Transcript of a discussion on how consumers and suppliers of services and goods can best prepare to improve their procurement and supply chain activities.

1. How UPS Automates Supply Chain Management and Gains
Greater Insight into Procurement Efficiencies
Transcript of a discussion on how consumers and suppliers of services and goods can best
prepare to improve their procurement and supply chain activities.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Get the mobile app. Sponsor: Tradeshift.
Dana Gardner: Hi, this is Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions, and you're
listening to BriefingsDirect.
Our next business innovation for procurement case study examines how UPS
is modernizing and streamlining its procure-to-pay processes. We'll now hear
how UPS, across billions of dollars of supplier spend per year, automates
supply-chain management and leverages new technologies to provide greater
insight into procurement networks. This business process innovation
exchange comes to you in conjunction with the Tradeshift Innovation Day
held in New York on June 22, 2016.
To tell us how procurement has become strategic for UPS, we're now joined by Jamie Dawson,
Vice-President of UPS' Global Business Services Procurement Strategy in Atlanta. Welcome,
Jamie.
Jamie Dawson: Thank you, Dana.
Gardner: Tell me about some of the major trends that you are seeing in procurement and how
you're changing your strategy to adjust?
Dawson: We're seeing a lot of evolution in the marketplace in terms of both technology and new
opportunities in ways to procure goods and that really is true
around the globe. We're adjusting our strategy and also
challenging some of our business partners to come along
with us.
Gardner: Tell me about the size of your organization. What volume of goods and services are
we talking about in your businesses services procurement?
Dawson: We're a $60 billion company. Last year, our total expenses were somewhere in the $50-
billion range, lots of goods and services flowing around the globe.
Gardner: And so, any way that you can find new efficiency, new spend management benefits
that turns into some significant savings.
Dawson: Absolutely.
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Gardner

2. Gardner: Now that you're looking for new strategies and new solutions, what is it in
procurement that’s of most interest to you and how are you using technology in ways perhaps
you didn't before?
Collaboration and partnerships
Dawson: One of the new ways is a combination or partnerships both with third parties as well
as our own internal business partners. We're collaborating with other functions, and procurement
is not something we are doing to them; we're working with them to understand
what their needs are and working with their suppliers as well.
Gardner: We're hearing some very interesting things these days about using
machine learning and artificial intelligence, combining that with human agents
who are specialized. It sounds like, in some ways, external procurement
services can do the job better than anyone. Is that something that you're open
to? Is procurement as a service something you're looking at? [See related post,
ChainLink analyst on how cloud-enabled supply chain networks drive companies to better
manage finances, procurement.]
Dawson: Procurement-as-a-service has a certain niche play. There will always be basic buy-and-
sell items, even as individuals. There are some things you don’t research, but you just go out and
buy. There are other things for which you do a lot of research and you look into different
solutions.
There are different things that will cause you to research more. Maybe it's a competitive
advantage, maybe you're looking for an opportunity in a new space or a new corner of the globe.
So, you'll do a lot more research, and your solutions need to be scalable. If you create and start in
Europe, maybe you'll also want to use it in Asia. If you start in the US, maybe you want to use
elsewhere.
Gardner: It sure sounds like, during a period of experimentation, that where the boundary was
between things that you would buy by rote versus things you would buy with a lot of expertise or
research is shifting or changing. Are you experimenting as an organization, and what is
interesting to you as you look at new opportunities from those people who are in the procurement
network space?
Dawson: There will always be complex areas that require solution orientation more than just
price. They need a deep understanding of industry, knowledge, and partnership. There are a lot of
other areas where the opportunities are expanding every day.
Gardner: As you think about what you've done and been able to accomplish, do you have any
advice for other organizations that are also starting to think about modernizing and strategizing,
rather than just doing it in the traditional old way? What would you tell them?
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Dawson

3. Dawson: Two things. One would be within the procurement organizations to be open to new
ideas. And second, get the rest of the organization behind you, because you're going to need their
support.
Gardner: It seems that procurement as a function is just far more strategic than it used to be.
Not only are you able to get more goods and services, but you can save significant amounts of
money. Do you feel that your profile as an organization within UPS is rising or expanding in
terms of the role you play in the larger organization? [See related post, How new modes of
buying and evaluating goods and services disrupts business procurement — for the better.]
Don't have to sell
Dawson: I'm certainly aware that the knowledge of the capabilities and the demonstrated
successes are now being recognized throughout the organization. And it becomes self feeding.
You actually get on a roll and can further expand the capabilities once that knowledge is out
there; you don’t have to sell.
Gardner: Last question, looking to the future, on a vision level, what’s really exciting to you?
What are you thinking that might be more important to you in how you do business two or three
years from now? It could be technology, suppliers, ecosystems, cloud enabled intelligence, that
sort of thing.
Dawson: It’s a very interesting question, because it’s almost the same answer. Your greatest fear
is the greatest benefit. I listened to what we just heard on the Tradeshift Go tool, and it’s crazy
how exciting that this is. You heard all the questions in the room about how to adapt that to what
you already have today? The world still exists as it exists today.
So, there's this huge transition period where we were bolting on these fantastic great ideas to our
existing infrastructure. That transition into what's new and really embracing it is the most
exciting of all.
Gardner: Disruption can be good and disruption can be bad.
Dawson: It will be a challenging journey.
Gardner: We've been joined by Jamie Dawson, Vice President of UPS Global Business Services
Procurement Strategy in Atlanta. I really appreciate your time.
Dawson: Thank you.
Gardner: And a big thank you as well to our audience for joining this Tradeshift-sponsored
BriefingsDirect business innovation for procurement case study on how UPS is modernizing and
streamlining its procure-to-pay processes.
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4. We've heard technology innovations and new services from such cloud suppliers as Tradeshift
translate into business impacts and how consumers and suppliers of services and goods can best
prepare to improve their procurement and supply chain activities. This business process
innovation exchange comes to you in conjunction with the Tradeshift Innovation Day held in
New York on June 22, 2016.
I'm Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions, your host and moderator. Thanks
again for listening, and do come back next time.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Get the mobile app. Sponsor: Tradeshift.
Transcript of a discussion on how consumers and suppliers of services and goods can best
prepare to improve their procurement and supply chain activities. Copyright Interarbor
Solutions, LLC, 2005-2016. All rights reserved.
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