Procurement Academy

Employees are the most valuable assets of every company and training them to build confidence and competence in their role is a key to success. The challenge is to provide training in all the competences required for their role in a cost effective way. Traditional training providers provide a catalog from which learners choose their own courses. The result is low engagement and little improvement in performance.

In many cases, companies choose to train only the top managers, because training the entire team is thought to be too costly. And, using a classroom, or even traditional ‘blended’ approach, it is indeed costly. Apart from cost, in instructor-led training, the quality of the training varies from workshop to workshop and webinar to webinar, because it depends on the competence of the trainer, and even how well a particular trainer is feeling that day.

Procurement and Supply Chain Academy addresses both of the above challenges. By using the latest in digital technology, they are able to improve the competence level of all procurement and supply chain personnel. “We go after the entire department rather than just the top managers,” says David Rajakovich, Managing Partner - R&D, Procurement Academy. Also, based on the large number of academies they have already delivered, they are able to quickly implement a training program tailored to each learner’s role or even each individual. Learners are trained to the competence level required for their role, and importantly, are not trained on anything that is not relevant for their role. Procurement Academy tailors this training model for individual clients based on the roles and challenges that they face. While some consultancies will spend weeks or even months of man-hours designing a competence model, Procurement and Supply Chain Academy can get you up and running in a week.

Any knowledgeable client will want to ensure that their investment in such a program is paying dividends, and therefore an important aspect of the offering is a reporting management tool. The Reporting Management Center enables 24-hour real time monitoring of learners’ progress. Not only does it measure the learner’s progression and satisfaction, but also how learners will apply what they have learned.

As an incentive to their learners, the company issues a certification through IFPSM (International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management), a third party organization that facilitates the development and distribution of knowledge to elevate and advance the procurement profession.

Procurement Academy responds to the requirement of providing a custom designed course by leveraging technology

Procurement and Supply Chain Academy offers eLearning that is unique in these markets because it is animated and scenario based. This way of developing eLearning places learners in a realistic situation and shows them how to practically apply what they have learned. Another important aspect of their courses is their interactivity. Regular exercises check the learner’s understanding and keep their mind engaged. Following on from eLearning, training becomes more application-based as the learner progresses. After eLearning, the typical learner goes through various simulations – challenging them to apply their learning in a different scenario from what they experienced in the eLearning.

One advanced simulation – more accurately described as a serious game - is the ‘Beer Game’. It is a role-play simulation game that al¬lows participants to experience typical coordination problems of supply chains. A manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, and customer must work together to avoid large fluctuations in inventory and backlogs that plague many real life supply chains. Along the same lines, Procurement Academy is in the process of building a 3D negotiation simulation, which will allow people to gain real experience in negotiation. The end result ultimately allows management to accelerate the implementation of their procurement and supply chain strategy.

Driven by the success of Procurement and Supply Chain Academy, the company is embarking on a new vertical in Sales Academy. The Sales academy offering will be tailored for the sales professional, while staying in line with the strong learning philosophy for which Procurement and Supply Chain academy has become known. With rigorous research and development, the company continues to enhance and develop new products to deliver effective skill development even more efficiently.