Company to Share Strategies for Building World-Class Procurement Organization During Premier Spend Management Conference
Three years ago, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) didn’t have a procurement department. Tomorrow, the global provider of inspection, verification, testing and certification services will be recognized as one of the world’s leading spend management organizations and will share the story of its purchasing transformation during Ariba Live 2009 World Tour Paris. The premier conference for procurement executives and finance professionals hosted by Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARBA), Ariba LIVE 2009 World Tour Paris is set to take place at Hotel Concorde Montparnasse.
“Global economic conditions have forced all companies to find ways to reduce their costs, and procurement must lead the charge,” said SGS Vice President of Global Procurement Graham Gleed. “While savings may be easy to identify, getting them to the bottom line requires a disciplined approach and innovative tools and processes.”
Gleed will be honored at Ariba LIVE World Tour Paris with a 2009 Ariba Spend Management Excellence Award for the forward-looking vision he created while driving higher standards of efficiency and collaboration in the way that SGS manages its global spend, as well as the significant contributions that his efforts have made to the company’s bottom line.
“Competing in today’s global market requires flexibility and know-how to respond to threats and opportunities in the marketplace. It also demands greater efficiency in the way business is done,” said Tim Minahan, Chief Marketing Officer, Ariba. “Graham Gleed understands this and has successfully implemented solutions and processes to transform procurement at SGS and deliver the company to new worlds of excellence.”
Gleed began by centralizing the procurement function at SGS – a daunting task that involved consolidating more than $1.3 billion in annual spend across the company’s global operations.
Nothing speaks like savings, so Gleed implemented a strategic sourcing solution that could quickly deliver them – Ariba® Sourcing™ On-Demand. After a few significant wins and focused efforts to educate executives and key stakeholders across functions, he had the buy-in needed to roll out his system globally.
Gleed created a standardized procurement process and provided the tools, processes and best practices to drive it on an enterprise-wide basis. Recognizing that technology alone could not solve the challenges of managing spend on a global basis, Gleed added Ariba Spend Management Services™ to his chest of tools to help accelerate the results he could deliver. Working with Ariba, he and his team classified and analyzed spend across divisions, business units and geographies in order to identify opportunities for savings that could be converted into hard-dollar results. To accelerate that rate at which these savings would materialize, Gleed set individual goals for buyers.
The processes Gleed has put in place have become the foundation for ValueNow, an aggressive initiative SGS has undertaken to significantly reduce costs over the next 12 months.
“SGS executives have witnessed the value that spend management can create,” said Mike Arenth, Vice President and General Manager, EMEA, Ariba. “And as they act to further reduce their costs, minimize risk and improve competitive advantage, they will continue to rely on the solutions and processes that Graham and his team have put in place to drive these goals.”
Gleed will outline his path to spend management excellence on the mainstage at Ariba LIVE 2009 World Tour Paris. He will be joined by executives and practitioners from other leading organizations who will share practical, actionable information companies can use to fuel their spend management initiatives and accelerate the results they deliver, including Sanofi-Aventis and Pierre & Vacances Group.
For more details on the event or to register, visit: www.aribalive.com
About SGS
The SGS Group is the global leader and innovator in inspection, verification, testing and certification services. Founded in 1878, SGS is recognized as the global benchmark in quality and integrity. With more than 55,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,000 offices and laboratories around the world. For more information, visit: www.sgs.com
Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of on-demand spend management solutions. Our mission is to transform the way companies of all sizes, across all industries, and geographies operate by delivering software, service, and network solutions that enable them to holistically source, contract, procure, pay, manage, and analyze their spend and supplier relationships. Delivered on demand, our enterprise-class offerings empower companies to achieve greater control of their spend and drive continuous improvements in financial and supply chain performance. More than 1,000 companies, including more than half of the companies on the Fortune 100, use Ariba solutions to manage their spend from sourcing and orders through invoicing and payment. For more information, visit www.ariba.com
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Ariba, Inc.
Karen Master, 412-297-8177
kmaster@ariba.com
Kate
Roe, +44.178.448.7145
kroe@ariba.com
