In most companies, procurement is an unglamorous, unloved part of the business. A job in the procurement office? A fast track to nowhere. Sourcing and supplier management is strictly about costs, the thinking goes, and all that matters is playing hardball to get these as low as possible. No connection to innovation or strategy or creating positive value.
Not so fast. As Boston Consulting Group thought leaders Christian Schuh, Wolfgang Schnellbächer, Alenka Triplat, and Daniel Weise explain in Profit from the Source, procurement should be regarded in a new light, because it has the potential to be a CEO's secret weapon in these fast-moving, disruptive times. The authors offer a wake-up call and a new strategic blueprint for leaders everywhere. With vivid stories and in-depth case studies, they illustrate that no other business function offers the same holistic view of a company—from suppliers who provide the organization with raw materials and components to consumers who buy the finished product. While it's true that a core task of any procurement function is to keep costs from spiraling out of control, the authors show how procurement can help businesses generate phenomenal value from five other sources of competitive advantage critical to success—innovation, quality, sustainability, speed, and risk reduction.
I am a Managing Director and Senior Partner in BCG's Vienna office. I am a member of the Operations Practice specializing in Procurement for technology driven clients. Prior to joining BCG, I worked as a Partner at A.T. Kearney for 23 years. I hold a doctorate in artificial intelligence and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from TU Graz, Austria. My main areas of expertise are Procurement, Engineering, Manufacturing with an emphasis on clients in the automotive, defense and high-tech industry. I am best known for the books "The Purchasing Chessboard: 64 Methods to Reduce Costs and Increase Value with Suppliers", "Supplier Relationship Management: How to Maximize Vendor Value and Opportunity" and "The CPO: Transforming Procurement in the Real World"