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Valuable Takeaways from ProcureCon Indirect 2015

This year marked the 14th annual ProcureCon Indirect Conference, an event for indirect spend leaders and procurement professionals around the world. Attendees were addressed by keynote speakers and participated in round table discussions and breakout sessions, receiving an abundance of valuable information from 250 indirect procurement experts across 35 industry sectors.

During the two day event, Liquidity Services participated in key discussions focused on the strategic and financial requirements of today’s businesses. We were most impressed by the level of advancement that is taking place in procurement, highlighted by best practices and how to identify tools and solutions in the procurement industry. Through our conversations with other professionals at the event, many ideas stood out to us, but we found two recurring topics:

Procurement Isn’t Just About Saving Money – It’s a Strategic Function

Although cost saving is an important aspect of procurement, strategic planning emerged as a leading theme. Subject matter experts in numerous fields from energy to marketing want to maximize the efficiency and success of contracts that are most beneficial to their organizations overall. We had several conversations with procurement professionals who wanted to look into their reverse supply chains, citing cost reduction improvements as a goal, alongside the opportunities to create new capital streams, mitigate risk, and improve business processes. By utilizing the comprehensive services of a trusted reverse supply chain partner, you can have a viable advantage over your competition.

Look at the Bigger Picture

Procurement professionals aim to look at the bigger picture, capitalizing upon technology as a driver of value, not just an enabler. This can be achieved through software services, which provide full and enterprise-wide visibility into your capital assets. In turn, these insights allow you to manage every stage of the asset lifecycle, from identification through sale or redeployment. With tools like this, procurement departments can continue to improve by indicating where savings have been forecast, building upon their understanding of where and how value can be utilized across the entire supply chain.

To learn more about how Liquidity Services can maximize your total supply chain value through the procurement process or for more information on this year’s ProcureCon Indirect event, please contact us.