Procurement Cockpit – Essential Tool in 2019 to Track KPIs

A procurement cockpit is no longer a nice to have, it is an essential tool to meet the demands of business in 2019, especially your KPIs, projects and tickets.

I frequently hear from procurement professionals that they are drowning in data and overwhelmed by the number of requests they receive daily.

If you are the CPO, your needs will most likely be different from a category manager.

Imagine having the ability to see the status of all open projects and all open tickets on each.

What if each member of the team could choose the KPIs and data they wanted to see, and have it organized how they like it?

I don’t know about you but the information I need to do my job is quite different from my boss.

We have had a few friendly discussions about this.

We both agree on one thing – we want to be able to determine at a glance if a project is on or off track.

Simple in concept and a bit more challenging in practice.

He loves as much data as he can find. This is how he spots trends. It is also how he determines whether a project will deliver the expected results.

My approach is different – to use a golf analogy – I am a feel player – I don’t need to know the exact yardage or the wind speed to determine what club I need. I rely on my brain to recall similar shots I have played.

It could be intuition or common sense but if 70% of the project time has been used and it is only 60% done my gut tells me it is probably off track.

In my experience, many people underestimate the time that it will take to finish projects. Might be optimism or I might be more of a realist.

The bottom line is that I don’t need or want the same amount of data my boss wants.

We have agreed on the set of data we both need to feel comfortable and collect it in our system.

This allows us to configure our cockpit in a way that helps each of us meet our goals.

I no longer have to respond to his questions about a project. He can see it on his dashboard.

I also know what my team is doing.

If either of us aren’t sure where a project stands, we can drill down and as a last resort send an update request.

Do you know how much time this saves us each week?

Many hours plus less stress.

Managing supplier risk, taking advantage of buying opportunities and moving events and projects forward are typical goals for procurement.

KPIs should be available by:

  • Category
  • Procurement staff responsible
  • Department
  • Division
  • Business owner
  • Any other tracking field relevant to the business – the number of tags should be unlimited

Here are some of the KPIs procurement professionals have told me they want to see:

  • # of Tickets
  • # of Tasks that are late
  • Ticket duration
  • Spend by each procurement staff member
  • Savings by each procurement staff member
  • Days in process
  • Projects completed on time
  • Projects that missed deadlines and by how many days
  • Reasons for delays – with explanations as appropriate

Some other handy features to consider:

  • The report views should be viewable in matrix and chart formats at a minimum and should be configurable to fit your needs and style
  • Flexible reminders and alerts should be configurable by each collaborator
  • Seamless integration with other systems
  • Auto updates on all platforms in real time
  • All communication in the tool so you have one version of the truth

The benefits are huge.

Knowing where things are at all times will eliminate the feeling of being overwhelmed.

The right information anytime you need it will keep a smile on your face.

If this is a problem you desperately want to solve, lets chat.

Ask better questions, make changes and 2019 will be your best year ever.

Action Step: If you are uncertain where to start the process of change, a procurement professional like myself can provide guidance and expertise to help your organization achieve the results you want.

If you want to go explore this topic in greater detail, please contact me. I invite you to request 30-minute discovery conversation. In my experience the next step will be apparent at the end of the call. I never assume that what I have to offer will be right for everyone, so don’t expect a sales pitch. You can reach me at 973-936-9672.

If you would like to know more ways to reduce costs without changing the way you do business, simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact information and the best time to reach you.

You Won’t Drift to Success©

Commit to taking the next step.

Until Next Time, I Wish You Great Success in Your Business and in Your Life

Mike Jeffries