Supplier demand for nothing ? Digging deeper The survey results into supplier demand served as a major catalyst for Ahlsell ’ s next move . They said that everything worked perfectly fine , and they didn ’ t want anything new from Ahlsell . Karolina Hagberg Chinell
PROCESS OPTIMISATION
“ And this will not be less important in the future ,” she says . “ At Ahlsell we had been very manual , especially in the source-tocontract part of the procurement process . So , when I joined the company pre-COVID ( approximately four-and-a-half years ago ), I was convinced that we need to start to digitalise our procurement organisation to be attractive towards our suppliers and invest in our supplier relationships the way that we ’ re investing in our customer relations . It ’ s crucial that we can communicate , embrace , and relate to our top suppliers .
Equally important is the internal perspective . “ Things are changing all the time so we need to increase speed , efficiency , and accuracy to simply create better business – and digitalisation is definitely a measure to do so ,” she says . “ And I ’ m convinced – and I ’ m sure you ’ ll agree – that digitalisation has not only revolutionised your personal life , but also your working life .”
Chinell thinks that it ’ s crucial to understand your stakeholders . To gain more of a perspective on this , Ahlsell began with a survey into their suppliers and employees , and asked : ‘ What do you want more of ?’, ‘ What can we do differently ?’, ‘ How can we digitalise to make it easier for you to do business with us – or make it easier for you to do your job within Ahlsell ?’
Employee demand for better product data ? The survey revealed that internal employees wanted better product data . According to Chinell , good product data is extremely important to execute good business , as well as crucial to being able to digitalise . She says that , since it was also an ongoing project in the company , their employees were already aware of it .
“ That can also symbolise that it could be hard to imagine what digitalisation can actually do for you . It ’ s easy to answer in terms of what you already see .”
This is another important point . To risk a metaphor , those born blind don ’ t know – and can ’ t really know – what they are missing in the world of sight . Digitalisation may be the light .
Supplier demand for nothing ? Digging deeper The survey results into supplier demand served as a major catalyst for Ahlsell ’ s next move . They said that everything worked perfectly fine , and they didn ’ t want anything new from Ahlsell . Karolina Hagberg Chinell
TITLE : CPO COMPANY : AHLSELL LOCATION : STOCKHOLM , SWEDEN
An experienced Director of
Purchasing with a demonstrated history of working in the retail industry . Skilled in Negotiation , Food & Beverage , Fast-Moving Consumer Goods ( FMCG ), P & L Management , and Sales Management . A strong purchasing professional , she has a Bachelor of Science focused in Economics and Business Administration from Stockholms universitet .