The Procurement Strategy Forum at P&SC LIVE Dubai

August 13, 2024

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Leading executives from NMC Healthcare, Al Ghurair Investment and Penny Software shared valuable insights during Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Dubai

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Dubai brought together procurement professionals from a host of global, industry-leading companies.

Attendees were able to enjoy insightful keynotes, fireside chats and panel discussions, during which executives and experts shared valuable knowledge and real-world experiences.

One highlight of the event was the Procurement Strategy Forum, which saw leaders share exclusive insights and expert advice on procurement strategy.

Participants in the forum were:

Stefan Sickel, Chief Supply Chain Officer at NMC Healthcare
Dr. Ahmed Sedky, Group Vice President, Procurement at Al Ghurair Investment
Iyad Aldalooj, CEO at Penny Software (the forum's sponsor)

Resilience is key

The panel began with a discussion on building resilience in supply chains, as Stefan highlighted the necessity of assembling the right team and systems.

He underscored the importance of supplier relationship management, too, adding: "I always felt it was very important to build that fantastic relationship with your suppliers, understand what the problems may be—the shipping problems, the logistic problems, when disruptions in the supply chain may happen and knowing ahead of time what's going on."

Stefan Sickel,

Ahmed also expanded on this by detailing the broader framework of resilience.

"It starts by understanding what is resilience," he explained. "The first thing is we need to anticipate, then we cope and then we evolve and continue finding our way out."

Members of the panel went on to discuss why effective communication and system integration with partners is essential to meeting demands and achieving organisational goals.

These measures collectively enhance the ability to respond to and recover from supply chain disruptions, ensuring operational continuity and resilience, according to the experts.

Technology-driven procurement

Leaders participating in the Procurement Strategy Forum also emphasised the pivotal role of technology and data integration when it comes to procurement strategy.

"In order for us to have the proper diversification, the speed of procurement, the speed of sourcing the right data and data-driven decisions, we need to have the right procurement," said Ahmed.

Ahmed Sedky, Al Ghurair Investment

He stressed that traditional, human-based procurement methods are inadequate for achieving the necessary speed and data-driven decision-making required for modern resilience.

Instead, Iyad advocated for technology-driven procurement systems and argued that technology should fit the business, not the other way around.

"You need to have what is fitting with your business itself and would achieve," he commented. "For example, if you have access to your data, you have access and integrations and trust along the supply chain with your suppliers or whoever is adding value along the value chain itself."

The discussion also underscored the foundational role of digitisation, with AI serving as an augmentation to better read and analyse data, forecast demand and ultimately build resilience.

"If you can think of digitisation as a foundation and AI as the augmentation and the empowerment of that digitisation, you can digitise all the technical work, all the mechanical work of the procurement side," Iyad continued.

This integrated approach, combining technology and human intelligence, is crucial for developing robust and adaptive supply chain systems, according to the panel.

Want to see more from P&SC LIVE? Stay tuned to our website for more content, which will be rolled out in the coming days.

P&SC LIVE continues to expand

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE continues to expand its repertoire of events, with more to come in 2024 and 2025. Discover our essential diary dates below.

2024 diary dates: