Procurement and Finance tend to pretty much ignore each other so far, with a minimum level of communication between both. It needs to change to respond to challenges created by the financial and economic crisis.

This is now the final of the three articles on this rich subject. The first article discussed how Procurement can take a pro-active approach to address Financial objectives whilst securing the vulnerable portion of its supply base. The second part dealt with the middle-ground issue of how to bridge the gap between savings determination and reporting on one hand, and budget setting and monitoring on the other hand. This third part will now develop how Finance can support Procurement in their attempts the range of the categories where they add value to the business.

Procurement as a function is far from having come of age, from having reached its maturity. My claim is that, in most if not all cases even in large corporations, Procurement as a function has not stretched to the full extent of its potential added value. Whether you consider the breadth of spend categories (mostly services in fairness) or the stages of the value chain where Procurement is actively involved, there is still room for expansion in either direction.

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