The World Procurement Congress closed today on a question and answer session with some of the leading CPOs and thinkers in procurement.

Every supply disruption, according to Rick Hughes, is an opportunity. The CPO of P&G described to the World Procurement Congress how the consumer goods companies has changed and grown from past disruption.

The current keynote speaker at the World Procurement Congress is Tom Seal, Head of Research at Procurement Leaders. Following from Eva Wimmer’s lead, Seal takes a skeptical look at savings.

A great start to the World Procurement Congress. Eva Wimmers, SVP of group procurement at Deutsche Telekom kicks off the two-day event, with a call to action for taking purchasing forward in the future.

I have recently returned from a fairly long trip in the USA. As ever in my free time, I wondered over the supply chain implications of my surroundings.

In our recent Next Decade event in San Francisco, we hosted over 50 CPOs and other procurement executives to explore the issues which will affect purchasing in the future.

One of the oft-mentioned worries for buyers is the financial health of their suppliers. This is not because of altruistic worrywarts occupying procurement, but a concern for delivery.

As reported today by the PLN, a recent survey found that half of UK-based businesses check their suppliers for compliance to the UK Bribery Act. Interestingly, a mere 6% of the sample in the by Ernst & Young research stated that they would re-tender if they found a non-compliant supplier.

Innovation is at the heart of purchasing functions in the future. Markets move faster, consumers' minds change quicker and procurement must create a supply chain which responds to this volatility.

A number of reports have emerged of a rise in West African pirate activity. Only yesterday, an oil tanker was hijacked off the Ivory Coast. In 2012 there were 62 pirate attacks in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. Off the coast of Somalia, there were only 75 incidents last year.