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Across industries, category management employees comprise an average of 18% of the total supply management headcount. As more companies embrace a formal category strategy approach and invest in this strategic role it opens the door for increased spend and savings per FTE, in addition to increased protection from risk. How does your company compare?

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According to the 2024 CAPS Metrics of Supply Management report, 28.6% of the total headcount is in the tactical role of transactional buying. As companies identify priorities and fill gaps, strategic hires of supply management professionals should help decrease the number of tactical roles that could be moved to a shared services group.

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Lack of performance measures (40%), lack of business case (37%), and unsupported system integrations (37%) are the primary barriers to adopting sustainability criteria in supplier selection according to a recent study released by CAPS Research. These numbers will likely persist until universal sustainability standards and a clear business case motivate companies to integrate initiatives into their sourcing processes.

Read about: Supplier Risk Assessment Process, Estimating Risk, Third-Party Risk Management, ISM's Report On Business

Results from a recent report from CAPS Research show that 38% of companies are using Generative AI for cleaning spend data, 29% use it to analyze marketing and category intelligence, and 26% to help users through requisitions, guided buying, etc. This data suggests engaging Generative AI in procurement could bring a significant boost to productivity and profitability.

Read about: New Metrics of Supply Management Dashboard | Managed Spend Data | Decreasing Global Inflation | India's Emerging Supply Chain Role

62% of companies are currently using generative AI in procurement, according to a recent CAPS survey. However, only 15% of companies have generative AI governance policies in place, with 19% currently creating them. This indicates a significant percentage of companies are likely using Gen AI models without guidelines for protecting intellectual property and other sensitive data.