Community
Find answers, ask experts and talk with the procurement community
Tools
Do you want to deliver savings faster, reduce risks and transform functional performance?
Industry-leading events
Inspirational thinkers and innovators share their vision, providing unique opportunities to network and share best practice
Upcoming events
Resources
An open library of free resources provides access to selected procurement opinion, articles and sponsored whitepapers
My Profile
Manage and update your personal details and account settings for a seamless membership experience.
Ensure your PL homepage highlights resources relevant to you. Update your topic preferences so they align to your current strategic priorities.
Make your membership unique to you. Select what PL service offerings you want to be alerted of via email.
Access the publishing and networking-activity schedule for the PL membership. Register your interest to stay updated.
by Jonathan WebbWorld Procurement Congress: Rick Hughes and risk.
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.
In his keynote speech, he outlined the company’s response to the much-reported ‘Diaper apocalypse’.
In December 2012 one of the main suppliers of an input material for nappies experienced a fire.
During the blaze, one employee lost their life as the entire facility was gutted. In one hit, 40% of the world’s supply of the material was knocked out. This created significant press interest in the impact of the lives of millions across the globe.
To manage this, obviously P&G required to work with a wide range of stakeholders, ranging from suppliers, to other departments even to senior members of the company’s own management.
The philosophy of P&G’s supply chain runs on:
- Agility;
- Adaptable; and
- Aligned.
In short, supply can adapt to change on a structural or short-term changes as well as being responsive to stakeholder needs.
The leadership was tasked with communicating clearly to all concerned partners as well as outlining a road to resolving the situation. The answer came in part from working with the supplier in re-activating a moth-balled factory in the USA.
The key output, for P&G, was to in using the disruption to restructure the supply chain and ensure it coheres to the above three principles.
“We have come out of this,” Hughes said, “with a much strong supply chain.”
