Manoranjan Misra on From Transactional to Transformational

As the world changes faster across multiple fronts, the role of the procurement function becomes far more dynamic.

Manoranjan Misra

From Transactional to Transformational

Manoranjan Misra is the Executive Director, Materials at CESC. He is responsible for transforming procurement and supply chain operations across the company’s power generation and distribution business units, driving efficiency improvements and cost reduction to enable business growth and profitability. He is also part of the procurement leadership team at Purva Green Power.

1. Procurement is often seen as the function that negotiates hard and protects the bottom line. But some of the best supply chains are built on genuine relationships, not just contracts. Can you share an anecdote from your career where trust and relationship with a supplier made a real difference, especially in an otherwise difficult situation?

‍

Negotiation is only a part, although an important one, of the overall procurement function. Supplier relationship management is a key component of any mature procurement strategy that ensures the stability and efficiency of a supply chain during adverse situations.

Twice during the last 20 years, global supply chains experienced severe disruptions, first during the 2008 sub-prime crisis and then during the 2020 pandemic. I was supporting a manufacturing operation in China in 2008 and a major expansion project in India in 2020. During these periods, many factories and projects were affected due to shortages of raw materials, equipment, and technical resources, as commodity prices crashed, vital shipping routes shut down, and suppliers invoked FM to protect themselves from contract breaches.

‍

Supplier relationship management is a key component of any mature procurement strategy that ensures the stability and efficiency of a supply chain during adverse situations.

‍

During both these periods, our long-term suppliers stepped in to sustain manufacturing operations and projects,using new routes and shipping models to move cargo across continents. We jointly figured out innovative quid pro quo solutions that saved contracts without hurting either side in the long run and even commissioning major projects online. Looking back, I feel these outcomes were possible mainly because of the strength of high-trust relationships with suppliers built over decades.

2. There's a paradox most procurement leaders know well, the more robust the process, the harder it can be to move fast. Does it ever happen when you need to choose between doing it by the book and doing what was right for the business in that moment? How do you navigate that situation?

‍

Processes exist to support the business, and robust processes are like strong and smooth pipelines where things move fast in a systematic manner. They are essential for growing a business at scale while managing risks. However, businesses are dynamic, and there can be occasions when the process needs to allow business calls to be taken. If such occasions become too frequent, then the process probably needs to be redesigned.

‍

Robust processes are essential for growing a business at scale while managing risks.

‍

I feel most procurement professionals come across such situations from time to time.

While supporting a business call, I would recommend:

a) ensuring the risks are known and managed to the maximum extent possible, and

b) ensuring that all key stakeholders are involved.

Q3. The procurement function looks very different today than it did five years ago. Technology, sustainability pressures, geopolitical risk are all reshaping the role. What does the next generation of procurement leadership need to think, prioritise, and be?

‍

The procurement function, being an enabler for a business to operate and grow smoothly, profitably, and in compliance, is critical to the organisation’s overall health. As an externally facing function, it requires continuous interaction with the outside world.

As the world changes rapidly across technological, regulatory, geopolitical, and macroeconomic fronts, the role of the function is becoming far more dynamic. The acquisition of intelligence will need to be fast and efficient. Internal systems will need to be redesigned to process that intelligence effectively and convert it into procurement actions, with AI becoming a necessity rather than an option.

‍