Procurement is one of those things that never gets old
Knowing how to source the products your business needs, making the right decisions about the best suppliers, and keeping your relationships in positive spirits, are factors that can probably make or break the success of your company.
That’s why we are determined to build a community where procurement leaders can share their thoughts and experiences so the next time your business needs to make a procurement decision, you know where to turn.
Introduction
Today’s conversation features Yariv Reches, Co-Founder and COO of Hyper, a company oriented to revolutionizing the fast-food industry with fully autonomous services. Yariv has built a career of over 25 years, he has been directly involved in the creation of many businesses, has driven the growth of a lot of brands, and later on, has collaborated with larger companies in merging processes.
The reason we are sharing this?
He’s the right person to ask him about supply chain management and all things procurement.
For large companies…
Procurement is challenging, and that as much is true, but as Yariv says, large companies have certainly the advantage of being recognized in the market as a leader, so they don’t really suffer to find high-quality suppliers ready to work with them. Besides that, large companies already have established processes, making things easier for their teams, as they know what steps must be taken.
For start-ups…
Start-ups are usually characterized by their eagerness to build something amazing, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it creates some additional challenges for the procurement team. For example, a member of your engineering department might be excited about using certain element or piece on your product, only to later find out that there’s no possibility in the supplier market to obtain it.
Flexibility and trust
Yariv puts it this way: Regardless of the size of your company, there are some values that you would well consider essential, flexibility is one of them, supply changes are sometimes unpredictable, and what you first designed as your product might at the end require some last-minute changes, so be open to keep up with reality and make adjustments as needed. Trust is another important factor, for Hyper, was critical to find suppliers that couldn’t only deliver the goods at the right time but also provide superb customer service afterward.
The biggest challenges
When we asked Yariv about the biggest challenge he had to face during his role at Hyper, he shared that actually there were two complicated decisions he had to make. One, was to choose between a very good path and an excellent one, the difference? Going for excellence meant having to deal with larger waiting times.
The second challenge was to determine the quantity required for critical products, like essential parts for the manufacturing process.
His approach?
Find the exact balance between what was needed at the moment, what could be needed as a backup, and their budget.
Think before act
If there’s any pitfall that startups or companies in general should try to avoid when it comes to procurement, is relying too heavily on your instinct. Yariv has nothing against trusting your guts but for businesses, it might not always be a good idea.
What to do instead?
Use information, use relevant information so the next time you must guide your procurement operations, you can feel confident that you are making the right decisions.
