Expert Interview with … Javier Caravantes, SegurCaixa Adeslas

We had the pleasure of chatting to Javier Caravantes, Chief Procurement Officer at SegurCaixa Adeslas ahead of his appearance as a speaker at ProcureCon EU 2022, about the challenges in procurement right now and the importance of sustainability initiatives.

On a scale of 1-10, how challenging is your role right now? (10 being the most)

As Procurement & SMR Director of SegurCaixa Adeslas, I feel my role as quite challenging, as we are in the middle of a Technology Transformation process, which is adding complexity on top of the different supply chain threads that we are facing. I would say an 8.

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

I think that anticipation is the best way to add value to the business, in order to bring alternatives to supply chain bottlenecks or to identify innovative solutions to develop the business.

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

No. ESG needs to be on top, even assuming it may have a direct economic penalty on the costs. But we cannot go even a step back. There is no Planet B.

What advice would you give to someone moving into procurement?

I would only tell him/her: Enjoy! You’re entering a fascinating part of the business, where you will be directly impacted by day-to-day changes and you will never get bored. If you’re up to challenges, this is your place!

What qualities are you looking for in new recruits currently?

Apart for specific technical skills when needed, more and more we need to have disruptive profiles; people being able to think out-of-the-box and face procurement issues with a fresh point of view.

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

Case Study: SRM: How to implement an end-to-end S2P process that ensures suppliers are adequately classified and their eligibility evaluated on a regular basis.

To find out more, view the full agenda here