Expert Interview with … Gonzalo Zabala Peláez, Stellantis

We had the pleasure of chatting to Gonzalo Zabala Peláez, Procurement Centre of Excellence Director at Stellantis ahead of his appearance as a speaker at ProcureCon EU 2022, about the best opportunities for procurement to add value right now.

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On a scale of 1-10, how challenging is your role right now?

Even though we had probably the hardest year, I'd say 9. There is always space for new tough challenges!

I believe that the last year has been a great challenge for all procurement departments. With all the crisis that came after Covid, the Supply Chain was really affected and if we add to that the recent conflict in Ukraine and Russia, the challenge that we've had to deal with it all has been enormous (lack of trucks, increase in costs derived from raw material, energy... etc.).  Also, in our case, we must add that a year ago we had the merger of our two companies to finally become Stellantis. For this reason, we have made an extra effort to be able to standardize all the processes as much as possible and work as one as soon as possible to be able to get the synergies.

Where do you see the best opportunities for procurement to add value right now?

Strategic Sourcing

Strategic sourcing could play a really important role in our procurement process.

Looking at new methods of collecting information from our potential suppliers so that we can analyse bids effectively and more over to really understand the market (alternatives, breaking down the cost…).  BI can help in making better procurement decisions.

Relationships are key

The pandemic was a stark reminder that procurement and suppliers are mutually dependent. That focus on mutually beneficial relationships will continue.

Identify Inefficient Processes

Perhaps the most important measure necessary for procurement improvement is the identification of inefficient processes, and this can be done by reviewing our current procedures.

Check what is causing delays or bottlenecks. Considering time, effort and costs. Examine if specific areas can be improved adding Technology, IA or Autonomous Commerce might lead to be more efficient.

Utilise good data

There is a difference between collecting as much data as we can and basing our decisions on high-quality data. For a complex supply chain that involves engineering, packaging, delivery, forecasting and more, using our data correctly creates insights that increase efficiency.

Are your sustainability initiatives being interrupted by global instability and cost pressure?

Not at all. The company has a clear goal of commitment with sustainability and the strategy has not changed despite the unstable market situation. We understand that now is a great time to even be able to accelerate this process looking for new opportunities.

What advice would you give to someone moving into procurement?

Procurement is exciting and a constant learning. That´s why we need to have big resilience. Each day in procurement is not the same as the previous one. In today’s fast-changing dynamic business environment, you cannot expect what challenges you will face. We are always looking for new products or searching for new suppliers, to meet the variable requirements needed for business operations. In procurement, you will not be bored!

Also, the procurement team needs to have a “looking forward” mind. Procurement needs to focus on future needs (anticipation of the market situations, innovation…).

What qualities are you looking for in new recruits currently?

We mainly look for the following qualities.

• Resolutive: In the new panorama of uncertainty, they need to have the capacity to solve quickly possible setbacks that we may face daily.

• Continuous learning: So important to the success of the organization because of changing economic conditions. Given the current business environment, buyers must be able to learn continuously in order to deal with these changes and, in the end, to survive (operation, markets, technology…).

• Innovative thinking: Ability to come up with new ideas and novel approaches. It is about being creative and flexible.

You can hear directly from Gonzalo in his session at ProcureCon EU:

Case Study: Data: How to leverage actionable insights from data analytics to minimise your supply chain risk.

To find out more, view the full agenda here