We spoke with Daniel Helmig last year regarding an impressive procurement transformation he oversaw at Credit Suisse. Fast forward 12 months Daniel has just announced his venture into the consulting world with the formation of helmig advisory. Given his wealth of experience in five industries, his love for supply chain, and leadership experiences with iconic brands such as, Ford, ABB, Infineon, PepsiCo, and, most recently Credit Suisse, Daniel is very likely the go to procurement man.
We posed three questions to Daniel, who duly obliged with three considered responses.
Daniel, what do you love about Procurement?
Like many others, I stumbled into the supply chain field – the position I’d hoped to take on after my studies was cut. So, I ended up in the only place with an opening: Material Planning, later Procurement at the Ford Motor Company site in Cologne, Germany, in 1986.
Cologne was one of two sites Henry Ford saw as mirror images of the Rouge complex in Detroit, Michigan – massive industrial complexes where iron ore was shipped in on one side and cars out on the other.
I fell in love with the supply chain there and then. About 20,000 people worked at the Ford Cologne complex, with another 30,000+ suppliers delivering products and services. It operated like a giant, intricate clockwork.
Working in this environment as a supply chain professional, you had to interact with many players – internally, from the production supervisors in the plants to the board office, and externally, from the truck driver or receivables accountant to R&D and the CEO of suppliers. For me, Procurement has everything you can wish for as a person with a commercial or engineering degree.
How has procurement and the expectations placed upon it changed over time?
Procurement is the connection to a company’s supply base. These suppliers are like a company’s “extended team.” Many companies only focus on cost and steady supply from their suppliers. It’s like only playing the lower notes on a piano. The rest of the keyboard offers many big opportunities for creating value and standing out from competitors by tapping into the supplier’s innovation, sustainability, digitalisation, and more.
Of course, when sourcing goods, procurement must consider the cost. But for a company to succeed, it must also look at other factors and work with suppliers to achieve them. Company leaders have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in R&D, customer relations, and sales channels. However, there are often opportunities for growth in the supply chain and operations. But I trust their leadership ability to listen if the heads of procurement can explain fact-based the art of the possible in the 21st century supply chain.
Procurement wants the proverbial seat at the table. What does it need to do to earn that seat? What can procurement achieve with this seat?
Talk of a seat at the table has been around since I started in this field 35 years ago. I do not understand what the fuss is all about. My organisation always had a seat at the table in the companies I worked for. Why? Because the procurement teams closed important gaps for the other people at the table. We did an excellent job in our circle of influence, which let us expand into other areas. People trusted us.
How do you get a seat at the table? By becoming a valued member of the other people at the table.
For more details on what helmig advisory offers and to keep abreast with Daniel’s thoughts please visit helmig advisory and sign up for his blog.