PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION
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A decade ago , the essence of the ‘ supply chain professional ’ could be found hiding at the bottom of a weekly meeting agenda in a forgotten corner of the accounting department . Cost was king ; tactical buying to drive down price was de rigueur ; and the idea of long-term , collaborative supplier-buyer relationships as a way to create value in the supply chain was in its nascency .
In 1911 , the relatively new and inaccessibly expensive motor car was assembled by teams of three to four workers over the course of around 12 hours . The fledgling Ford Motor company produced just over 69,000 vehicles that year . By 1919 , the invention of the moving assembly line cut production time to just over an hour and a half , ensuring that 50 % of the cars in the United States and 40 % of the cars in the UK were made by Ford . In order to curb worker turnover at his new factories , Henry Ford drastically raised wages , improved working conditions , and immediately efficiency and productivity soared . The combination of transformative business practices and technological innovation reshaped the world we live in . Ford reshaped the world of manufacturing – and the culture of a nation – in a few short years , and left a legacy that reached into the next century .
A decade has passed and the supply chain professional has passed out of the accounting department , rising through the ranks and now sits in pride of place at the leadership table . The
“ In a Requisenabled world , our platform means that things aren ’ t linear or circular : It ’ s a network ”
Richard Martin , CEO , Requis
AUGUST 2019