Enhancing Supply Chain Transparency and Efficiency through Business Intelligence

The assignment argues that business intelligence plays a crucial role in creating a more transparent and efficient supply chain system. It highlights how the advent of e-sourcing, online communities, and various business intelligence tools can provide valuable insights into risk management, procurement, and decision-making processes. The author also emphasizes the importance of building strong networks through digital upgradation and automation to minimize risks associated with supply chain management. Overall, the assignment supports the argument that business intelligence is essential for creating a stronger and more efficient supply chain system.

Running head: PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author note:

1PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
Supply chain in broader terms includes the entire production process along with its
development, store and supply and procurement plays pivotal role in these. The term Supply
Chain Management (SCM) deals with business activities having primary focus on the supply-
side (Christopher 2016). SCM charts out the planning design, execution strategies, control
methods and monitoring techniques of supply chain proceedings that aim to create an
infrastructure that is competitively higher than other market proceedings (Wisner, Tan and
Leong 2014). Procurement is done on the part of business entity in order to meet the demands for
goods its business model requires compared to supply chain that deals with the end result of
customers accessing the goods. Creation of positive to higher net value, supply demands
synchronization, leveraging logistics and, measuring global performance are also major
component of SCM and procurement is one of the founding process underlying the success of
well-managed supply chain.
This essay is to present a critical review of one newspaper article where he author
outlines how the evolution of procurement process is going to take place with the advent of
new management and supply skills, technological advances and arrival of business
intelligence leading toward strengthened supply chain management system. I agree to
almost every point that the author has made in favor of procurement being developed and
efficient over time with the transformation in the management designs of the business that
now focuses more on the integrated information reaped through technological advances
and skilled supply enhancing the future of procurement as well as strengthening supply
chain as a whole.

2PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
THE NEWS ARTICLE: Let’s take a sneak preview at the future for procurement
Author: Gerard Chick, chief knowledge officer at Optimum Procurement.
CRITICAL EVALUATION:
EVOLUTION OF PROCUREMENT
I strongly support the evolution of procurement process that would minimize the
cost that would further fizzle out the worries regarding budget allocation and maintenance
as successfully noted down by the author. I support it because of the fact that a largely
strong procurement takes care of the contraction in the need of spends management
without the requirement of large and discreet organizations doing the task operating at
enterprise levels. It further generates profit in terms of reduced cost and cost saving or
growth in revenue over time (Procurement and Supply Australasia, 2017).
The article sheds light on the evolution process of procurement in the future time to help
business organizations or entities build a strong supply chain that is efficient in shrinking
spending management, replacing cost savings by profitability, and initiating and evoking budgets
in the business process (Wisner, Tan and Leong 2014). The procurement process at its
strategically intrinsic impact evokes the importance of management of spending.
EMERGENCE OF NEW SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
I strongly believe emergence of newer management of supply decisions would
consolidate the supply chain financing because procurement process is the new emerging
service growing explosively in the SCM. Current procurement and sourcing activities

3PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
requiring no redistribution to internal end users will now going to be executed by the expertise
service providers (Stadtler 2015). The largely grown demand of the service of procurement
enhances the quality as well as quantity of the supply of the service quite dramatically in recent
time with the evolution of procurement. The scopes of the strategies to evolve the service has
widened with time leading to greater prospect of the component in SCM (Christopher 2016). The
financial scope of procurement increases with maintaining link with physical supply chain.
Under this optimization of cash flows, building and utilizing working capital, implementation of
dynamic discounting are followed.
CHANGES IN THE SUPPLY SKILL
Since the supply of proper skills and technique is inherently linked to the success of
well managed supply chain system, I bear same opinion as the author that reinforces the
positive impact of changed supply skills on the efficient procurement. This brings forth the
importance of new definition of expertise that involve extension and enhancement of attributes
significant to the supply of professional knowledge and skills. The broad skill sets should make
inclusion of knowledge of almost all sectors and subjects related to the business field activities
(Sianipar and Yudoko 2012). The operating nodes should have knowledge of economics,
politics, science,, technological modernity, commerce and global impact analysis in order to
provide the support that strong supply chain would need to propel its procurement service. This
issue further generates a competition in order to bring out and recruit the best talent to support
the strategic needs of suppliers globally
ARRIVAL OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
I support the argument made by author in favor of business intelligence playing important
role to create more transparent and efficient supply chain system. To justify this I would

4PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
like to focus on how the existing global trading and strong network through e-sourcing and
online communicative communities lead the prices to become more transparent without
negotiation. The arrival of various business intelligence tools spills wide information related to
risk associated with supply-side activities. The huge data when tapped and put into models
generate information that helps in business forecast, business analysis as well as risk assessment
processes (Procurement and Supply Australasia, 2017). As per the author, utilizing these data
and further analysis in order to reap future trend and pattern in the business prospect is the new
process of business predictions and core element in structure planning (Janvier-James 2012).
Availability and accessibility of data bringing forth the information related to spending, overall
performance and risk factors derived through business intelligence techniques leads to greater
procurement operation and decision making that overtime positively adds to the supply chain
system.
RISK MANAGEMENT & DEMAND CAPACITY
Existence and entrance of new and culturally different organization that marks fast
growth brings forth the challenge of selection of suppliers. This leads to more risk and
complexity as the process becomes more fluid (Mellat-Parast 2013).
I find in this point that the focus is more tilted toward building strong network with
digital up gradation and automation. I agree to the author’s insight, as this would empower
SCM professionals to discover, create connection and collaboration with other suppliers,
end users and partners. This would further minimize the risk associated with in supply
chain with well-managed procurement that is now facing increase in the automated system
regarding Procure-to-pay (P2P), management of contract and sourcing leading to greater

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integrity in the supply chain system. This will provide more clear insights in the business
operation with transparency. The past decades focused more on saving cost for procurement
(Monczka et al. 2015) compared to today’s world that focus on communication and information
to minimize the risk in business and supply.
I support the view totally, because with the advent of mobile technology, the
procurement gets bigger and faster with fast and easy application and communication
between professionals included in the supply chain. What I found is that the trends
converging towards the future is supposed to create supply relationship more risky with
proper anticipation and increased awareness regarding risks associated in business and
supply.
CONCLUSION
To conclude it can be said that the future of procurement process in creating strong
supply chain management lies in the opening of new innovation oriented models that includes
cost saving strategies. I strongly believe the extensions and expansions in the organizations
create more opportunity for the procurement to play role. With the information acquired
through business intelligence and application of them to minimize risk lets Suppliers have
more power to leverage can take decisions in favor of them sharing both rewards and risks
they are entitled to through motivational contracting. Supplier focus is more on the quality
of solutions they provide. Future of procurement sheds light on the various management,
technical and skill based factor that would lead toward integrated and stronger networks of
communication with which the supplier consumer lines fade allowing integration and
improvement in the information and their utilization. This will interpret into the collaborative
network that strengthens the supply chain and its management.

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REFERENCE
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Janvier-James, A.M., 2012. A new introduction to supply chains and supply chain management:
Definitions and theories perspective. International Business Research, 5(1), p.194.
Mellat-Parast, M., 2013. Supply chain quality management: An inter-organizational learning
perspective. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 30(5), pp.511-529.
Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., 2015. Purchasing and
supply chain management. Cengage Learning.
Procurement and Supply Australasia. 2017. Let's take a sneak preview at the future for
Procurement - Procurement and Supply Australasia. [online] Available at:
https://procurementandsupply.com/2015/11/lets-take-a-sneak-preview-at-the-future-for-
procurement/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].
Sianipar, C.P. and Yudoko, G., 2012. Understanding Issue Dissemination and Arrival Patterns on
Suppy-Chain Using Network Analysis and Social Media.
Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and
advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Wisner, J.D., Tan, K.C. and Leong, G.K., 2014. Principles of supply chain management: A
balanced approach. Cengage Learning.