The changing world of global procurement
Should you rethink where procurement is headquartered?
Mike Verespej, Editor-in-Chief -- Purchasing, 2/17/2005 2:00:00 AM
When I spoke with Tom Linton, chief procurement officer at Agere Systems, earlier this month, it underscored the dramatic influence that outsourcing has had on procurement—particularly in the electronics and technology industries.
How so? Linton works for a U.S. company, but he's based in Singapore where he heads a team of nearly 60 procurement professionals in offices everywhere from Munich, Taipei, Bangkok, and Orlando (Fla.) to the company's corporate headquarters in Allentown, Pa. While Singapore seems a logical choice for his office given that much of electronics outsourcing has shifted to the Far East, it certainly is not the norm yet for a chief procurement officer of a U.S.-based company to be based overseas.
But his presence in Singapore is a huge advantage for the supplier of integrated circuits that was spun off from Lucent Technologies less than three years ago. He's able to work directly with suppliers overseas and to develop purchasing professionals in that region who are more in tune with the markets in those countries.
What's more, his everyday presence in Singapore emphasizes to Agere's suppliers the importance that Agere places on its relationship with suppliers and how it wants to build a win-win situation that benefits all.
Agere's decision reflects where global procurement is headed and why global procurement is so critical to purchasing professionals. So you won't want to miss PURCHASING's Global Procurement Conference, a two-day webcast series on April 13 and April 14 where industry experts will tell you how to build successful strategies for global sourcing and how to manage complex spend categories on a global scale. You'll also get insight from past winners of PURCHASING's Medal of Professional Excellence on what you need to do as an organization to create best practices. For registration information, visit: /
To nominate your organization for Purchasing magazine's Medal of Professional Excellence, please send information supporting your nomination via regular mail or electronically to either Senior Editor Susan Avery (savery@reedbusiness.com)or Editor-in-Chief Mike Verespej (michael.verespej@reedbusiness.com). Visit www.purchasing.com for detailed information on the criteria you must meet.
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