SAFILO GROUP
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“ I see myself as an enabler and facilitator . Each team is given targets where they make the required choices and are held accountable . They decide which projects they will run with and the activities they believe the business should be undertaking ,” explains Gonzalez .
The sourcing house is routinely encouraged to embrace new ways of working , particularly in areas such as how to assign new styles to suppliers and balance capacity , as it continues to transform from regional , isolated , “ do-it-all ” units , to global , category-focused procurement clusters to address global spend by category while driving accountability for quality and delivery .
“ The question is ‘ why bother to do better if we are already doing very well ?’ Trying to motivate workers in this way was an internal challenge which we had to overcome ,” notes Gonzalez .
“ We looked at other industries in order to bring some examples to the table . We also brought the team to the factories , to the suppliers , showing real examples of how we can be even better .
“ It takes a while to embed this kind of culture of fighting for every single opportunity . The automotive industry had to do it in the ‘ 80s and we are having to do it now .”
PROCUREMENT JOURNEY
Presently undergoing its six-year accelerated procurement strategy , which is set to complete in 2020 , Safilo will seek to balance its production and sourcing activities , in order to deliver outstanding results in five key areas : availability , delivery , cost , partnerships and innovation .
“ With net inflation , we are trying to accomplish around low single digits sourcing efficiency year on year , which with inflation is a high single or even double-digit improvement es-
OCTOBER 2018