ScratchPad

It’s weird, like stepping back in time except the buildings are older and more run down and everyone has aged a lot. I’m always reminded why I left. Every time I go back, I feel both suffocated and frustrated by how closed-minded and spiteful those busybodies have remained and relieved that I got out and had the opportunity to grow personally, professionally and to broaden my horizons. However, due to general population turnover I don’t know very many people here anymore. I feel like an alien in a place I know like the back of my hand. It’s distinctly different from the anonymity of city life. Everyone knows everyone, but no one knows me. It’s very odd. I have been home for longer periods of time than I have been in years. The city I currently live in is similar to my hometown so in some ways my life is similar. I’m actually really sad to see what’s happening to my hometown.  You can go back to it, but it is never the same place. When you return there's some people you knew that ha...

The skillset required of procurement professionals is evolving rapidly, and the procurement landscape of today will look drastically different in ten years. In fact, the landscape of work in general will be drastically different.  A  Gartner survey revealed a startling truth: an extraordinarily low 14% of procurement leaders believe they are ready for the future. This is a wake-up call.  The procurement professional of tomorrow will need to master new technologies, embrace innovative strategies, and develop advanced analytical capabilities. Yet, many teams are still playing catch-up with the present demands, let alone future challenges.  We need to vastly improve our readiness for what’s ahead. Here’s what we can start doing now:  Invest in Continuous Learning: Encourage ongoing education and training to keep skills sharp and up to date.  Embrace Technology: Integrate advanced tools and technologies to streamline processes and enhance decision-making....

A procurement manager I know recently told me a story about a supply crisis where a key supplier unexpectedly shuttered their doors. The manager's proactive efforts to build relationships with other suppliers kept the company going and saved the company from disaster.  This incident highlighted one of the most important aspects of procurement: building and maintaining good supplier relationships. This is not just a good practice, it is essential risk management tactic.  Here are some simple strategies to improve supplier relationships Regular Communication : Keep open lines of dialogue to address issues early and share success stories. Joint Innovation : Collaborate on new projects or improvements, which can lead to better outcomes for both parties. Performance Feedback : Provide constructive feedback regularly, allowing suppliers to improve and adapt. Recognition : Acknowledge your suppliers’ achievements; this can motivate them to maintain high performance. Long-Term Commitm...

With the turn of the clock, we entered a new year, but several things seem to be same as previous year despite a few changes most of the factors remain same. Almost three months have been passed in this year, but I will start that count from this moment. Main reason being current political situation; took longer than what was expected. At last elections were conducted; and now we have a full-time civilian government; that will bring stability and regulate the chaotic economy to some extent.  Art of procurement is heavily dependent on the audience and the environment in which this is presented or performed, that is why I started with a long preface that seem to be totally abstract of what day to day procurement is involved with.  Procurement or purchasing is deeply impacted by governmental policy and outlook, since Pakistan is a supplier’ market and availability of material resources is dependent on mood of available administration. Suppliers tend to limit supplies due to unsta...

A great piece of advice for anyone looking to improve how they integrate award criteria into their tender processes is to follow my three highlighter pen process. Take three highlighter pens (different colors) and when you are reviewing a specification for the first time, highlight passages depending on the requirements. Example Yellow: Mandatory requirements (e.g. the door must be 40mm x 2,000mm x 500mm) Blue: Mandatory requirements that require verification/validation (e.g. the door must be able to be opened from the outside, and the tenderer is required to verify that the door will be able to be easily opened by a person with reduced mobility without the need for the use of special tools). Pink: Qualitative requirements (e.g. the door will have a minimum verifiable usable life of 15 years, however it is desirable that the door will exceed this figure and offer extended warranties beyond 15 years). When you are complete All yellow highlighted paragraphs can be put into a compliance c...

In the start of year 2023 i promised my self to write often and to share my thoughts here. But i stumbled upon a very big pause and was not so fortunate in doing so. Guess i am out of words or my thoughts are banished.  Anyhow this year i have switched my employer and currently am striving again to sync with new one.  Monetarily this has not changed so much for me, in fact i might loose couple of bucks, cause i moved into posh city center.  Anyhow so far i am experimenting-gauging my stamina and courage. There is always some positive and some negative involved when you take a decision. Therefore you keep on debugging and testing, sometimes trying to catch another big shiny ball while leaving a smaller one.  That's all for now, maybe this is my last post of the year, maybe not; but will try to write more next year. I need to rejuvenate as a wordsmith in 2024, i guess.  Bye, Shehroz