Jacques de Villiers

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…

Check out everything that’s been happening at Supply Chain Now! We’re looking back on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes right here. On Monday, we released a special Memorial Day episode of Veteran Voices, hosts Scott W. Luton and Kelly Barner share their own personal messages, including what Memorial Day means to them and a few examples of those incredible individuals that sacrificed it all for others. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On this TEKTOK Classic Episode, host Karin Bursa speaks with Lora Cecere, CEO of Supply Chain Insights and industry trailblazer, about her career journey. On TECHquila Sunrise, host Greg White continues his conversation with Jack Freeman of PeakSpan Capital, discussing the current investment environment for supply chain tech. On Wednesday, Dr. Marcell Vollmer with Boston Consulting Group and Jacob Gorm Larsen with Maersk Group joined hosts Kelly Barner and Scott Luton on Dial P for Procurement to discuss digital procurement transformation. On Thursday, we released this week’s episode of The Supply Chain Buzz, powered by OpenText. In this episode, Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton are joined by Kelly Barner (Host of Dial P for Procurement) to talk about the 2021 Supply…