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As we move further into the 21st century we see the world changing. Technologies are evolving, devices are becoming smarter and business processes streamlined. As a company that wishes to succeed, it’s important to stay ahead of these trends and adapt your company to reflect changes. In the past five years there have been various global trends that have reshaped procurement. I will use this blog to highlight and explain four of these trends.

Demanding Customers: The customer of 2009 is very different from the customer of 2014. With advances in technology, customers now demand short lead times and the ability to contact customer service representatives 24/7. This means managing customer collaboration and satisfaction now requires intensive efforts.

Globalization: As chemical companies expand globally so do their supply chains. These networks often become very complex and include suppliers with a broad range of technical know-how. In addition, companies will need to juggle monitoring various compliance regulations on both a local and global level. This means global chemical companies need to monitor and manage each supplier in real time to ensure operations run smoothly.


Economic Pressures: In such a capital intensive industry meeting your margins is essential. However, volatile raw material and commodity prices put chemical companies under constant pressure to meet these targets. In addition, management puts companies under constant pressure to reduce costs at a time where the uncertainty of the global economy is higher than ever.


Speed to Market: Speed has become imperative. As competition increases in the chemical industry, so does the need to speed up go-to-market activities. Customers of today are constantly demanding new products with better features and if you can’t get to the market fast enough one of your competitors will. This has drastically shrunk the product lifecycle and increased the need for constant innovation.


All of the trends discussed above are changing procurement practices. These practices need to be more streamlined and efficient than ever to meet the ever increasing demands of today’s markets.

Have you been affected by these trends? What other trends do you see affecting procurement practices in the future?

Share your thoughts with us below or on Twitter.

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