However, this objective has fallen to its lowest level in six years.<\/strong> Whereas 82% of respondents claimed that cost control was their top priority in 2017, this figure fell by 10 percentage points in 2018 (72%)! This can be explained by the fact that buyers are giving greater focus to other strategic objectives, such as developing partnerships with suppliers.<\/p>\n Olivier Joseph, Senior Procurement Engagement Manager at Microsoft, confirms the trend: “Although cost control is still the main priority at Microsoft, it is now one of seven top metrics that are all equally important.”<\/em><\/p>\n There is an interesting difference between the public and private sectors in response to this question: 74% vs 58%!<\/p>\n Buyers will use a number of strategies this year to reduce their procurement costs. In descending order of importance:<\/p>\n 50%: sharing\/globalisation<\/strong><\/p>\n 47%: adjustment to specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n 39%: TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)<\/p>\n 38%: value analysis<\/p>\n 27%: volume commitments<\/p>\n 26%: change of supplier<\/p>\n 20%: make or buy<\/p>\n 16%: integration of suppliers<\/p>\n 10%: offshoring<\/p>\n The sharpest increases compared to the previous year’s results include an adjustment to<\/strong> specifications<\/strong> (+15 points), TCO<\/strong> (+12 points) and continual improvement plans<\/strong> (+11 points).<\/p>\n 56% of respondents believe that the amount of money saved is the key performance indicator<\/strong>, which proves that reducing costs is still the number one priority. This especially applies to CPOs, since more of them agree on this issue (+12 percentage points).<\/p>\n In addition, the criterion of saving money varies according to the sector. For example, the transport and logistics industries (75%) as well as healthcare and social welfare (68%) in particular seem to be under pressure to drive down costs.<\/p>\n Other performance indicators are as follows:<\/p>\n The final word goes to Marc Sauvage, President of the National Procurement Council:<\/p>\n “A few decades ago, procurement departments played an almost exclusively administrative role, but they have since become instrumental in creating value in the company. We are standing on the threshold of a new era, which will lead to radical changes. As is often the case, the ability to sense future trends is key to achieving success: that is what this survey allows us to do.”<\/em><\/p>\n Survey methodology<\/strong> AgileBuyer carried out its annual survey into trends and top priorities for procurement departments. The 2018 survey, entitled “Buyer-Supplier relations in a new light,” has new insights into measuring procurement performance and the difficulty in finding...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":20041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[37],"yoast_head":"\nHow can you drive down costs?<\/h2>\n
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58%: negotiation<\/strong><\/p>\nHow do you measure procurement performance?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nThe survey was conducted by means of an online questionnaire for nearly two weeks (22\/11\/2017 – 4\/12\/2017). Some 628 procurement professionals (CPOs, managers, coordinators and buyers) from every sector answered the entire questionnaire. Their replies were examined by a scientific committee featuring procurement experts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"