With the Olympics in full swing – the Nordic countries are flooded with self-promoted experts who spend their days digressing who will take the most prestigious medals on snow (for those of you outside of our cross country crazed region it’s time to place your bets on Kalla, Björgen, Northug, Cologna, Hellner, Kowalczyk, Majdic or Saarinen). And with the speculation of glory comes (of course) the analysis of technique, material, weather and failure.
Host city Vancouver is at sea level and critique has been frequent regarding the decision to hold the Olympics in an area which cannot boast impressive numbers when it comes to (winter Olympic) necessities such as snow and icy temperatures (as this is being typed, 4000 tickets have just withdrawn from the snowboarding arena at Cypress Mountains due to rain and the unavailability of snow – which is being trucked in from Manning Park 250 km west of the city – now that’s a supply issue not dealt with often). I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the risks were discussed as Vancouver was chosen to host the games.
The warm temperatures have also increased the focus on the tracks for the cross country skiers as well as the technique necessary for mastering the adverse – and in many cases unusual - conditions. Years of preparation hasn’t prepared the experts for preparing skis for tracks laced with fertilizer - much like the “new normal” that legio in global purchasing of today,
And this is where purchasing professionals should listen up and take notice – because there are numerous similarities between making the most of a supply chain and skiing fast in the conditions faced around Vancouver at the moment.
Germany’s biathlon poster girl Kati Wilhelm neatly summed up the challenge she and many others are facing in a recent interview with SVT: “I’m a ‘heavy’ skier, and I need to change my technique to float on the snow in order to stay competitive”. Now what she means is that she’s a power skier who applies a lot of pressure downwards as she propels herself forward. In perfect conditions with an icy track this is a great way to create traction and maintain velocity but in the slush that surrounds Whistler its like “running a marathon in clogs” (to quote Swedish biathlon coach Staffan Eklund).
Unfortunately this type of practice is what many purchasers still see as their main activities. They apply heavy pressure on your supply base to ensure low cost.
What one needs to do in Whistler at the moment is to balance pressure with release – there are many skiers who are known for this – the ability to float on top of the snow – making the most grueling races look effortless. What they seem to do is apply pressure downwards to get traction and increase velocity and once they’ve achieved this they release much of the pressure and let the skis do their job to sustain the momentum.
Put into the world of spend management this is the equivalent of applying pressure by securing a competitive environment in sourcing activities and still enabling suppliers to feel freedom (as well as security) as the contract runs to ensure that innovation is captured, flexibility is maintained and quality is sustained (and even improved).
