On March 1st, SDI will open its doors to research analysts, subject matter experts and practitioners to talk about the last frontier in procurement: tail spend.
Typical procurement practice brings 80% of a company’s spend under contract. This helps provide better visibility into this spend category and allows for close management to help uncover savings . The remaining 20% is harder to get visibility into and even harder to get under control. This 20% is the “tail” of their spend. For MRO, it could be as much as 85% of spend that is not under contract. And while tail spend is typically non-mission critical, lower-dollar transactions, MRO that could be critical to production reliability is often lumped in with tail spend. So visibility and control in this area is crucial.
At the March 1st Innovation Symposium, attendees will learn about key findings in research on tail spend from The Hackett Group and the maturity of the MRO market from Penn State’s Center for Supply Chain Research. Dryden will be showcasing how their clients have contained indirect costs and brought tail spend under management. Lastly, attendees will hear firsthand how Ascend Performance Materials has managed to get control and visibility into their tail spend across five national plants.
Chris Moore, President & CEO at SDI explained, “Unmanaged tail spend costs companies millions of dollars each year, but because there’s such little visibility into this area, getting that spend under contract isn’t usually a high priority. The March 1st Innovation Symposium brings together the leading minds in the industry to discuss why tail spend is the last frontier and how different solutions – from spend analysis and eProcurement platforms to on-site buying desks and outsourced solutions – can open up a world of opportunity for value creation.”
SDI will also be kicking off the Excellence in MRO Awards at the event. The awards program recognizes leaders that have transformed MRO from a cost of doing business to a strategic lever of competitiveness.
Moore continues, “Recognizing excellence, sharing key industry insights, and building a community and culture of success are the goals of the inaugural Excellence in MRO Awards. “
The event is being held at 1pm on March 1st, 2017 at SDI’s North American headquarters at 1414 Radcliffe St, Ste 300 in Bristol, PA. Presentations will be followed by cocktails and networking from 5pm – 7pm. While the event is free of charge, space is limited.
