SUPPLY CHAIN

Indirect Procurement Since being appointed as VP Procurement – Global Indirect in April 2014 , Patrick Williams is credited with leading a large-scale transformation across the full breadth of the Indirect categories to utilize cross functional teams to develop category strategies that drive competitive advantage . The program was known internally as ‘ ReCapture ’, and is fully endorsed by BD ’ s management committee .

Williams says the buying and engagement from senior management has been integral to the success of the initiative , describing it as “ critical ”. “ The management committee is not something we had before ,” he says . “ The program is not just sponsored , but governed and controlled by those at the very highest level of the company . Teams also do not get to opt-out , so the scope of it stays consistent .”

Off the back of the program ,

Williams and the Indirect Procurement team have been able to build and implement five-year strategies across multiple channels , saving hundreds of millions of dollars for the organization in the process . Such has been the success , the ‘ ReCapture ’ name has fallen by the wayside – “ it ’ s just the way we work now , indirect is very much on the company ’ s radar now ,” says Williams .

“ When I first joined BD , our ‘ spend under source plan ’, which is when you develop a strategy , actually write what we call a ‘ source plan ’, which is the official document that completely outlines the strategy I think was in the 20 % range . We are now at 59 % and climbing , so we are making excellent progress when it comes to developing strategies and implementing them .”

In the company ’ s journey to supply chain transformation , Williams says it has benefitted from taking a wide view of what strategies are working

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