aug 26		Sourcing Strategies for Complex Categories You must be flexible when selecting sourcing strategies for complex categories. Wei Shen talks with Stacey Rhodes about sourcing strategies for complex categories with emphasis on packaging. Wei provides insight into specific approaches and techniques to deliver successful project results.

Aug 12		Collaborative Optimization Collaborative optimization tools bring a new level of transparency to sourcing exercises. Armin Scharlach and Nick Townend talk with Susan Montgomery about how collaborative optimization enabled an A.T. Kearney client to incorporate more options when sourcing its temporary labor spend and custom tailor the solution for their organization.

Jul 29		Sourcing Travel It’s a buyer's market for sourcing travel. Patrick Hoffmann and Julianna Beall talk with Susan Montgomery about how the travel market has changed in the past two years, what buyers can do to embed savings, and new approaches to sourcing hotel spend.

Jul 15		Supplier Relationship Management Successful companies recognize the need to build an alliance between their organization and the suppliers that they work with by establishing strong buyer/seller relationships. Supplier relationships are more than simple procurement transactions but require strong commitments from the buyer and seller. Daryl Watkins talks with Stacey Rhodes about supplier relationship management. Daryl provides insight into what supplier relationship management is and how to implement a successful supplier relationship management program to achieve benefits that result in a “win-win” for buyers and sellers.

Jun 3		Supplier Evaluation for Complex Services When sourcing complex services such as drilling services for oil exploration, selecting the right suppliers is often challenging. Qualifications must be measured across a wide range of factors related to cost, quality and reliability. Marcos Mayo talks with Stacey Rhodes about developing a supplier evaluation framework for complex services. Marcos provides insight into managing sources of complexity and approaches for a successful supplier selection when sourcing highly technical services.

May 13		Optimizing Sourcing Negotiations in the Current Economic Climate CPOs face two critical issues in today's economic climate: managing supply risk and reducing costs. Roger Blumberg talks with Susan Montgomery about ways to optimize negotiations in today's environment. Roger highlights opportunities for savings here and now and discusses effective negotiation techniques to use in a buyers' market.

May 13		Managing Supplier Risk in the Current Economic Climate CPOs face two critical issues in today’s economic climate: managing supply risk and reducing costs. Randy Watson talks with Susan Montgomery about how to minimize supplier risks in today’s environment. Randy discusses the importance of having a documented plan to address supply risk and outlines a four step approach.

Apr 22		Commodity Risk Management Managing supply risk is on top of every CPO’s agenda these days. In the first of our Wave of the Future mini-series on supply risk management, John Moyer and Andrew Chang talk with Susan Montgomery about strategies for managing commodity risk exposure and how statistical modeling and simulations are used to develop the best strategy for each commodity.

Apr 08		Procurement Assessments An effective procurement assessment is key to strategic sourcing success. Daryl Watkins talks with Susan Montgomery about how to conduct a procurement assessment that will set the scene for driving sustainable improvements.

Mar 25		SharePoint Implementation Collaboration tools really can make the difference between project completion and project success. Nate Lamb talks with Susan Montgomery about how A. T. Kearney got a silo-ed organization working together on a complexity reduction project by implementing Microsoft SharePoint.

Mar 11		Information Management in Procurement Best-in-class procurement organizations have formalized processes for the continuous capture and sharing of market intelligence. Jane Wanklyn talks with Susan Montgomery about how to incorporate information management as part of the sourcing process and the tangible benefits that our clients have seen from improved market intelligence.

Feb 25		Finding Opportunity in Crisis The Chinese characters for crisis (Wei ji), also mean “danger + opportunity”. Simon Chen talks with Susan Montgomery about the effects of the global economic crisis in China and how procurement organizations can benefit from the current situation.

Feb 04		The Value of Pre-Merger Integration in Procurement Most mergers fail because they fail to meet the announced objectives. Melitta Cognat talks with Susan Montgomery about the challenges that the procurement organization faces in a merger situation and how A.T. Kearney’s Jump Start approach enables procurement organizations to get off to a quick start on Day 1.

Jan 21		Supplier Identification Qualified, trustworthy and reliable suppliers are crucial to business success, but finding the right suppliers is a more complex process than ever. In our latest Wave of the Future podcast, Judi Carithers and Stacey Rhodes talk with Helen Clegg about why the supplier identification process is central to a successful sourcing project and what it takes to conduct a successful search.

