Proxima Blog

Could you be more explicit what you consider as indirect procurment and direct procurement as this can be different for each organization and can effect the result of your survey

Hi Nadeem,  
 
If I was to make a hard, fast division for the sake of this survey, I would say:  
 
Direct: Anything that goes into making your core, end product that the customer consumes  
 
Indirect: The spend that enables your business to operate - which doesnt necessarily have a direct impact on the final product  
 
Hope this helps

interesting survey. Procurement, an oddly disregarded discipline generally speaking, is being quickly outsourced. It is probably most highly regarded in manufacturing, however. Many years ago (~10), NAPM (now ISM) conducted a survey, which basically found, in the US anyway, that only 40% of CEOs considered Procurement to be worthy of representation in the boardroom...that's right, 60% didn't think so. I've worked in procurement for 20 years and can attest: the discipline gets no respect. In my opinion, this is because, at least in the US, it has government roots and was born with the "purchasing clerk". Even today, some old (60+) think it's "clerk work". If I were a young procurement professional today, I would focus on being an outsourced provider.

Matt is that survey you are mentioning done in a manufacturing or in a trading environment? 
 
Chris, does your survey only cover indirect spends?

Hi Martin, it is primarily aimed towards indirects however, given the constant blurring of what is directs vs indirects - a lot of the questions overlap. 
 
My advise would be to take a look and judge for youself - some questions might apply, some might not. 
 
Either way, if you would like the report please sign up for our enewsletter http://info.buyingteam.com/enewsletter - we will be publishing the results there

Martin,I can't recall the exact article, and I might be rounding the finding and percentages in my post above, but here's a snippet from a study in the same vein, if not the same study:"More telling evidence of the profession's standing in business can be found in CEOs/Presidents' Perceptions and Expectations of the Purchasing Function (1993, Bales and Fearon), sponsored by NAPM and the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies. According to the study, while two-thirds of the CEOs and presidents interviewed view the purchasing function as very important to the overall success of the firm, they do not feel that the purchasing function is performing to the levels they want and expect. Only 55 percent of those who feel the function is very important perceive that it also is very effective. There appears to be a gap between what CEOs and presidents want and what they think their organizations are receiving." 
 
note: NAMP is now ISM