Proxima, a leading procurement services provider, has completed its brand transition and its new online presence is now live.

This is an important milestone in Proxima evolution, and is reflective of the scope and range of services that it now offers to its portfolio of blue-chip, multi-national clients. The new Proxima brand underlines its innovative thinking and approach, combining elements of Proxima’s core activity – procurement – and the way the company works with, and on behalf of, its clients by incorporating the concepts of “proximity”, “proxy” and “intimacy”.

The rebranding process has given Proxima amazing insight into the relationships it enjoys with its clients. It has also enabled the company to reflect on how it can deliver even better results for organisations.

Source:  www.top-consultant.com

buyingTeam, Europe’s largest procurement outsourcing specialist, announces it has signed a long-term procurement outsourcing contract with global energy provider BG Group.

BG Group has engaged buyingTeam to assist in evolving its procurement approach and embedding a global indirect procurement strategy. buyingTeam will provide BG Group with a full suite of procurement services, including, spend and market analysis, strategic and tactical sourcing, together with associated contract and stakeholder management.

The role of procurement as a key management discipline continues to grow and is fast becoming a central part of executive decision making. Leading companies increasingly value procurement’s ability to go beyond its traditional focus on a client’s supply base and positively influence internal attitudes towards purchasing and apply greater commercial emphasis on its working practices more generally. This change in approach is core to buyingTeam’s model.

Commenting on the contract, buyingTeam CEO Matthew Eatough, said: “The signing of this multi-year contract with such a successful and internationally renowned company is a powerful endorsement of the substantial benefits that the buyingTeam approach brings to our clients. It also shows how the procurement function has evolved from simple cost-cutting into an integral management discipline.

“We will be working with them to identify where significant value can be unlocked to deliver ongoing future benefits to the BG Group’s operations. We believe that our shared services model provides us with the strength and depth needed to grow with international organisations.”

Source:  www.top-consultant.com

Under this new, value-based arrangement, Accenture will have a proportion of its fees directly tied to the savings achieved to demonstrate its commitment and confidence in its ability to deliver savings. Accenture will initially focus on delivering strategic sourcing — savings from across the City’s diverse base of suppliers — and by transforming the way that the City manages its procurement operations.

A new central City of London Procurement Service will be created to undertake all procurement and procure- to-pay functions. This service will be delivered by a joint team from the City and Accenture for the duration of the contract.

“The City is seeking to achieve savings and drive efficiencies through the way in which it conducts its procurement and procure-to-pay functions,” said Chris Bilsland, the City of London Corporation’s financial director. “We selected Accenture because of its proven success in delivering procurement services to organizations across the world, although, of course, this new contract will complement our commitment to local procurement. The City of London Corporation will continue to enjoy the legacy of both the financial and non-financial benefits after the contract period.”

Change management will be central to this transformation program and Accenture will provide training for both the City staff that will be involved with the transformation as well as those who will take over the ongoing management of the centralized procurement service after Accenture.

“The aim is to save the City of London Corporation more than £30 million over five years,” said Mark Lyons, Accenture’s United Kingdom and Ireland managing director for Health and Public Service. “This innovative, value-based arrangement will ensure that both Accenture and the City of London Corporation are committed to delivering these savings. Accenture will bring its deep industry skills and insight across its global network to drive continuous improvement for the City.”

New technology will be deployed through the implementation of an eMarketplace and a buyer portal to assist departments in requisitioning and using the new service. This unified procurement function will help the City fully exploit the latest procurement techniques, such as category and demand management, and more effectively balance quality, price and operational costs.

Source:  Top-Consultant

The Alexander Proudfoot Company, one of the world’s foremost operational improvement consultancies, announced the appointment of John Sharman, a recognised leader in procurement, to head its global Procurement practice.

Alexander Proudfoot names new head for global Procurement practice

Mike Melling, Alexander Proudfoot President, UK, said: “Alexander Proudfoot is the world’s most experienced operational consulting company, and I am pleased that John is joining us in our efforts to improve and expand our client offerings. “John is a leading supply chain expert with over 25 years of in-depth and wide ranging experience. He is a proven leader, with first hand experience of transforming businesses, and I am sure that his appointment will further strengthen our ability to deliver significant improvements in our clients’ organizations, as we are proud to have done for over 65 years.”

Alexander Proudfoot explains that with businesses sourcing materials and products from all over the world, efficient procurement plays a more important part than ever in determining a firm’s success. In addition to meeting longer term procurement targets, corporates now also need to deal with the immediate threat of inflation in many parts of their supply chain. The rising cost of raw materials across many sectors, coupled with the increase in the price of fuel, has only served to intensify the pressures on margins. In many countries, businesses are also facing the unfamiliar challenges of expanding production after such a lengthy economic downturn.

As head of the global Procurement practice, Sharman’s responsibilities will include identifying, developing and implementing the tools and systems that will enable Alexander Proudfoot’s clients to drastically improve their procurement functions and maximize their overall returns.

“I am very excited to be working with an organization with such a distinguished track record of delivering value and results to clients,” Sharman said upon joining the firm. “There is already a very solid foundation to build upon that will enable Alexander Proudfoot to become quickly the ‘go to’ consulting firm for effective procurement transformations.”

Sharman joins Alexander Proudfoot from five years as a senior level consultant on operational issues, gaining experience over a range of industry sectors.

Prior to that, he spent thirty years at IBM, where he became Global Procurement Practice Executive, and provided leadership as the company diversified and grew from a computer company into the world’s largest IT and consulting services company.Source

Source: Top-Consultant