Jan 07		Sourcing Milk Products- What To Do When Prices Are Regulated What sourcing strategies are effective when prices are highly regulated? Take milk prices in the USA, for example. In this podcast, Tiffany Hickerson and Estelle Smith talk with Susan Montgomery about the characteristics of the US dairy industry and options to consider when sourcing milk products.

Dec 03		Sourcing Flavors and Fragrances In the market for flavors and fragrances, all products are designed for the customer’s specific requirements. The selection process is complex and may involve marketing, product innovation teams, procurement, and even celebrity endorsers. John Moyer talks with Susan Montgomery about how A. T. Kearney has successfully sourced this unique category for a number of clients in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and consumer products industries.

Nov 19		Next Generation Six Sigma: Capturing More Value with Less Effort The Crash of 2008 is compelling companies to look for fast and effective improvements in all areas of their business. We are seeing renewed interest in Six Sigma, a tested and proven methodology that can significantly improve top- and bottom-line performance … but only if it’s implemented in the right way. Patrick Van den Bossche talks with Susan Montgomery about how Six Sigma programs can go off the tracks and how A. T. Kearney’s Next Generation Six Sigma approach can re-invigorate and re-focus your Six Sigma efforts for maximum results.

Nov 05		Contract Manufacturing Almost every manufacturing company utilizes external contract manufacturing services for some part of their production process. In this podcast, we discuss the approach that A. T. Kearney has developed to help companies baseline their contract manufacturing activities, assess near and longer-term risks, and develop a robust contract strategy. We hear about recent engagement experiences working with a client with nearly 400 contract manufacturer relationships to identify and manage risks, insight into leading practice, and tools that Kearney uses to help clients maximize their value from contract manufacturing relationships.

Oct 08		Rolling Stock Components Sourcing in China In this Wave of the Future podcast, we discuss the Chinese market for railroad rolling stock. This is a rapidly growing market; the Chinese government is investing heavily in expanding both the national railway network and urban mass transit systems. A. T. Kearney recently conducted a market study and supplier search for rolling stock components, including machined parts for bogies. We learn more about this project and some of its surprising conclusions.

Aug 20		Socially Conscious Sourcing "In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine." ~ Great Law of the Iroquois. Garry Embleton, VP of Strategic Sourcing at Seventh Generation, talks to Helen Clegg about socially conscious sourcing. What are the benefits to companies for sourcing in a more socially conscious way, especially in the current business environment?

Jul 23		Personal Sustainability In this The Wave of the Future podcast, we hear about one family’s experience with solar energy, biodiesel and other technologies for living a sustainable lifestyle. Find out how they have offset at least 30,000 pounds of CO₂ in the air since 2005. We can all be the change that we want to see in the world.

Jul 09		Plastic Packaging The US supply market for rigid plastic food packaging (containers and closures) is a $20 billion industry and is expected to grow at about 6% per annum for the next three years. Although some might think that convenience still trumps sustainability, that's not the whole story. Listen to find out what's happening in this industry and how buyers can keep costs under control.

May 21		Practical Strategy and Tactics for Compressed Sourcing Two months to assess and source a pool of ten categories or four days to prepare and run an internet negotiation – that’s compressed sourcing. This podcast has plenty of practical tactics and pragmatic strategies that will help to make these “impossible” projects possible. Listen for good ideas that will help your sourcing projects to run more smoothly.

May 07		Metal Packaging in the U.S. Food & Beverage Industry The US market for metal cans is highly consolidated and competitive, with only three or four suppliers commanding most of the market share. With metal prices skyrocketing, what can buyers do to keep costs under control?

Mar 26		Accelerating Sourcing With pressures mounting on supply management organizations to have a greater impact on the bottom line, the need to achieve better results faster continues to build. In this Wave of the Future podcast, we discuss steps that procurement professionals can take to reduce sourcing cycle times even more.

Mar 12		Centers of Excellence Setting up a Sourcing Center of Excellence can yield real benefits for a sourcing organization, for relatively little investment. This podcast will inform you about what a Center of Excellence does, what benefits can be gained, and the practicalities of setting one up.

Feb 27		Where Next for Low Cost Country Sourcing? Will Asia remain the sourcing powerhouse of the world? We consider whether other geographic regions might eclipse Asia, such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and perhaps even Africa.

Nov 21		Commodity Risk Management What strategies can companies use to protect themselves against recurring spikes in commodity prices and supply volatility? Can a company turn its exposure to risk into competitive advantage? We present an overview of the A.T. Kearney approach to commodity risk management and outline the benefits gained from proactively managing supply risk.