“ People only share with people they trust . And trust is built up between partners over a series of confidence-building measures ”
JAMES MARLAND GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT , SAP INTELLIGENT SPEND & BUSINESS NETWORK
chain cycle . The value chain is big and broad , after all .
The Barriers to Collaboration Fortunately , James Marland , Global Vice President , SAP Intelligent Spend & Business Network , sat down with Procurement Magazine to share his thoughts on the barriers to successful buyer and supplier collaboration . And in his opinion , “ there are two main barriers to collaboration , trust and technology .”
“ Let ’ s take technology first . In order to collaborate effectively , you need to treat suppliers as part of your organisation . I call this going from the world of ERP to NRP . From
Enterprise Resource Planning to Networked Resource Planning . When MRP first morphed into ERP in the mid-1990s , Enterprise was aspirational ; for the first time , your production lines could connect to your sales forecast and your finances . But now , in 2021 , “ Enterprise ” is too limiting . If your span of control is limited to only your enterprise , then you will miss all of the signals from your suppliers and customers , signals about changing markets , buying behaviour and raw materials prices . It ’ s a big change : thinking not just being able to collaborate across the enterprise , but about collaboration across a complete value chain . How to do this ? A true business network .”
48 April 2021