4. Agile Procurement Support of the Value for the Customer

To support reaching the objective of agile procurement, this book moves from the traditional definition of supply chain to that of value network. This chapter describes the changes in the operation of most organizations from a serial series of activities, as in the old “supply chain,” to a network of activities. It also stresses the importance of analyzing the value contribution of each activity in order to reach the organization’s objectives. This chapter describes how the value proposition should consider mainly the value that can be added by the organization for the end customer. The value for the organization itself should not be the primary objective, but an objective derived from the previous one. With this vision in mind, the chapter analyzes the approach to agile procurement, and the ways and tools to increase value for customers.

One aspect that is growing in importance is procurement of the energy necessary for the operations of the organization. The green procurement approach is important to reduce waste and to add value for the customer and society. This chapter analyzes ways to do so with better and more agile energy management.