Top 4 Supply Management Trends Impacting Finance
Exciting times are on the horizon for finance and procurement professionals. 2012 is already bringing continued globalization and organizations have a need to drive optimal financial results while proactively mitigating commercial risks. The supply base has become even more critical to organizations' success and 360-degree visibility into supplier relationships is no longer optional.
Following are some key supply management trends that will impact (and help) finance professionals in the coming year.
1. Shifting Focus from Unit Cost to Total CostCompanies are realizing that the purchase price of a product or service doesn't represent the comprehensive cost to their organization and are taking steps to proactively capture these other supplier-related costs. Additional costs often range from direct material costs and manufacturing-related fees like delivery, storage and packaging to indirect goods Cap Ex costs like installation, maintenance and adding new workforce skills, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Increasingly, corporations contracted out labor in order to weaken unions and reduce costs, and relied on greater global sourcing of inputs, taking advantage of low wages in the periphery.64 Global competition between corporations increased,
