By Andrew K. Reese
Las Vegas — Procurement has come a long way since the days when it labored in the corporate basement and was viewed as an administrative support function that pushed purchase orders and twisted suppliers' arms. Today spend management is center stage at enterprises of all sizes as companies look to Procurement to bring competitive advantage to the table and strategic value to the bottom line.
But still, aside from occasional mentions in annual reports, it's rare these days that Procurement executives are asked to take center stage themselves to be recognized for their achievements.
That changed earlier this year at the Ariba LIVE conference put on by spend management solution provider Ariba in Las Vegas. As part of the conference, the solution provider handed out its 2008 Spend Management Excellence Awards, naming six procurement executives and one procurement team as "pioneers" for their work in driving transformation within the function. (Full disclosure: This editor participated pro bono on the judging committee that evaluated the nominees for the award.)
The company also bestowed its first Lifetime Achievement Award on procurement icon Shelley Stewart, Jr., senior vice president for operational excellence and chief procurement officer at Tyco International. Stewart joined Tyco in 2004 to lead a global strategic sourcing initiative, and in short order he and his team were able to slash costs by reducing Tyco's supply base and forging new deals on a large scale, particularly with airlines, hotels and rental cars to offset the large and rising costs of corporate travel. The results: Stewart's team generated $455 million in savings in fiscal 2004 and $402 million in fiscal 2005.
(Supply & Demand Chain Executive covered Stewart's achievements in its April/May 2006 cover story on e-procurement veterans. See www.sdcexec.com/8372.)
Other 2008 Spend Management Excellence Award Winners included:
- Global Spend Management Pioneers — The Procurement team at Emerson, including Craig Doiron, vice president of global supply chain; Al Middeke, vice president of global procurement; James Geesey, vice president of corporate procurement; Mike McKenzie, director of corporate procurement; and Dan Douglass, manager of e-sourcing.
- Enterprise Spend Management Pioneer — Jean-Jacques Beaussart, chief procurement officer at National City Corporation.
- Growing Enterprise Spend Management Pioneers — Diebold, Incorporated Procurement Team, including Tom Swidarski, CEO; George S. Mayes, Jr., senior vice president of global supply chain management; Linda Parcher, vice president and chief procurement officer; and Michael J. Rager, vice president of global procurement.
- Spend Analysis Pioneer — Jim Polak, director of general purchasing at PPG Industries, Inc. (Polak also was named Supply & Demand Chain Executive's 2008 Practitioner Pro to Know in the magazine's February/March 2008 issue — see www.sdcexec.com/2008Pros)
- Change Management Pioneer — Roy R. Anderson, chief procurement officer at MetLife, Inc.
- Procure-to-Pay Pioneer — Lisa Martin, senior vice president of worldwide procurement at Pfizer Inc.
- Contract Management Pioneer — Dean Phillippi, senior business project consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida.
Three suppliers were also named "pioneers" for their work in tackling e-procurement issues in the early days from the supply side of the equation, including AT&T, IBM and Telepress, Inc.
