INTERVIEW WITH ...
“ It can be easy to be caught up in the sentiment of a market , but good data allows procurement specialists to make informed decisions ”
PHILIPA ABBOTT
TITLE : PROCUREMENT MANAGER – WHEAT & UTILITIES COMPANY : WEETABIX INDUSTRY : FOOD LOCATION : UK
Experienced Commodity
Buyer with a demonstrated history of working in the food production industry . Skilled in Budgeting , Food & Beverage , Fast- Moving Consumer Goods ( FMCG ), Procurement , and Forecasting . Strong purchasing professional with a cips level 4 focused in Cips from City College
Q : WHAT ROLE DOES DATA PLAY IN YOUR PROCUREMENT STRATEGY ?
» It certainly plays a big role , and I ’ m a nerd so I love all data ! Data allows for quantitative evaluation . It can be easy to be caught up in the sentiment of a market , but good data allows procurement specialists to make informed decisions and reduces the bias from the noise within the market .
I suspect in the future , analytical analysis will form a greater part of a buyer ’ s role . Without the right quantitative data , it would be hard to know if you ’ re working with the right suppliers , or if they ’ re the best choice for your business needs – you ’ d be basing it on your own world view . This is why it ’ s vital to spend money on purchasing external data , so you ’ re not led simply by what ’ s in the newspapers or your own personal biases .
In addition , it ’ s much cleaner and effective to have strong independent data , rather than relying on potentially biassed reportage from the suppliers themselves .
Currently I ’ m working on a ‘ seed to spoon ’ study which initially will be used to further educate the business about our procurement chain , but could also have more consumerfacing uses as well . It would be impossible to paint the picture of our supply chain without data – it ’ s imperative to everything we do as a procurement team .
24 October 2023