Procurement Insights: Costs, Risks, and Sustainability

Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I am a mechanical engineer with over thirty years of experience across production, supply chain management, vendor development, procurement, and integrated solutions. My core areas of expertise include vendor development, price negotiations, global sourcing, and strategic material procurement and planning.

Q2. What emerging risk or opportunities do you anticipate from shifts in energy prices and global trade dynamics affecting procurement? Can you share some examples?

For example, the recent energy price hike due to disruptions in the Middle East will directly affect logistics costs. This, in turn, indirectly affects the cost of imported raw materials. Such disruptions can also lead to shortages in logistics fleets, resulting in shipment delays. Blank sailings across various ports have become more common. For instance, I recently managed a consignment from China that took approximately 75 days to reach India, compared to the usual 30 days. The primary reason cited was the unavailability of shipping fleets due to sudden fluctuations in energy prices, which led to blank sailings and reduced vessel operations. These are practical challenges we have faced, as confirmed by our…