Bristol Myers Squibb rethinks procurement’s role in buying

It might seem counterintuitive, but Paula Glickenhaus, chief procurement officer of pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is intent on removing the company’s procurement professionals from the buy.

BMS is enabling employees to make purchases directly through Amazon Business, Amazon’s business-to-business procurement platform, rather than routing those transactions through procurement.

Speaking on a panel at Amazon Business’ Reshape conference on Tuesday, Glickenhaus said that the move is part of an effort to make the procurement process easier and faster for employees.

She recounted that when she joined BMS three years ago, the chief financial officer asked her, “Why does it take so long to buy something? Why can’t we just buy it on Amazon?” Similarly, another C-suite executive complained about the “procurement pregnancy,” saying it takes more than eight months for procurement to close on a contract.

This story was originally published by Supply Chain Quarterly. Read the full story at Supply Chain Quarterly →