Getting comfortable with ‘new’ to realise benefits
With businesses facing numerous supply chain challenges like Scope 3, risk and cost at the same time as seeking new growth opportunities, collaboration and innovation are becoming critical tools for procurement. Working differently with suppliers and peers is fast becoming not just fashionable but a core pillar of business strategy. However, many businesses find it hard to innovate with suppliers. Legacy approaches have often made businesses change averse and, at times, unattractive to the suppliers that they seek.
“Unlocking the potential in your suppliers, requires a change in pace and approach to working with them. Creating the conditions where innovation can thrive will provide growth.”
Break down barriers and become open for innovation
Whilst most businesses want to innovate, there are often process and capability obstacles that make it hard to do. The barriers facing suppliers are often numerous, and internal teams frequently work to processes that discourage more collaborative and co-creative thinking. Leading organisations often fuse a structured innovation approach with the freedom to ideate and explore with multiple partners. Our approach does just this, bringing internal and external teams together to identify and deliver increased or new forms of value.
- Understand how to become “open for innovation” and turn it into action
- Create rapid and agile supplier networks to power, ‘recover and reboot’
- Rethink business processes and practices through the customers’ eyes
Proxima’s approach to innovation
Innovation is counter-intuitive for many organisations and often requires a change in operating practices and large-scale stakeholder buy-in. Our teams run initial working sessions with procurement and stakeholders to create the platform for change and use our programme management expertise and supply side knowledge to design and run focussed innovation initiatives or collaboration forums.
- Kick-off innovation workshop – identifying opportunities and change needs
- Put in place more relevant terms, measures and governance structures
- Run supplier engagement programmes and collaboration initiatives
