PROCURMENT TRANSFORMATION
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“ It ’ s having the ability to see that something has affected the plan , and having the ability to adjust , as well as the visibility across your supply chain and business to detect or predict obstacles ”
— Richard Howells , VP of Solution Management at Digital Supply Chain , SAP
of food , water and facilities , such as toilets , that need to be imported . You can then work out a schedule of when these things need to be ordered and what they ’ re going to cost ,” Howells explains . “ It ’ s really a budgeting exercise based on demand , to work out the supplies required , in order to plan where that supply comes from , and when it needs to be at the specific venue .”
With his decades of experience in the space , Howells acknowledges that the best laid plans often go awry . “ We plan in the perfect world but we execute in the real world , and in the real world , everything doesn ’ t go according to plan . My father always used to tell me that if you fail to plan , plan to fail ,” he says . In order to counteract the unpredictability , Howells counsels both intensive planning and adaptability . For both of those strategies to be executed , he
MAY 2019