LIVE London – two days of supply & procurement insight

The world’s fastest growing procurement and supply chain event recently took place over two insight-packed days in one of London’s top business arenas – the Business Design Centre, in Islington.

BizClik’s Procurement & Supply Chain Live London was a disruptive learning and networking event that showcased some of the industry’s top speakers across innovation, thought leadership and strategy. 

The line up for Procurement and Supply Chain LIVE 2023 included:

• Alisa Bornstein, Chief Procurement Officer, VISA Europe
• Matthew Harris CPO, Logistics & Services, A.P. Moller - Maersk
• Juud Tempelman Global Chief Procurement Officer, JLL
• Nicholas Wright, Director, Procurement Innovation (Digital & Talent) bp
• Ashley Naughton, Former Director of Logistics, McLaren Automotive
• Waleed AlSaeedi, Director of Procurement Department, Abu Dhabi Government
• Alexander Tschentscher, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics Excellence & Strategy, Siemens AG

A sparkling programme of keynotes and panel discussions was hosted on two conference stages, as leading industry figures discuss the most important ideas – and shared telling insights – around the world of procurement, supply chain and logistics.

As well as keynote speakers and fireside chats there were networking opportunities for an estimated 2,000 in-person attendees with nearly one thousand more attending as virtual delegates. 

It was a packed agenda. Matt Yanchyshyn, General Manager, AWS Marketplace & Partner Engineering at AWS discussed procurement challenges and how to overcome them, as well as the benefits of digital marketplaces to foster innovation. 

There was also Jim Townsend, Chief Procurement Officer at Walgreen Boots Alliance, who shared his perspective on ProcureTech companies and how they can be more successful in the sales process.

Delegates also heard from the likes of Community Fibre, Baringa, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as part of the Supply Chain Sustainability Forum; and Siemens and Cushman & Wakefield as part of the Supply Chain Strategy Forum.

Strategic sourcing was a key theme, with events on Stage 1 dealing with this key issue:

• Adrian Oyekanmi, Radisson Hotel Group Global Strategic Sourcing SVP, discussed how strategic sourcing can unlock the potential for success.
• Patsy Duncan, Senior Director of Global Procurement at PepsiCo, shared insights around unlocking ESG targets through strategic sourcing.
• The Strategic Sourcing Forum featured three speakers:
  – Milind Taylor, Global Head, Services Procurement & Vendor Management, Diebold Nixdorf
  – Andrew Turner, Global Head of Indirect Procurement with real estate professional services firm JLL
  – Benn Godfrey, VP Raw material & Forming at Rolls-Royce 

Meanwhile, Alexander Tschentscher, Head of Supply Chain Excellence & Head of Strategy, Supply Chain & Logistics, at Siemens AG, spoke about the company’s move from being tactical to being strategic.

Another address came from Shawn Plunkett – Global Procurement Category Director, Warehousing & Logistics at Springer Nature, an academic publisher – who spoke about how smart inventory management has furthered the company’s sustainability goals,

The networking area was buzzing across the two days, with many conversations taking place in an Expo-style atmosphere, at company stands.

One company with a stand was Kodiak Hub, whose supplier relationship management platform boosts efficiency and performance through automation, data enrichment and advanced analytics, so leveraging supplier data and market information into actionable insights.

There was insight aplenty from a raft of industry experts, including Mark Gilham, an evangelist with Enable, a SaaS rebate management platform that drives relationships between B2B trading partners. 

He delivered a powerful keynote entitled ‘The Transformative Journey of Procurement’, sharing insights and expertise on the latest trends and strategies in procurement and supply chain management. 

Gilham told his audience: “You don't want to be spending time on administrative tasks – ploughing through software we, working out what's going on with rebates. Every hour you're doing that, the tech-savvy version of you isn't there, which means it can’t add value.

He then urged showgoers to “speak to your peers – the thought leaders and the service providers – and challenge them, so you can go away more informed on what technology can and can't do for you”.

Sheldon Mydat is CEO of supplier relationship-management platform, Suppeco. He took part in a panel discussion on digital procurement.

Speaking about the importance of data governance, Mydat told his in-person and virtual audience: “All procurement solutions are based on data, so if you have poor data your KPIs exist in a dysfunctional environment.

He added: “Most company data is unstructured, and you need to sort the wheat from the chaff, in order to be able to understand that data. It's also about harnessing unstructured data that lives inside the operation.”