As people continue with the pandemic effect, the procurement outsourcing consultants and supply chain managers become more and more serious with their operations. Whenever the world has witnessed a pandemic situation, the corporate world has been the most affected. But they have always stood against the storm and tried weathering with the nimble managers who tried heart and soul to stay calm in decisive situations and help organizations mitigate the risks.

You cannot deny the impact the pandemic has had on the corporate world. But what will happen in the upcoming years? Will 2021 be a good year for procurement teams? Will they deploy new strategies to weather the progressive uncertainty? The answer will possibly depend on the lessons learned over the last year. The pandemic will basically change the way procurement and supply management functions. Of course, the strategies will change simultaneously to implement growth.

So, here are the few predictions for 2021 of the way procurement outsourcing teams will function and lead the business organizations.

Procurement Will Take The Directorship

It was almost four months after the pandemic hit that the procurement teams could actually understand the depth in which the pandemic would affect the market. It was barely few months when leaders actually realized that they need to serious action in order to get a hold of the economic condition of the world. Although the crisis had a more profound influence than the predictors analyzed, still the procurement leaders did their best and initiated economic rise. Along with reducing the cost incurred in every sector of an organization, the procurement agents have geared up the production percentage, and handled the risks in the most effective way. Above all, they did it when the lockdown measures wore on and the logistics broke down. And, most importantly, the procurement will continue taking the lead even after the pandemic is over.

Every organization will have one thing in common, which is risk factor in every sector. Starting with supply interruptions through critical failures, cyber-attacks, to vendor fraud, mitigating the risk will be the sole mission for procurement leaders. So, the very first prediction for 2021 will be procurement taking the driver’s seat in business organizations.

Supply Chains Will Become More Robust

Working hand in hand with the procurement outsourcing teams, the supply chain leaders will also show their creative and strategic skills to rebound the economy. As you all know, and it is also an important thought that the time of crisis always calls for some innovative approach towards corporate as well as public life. For decade, organizations have invested their time and money on streamlining procurement strategies while reducing cost-cutting and supply base. They were running swiftly with small inventories and few suppliers until the pandemic hit. It was after the crisis came in that supply chain disruption became a common story and they failed to meet customer demand. Nowadays, the biggest threat to businesses is supply and logistics disruption. And, the most important lesson that leaders have learned in 2020 is that relying on small supply chain team can be crippling.

So, the second prediction for 2021 will require procurement and supply chain teams to rethink their roles and consider digital transformation and local options to make more informed decisions.

Supplier Diversity Will Become Critical

According to industry experts and researchers, the best way to minimize the risks associated with supply chain disruption is by diversifying the number of suppliers. Previously, global procurement service professionals would deal with few suppliers. As of now, the only way to meet customer demand is increase the production capacity and stockpile the essential goods. Also, logistical disruptions can be mitigated by extending the boundary geographically. All you need to look after is the range of suppliers on the roster.

Nowadays, women-owned organizations and addition of minority has become an important aspect of business world. Making way for these small enterprises can enhance the organization’s ability survive through supply chain disruptions. Leading the way in this initiative can help procurement agents and supply team managers to bring new hope amid the crisis.

Procurement Must-Have Wider Skill Set

The procurement and supply chain teams will need extra analytical, business, and digital skills in order to understand the business growth. In short they have to broaden their skill set in order to help organizations achieve success. Learning new and innovative skills will also help them realize how important it is for them to hold their positions in the corporate world.

The global procurement service professionals need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills to guide the employees about inventory operations and purchasing strategies and remain active during times of crisis. Similarly, employees also need to have the ability to understand the lessons taught by their leaders to get through the challenging situation.

Atop every new skill learned by the procurement and supply chain management will be the relationship management lesson. Businesses will expect their supply chain and procurement sectors to master innovative technologies while learning how to deal with external suppliers and stakeholders to balance every aspect of a business.

Delivering Value Beyond Savings

The main aim of procurement will be to drive savings than ever before. The procurement organizations will have to get used to with the fact that the value provided by them must go beyond cost avoidance, cost savings, and cost containment.

The procurement market intelligence tools aids in improving the credibility by checking the profit margin closely. Nowadays, most of the business among a broad range of industries requires the department’s management to approve requests of various financial issues. The managers must properly analyze the vet suppliers, monitor it, and make various other critical decisions. These decisions, when backed up with solid and reliable data, helps in increasing credibility. Moreover, the department managers are capable of making superior and informed decisions with the help of these tools.

The pandemic has done one thing graciously, which is it pushed the procurement teams to their limits. They are left with do or die situations. Since this year was a clarion call, the global procurement service professionals are trying their best to cope with the situation. And, these are the procurement predictions for 2021 that procurement teams can implement in their working strategies to weather the storm.