8CIOReview | | JUNE 2023IN MY OPINIONBy Muzzi Palmieri, Vice President Of Global Supply Chain, Rad Power BikesTHE VALUE OF STRATEGIC SUPPLIER ALLIANCE COUNCIL PARTNERSHIPSMuzzi PalmieriWhile large technology companies today are keen to implement an effective procurement strategy by streamlining key elements in the end-to-end, source-to-pay processes, many face roadblocks because of supplier partners in multiple regions. There is complexity involved in integrating different teams and processes into the supply "value" chain and the skills and experience needed to leverage supplier partner relationships. One of the major reasons for complexities in procurement is the failure to implement a cross-functional strategy throughout different departments where everyone is accountable and bring in your top supplier partners to develop the strategy and execution plans. During my first 30 days at a large Technology company as the Chief Supply Chain Officer, we conducted a supplier portfolio analysis. The analysis revealed that 15 out of 3000+ suppliers made up 75 percent of the $2.6 billion supplier spend portfolio, and 19 percent of the total was with one supplier. We uncovered through the analytics that we were buying the same or similar products from multiple suppliers and at different pricing and lead times. We had many different payment terms ranging form pay 100 percent upfront to net 45 days, but there was no consistency by supplier tiers. It was very clear that we had many opportunities to not only consolidate the supply base but leverage cost, pay terms, and lead times. Additionally, after conducting a one-day workshop with four of the top 15 suppliers, we quickly concluded that our processes were fragmented, accountability was questionable, and my team lacked the experience to manage and leverage the supplier relationships to our advantage. The teams rarely had strategic discussions with partners as they were focused on daily execution of securing supply.We needed to quickly decide how we could reduce cost and impact working capital. To do this we would
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