Welcome
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Authors
Neil Deverill - Procurement Leaders Network
Neil is the current Chairman of the Procurement Leaders Network Advisory Board and former CPO of Royal Philips and Anglo American.
From 1968 to 1990 Neil worked at operational procurement from trainee buyer at GEC to Chief Purchasing Executive at Electrolux UK. In between Neil was a Purchasing manager at Rank Xerox and Cossor Electronics and F.E. Sourcing director for Inchcape based in Taiwan.
From 1990-2008 Neil was Corp Head Purchasing at Electrolux Sweden, Head of UK Govt Purchasing at CUP (HM Treasury), Corporate Head of worldwide Procurement for Philips Electronics based in Netherlands and finally Group Head of Procurement for Anglo American plc based in Johannesburg and then London.
Neil retired this year and is now Chairman of the Procurement Leaders Network, Advisory Board.
From this author:
With resistance to change the default setting for many businesses, implementing new processes – and making them stick – can be a long and frustrating task. It is only by breaking through that psychological barrier that you can hope to make any transformation permanent.
14:37, 18 Dec, 2009
In 1990, I didn't know there was a should-cost calculation for anything. In fact, I hadn't even heard the phrase. What I mean is that I wasn't consciously aware that the company I worked for was probably overpaying for everything.
17:32, 16 Apr, 2009
Over the past few months, I have witnessed several examples of CPOs either in denial or very busy with displacement activities when asked to consider how good their operation is. Of course, they know better than I, but as I travel around I observe the same issues coming up over and over again; talent, internal cooperation, real supplier collaboration, how to oversee a greening of the supply chain and, of course, most recently, how to stay in business.
11:26, 12 Feb, 2009
There’s a new type of procurement professional – someone who not only has extensive experience of your business, but also knows your suppliers’ industry inside out and has all the right contacts to help get the best deals. But then you knew that already, didn’t you?
17:03, 16 Dec, 2008
An economic recession provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for procurement professionals to step up and demonstrate their worth to the wider business. But if they're not on top of their game, they could face a very uncomfortable time indeed.
09:30, 22 Oct, 2008
With profit before sustainability still the prevailing business imperative, it will take a fundamental shift in consumer and shareholder attitudes to empower even the most socially responsible CPO to adopt sustainable procurement strategies.
12:39, 27 Aug, 2008
You look to the executive you report to to back you up and push your procurement business case submissions on the board. But the truth of the matter is that a CPO’s leadership and influencing skills are more important than the actual reporting line.
16:45, 16 Jun, 2008
It’s the strangest thing. No-one, it seems, has been subjected to bribery or corruption in their role as a procurement professional. But Neil Deverill doesn’t believe a word of it – and until CPOs come clean, we can’t have a proper debate.
16:33, 16 Apr, 2008
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