The Procurement Predicament: Balancing Transactional, Relational and Value-Creating Priorities

Procurement teams are often pulled in three directions at once. They are expected to process transactions accurately and efficiently, manage supplier relationships, and contribute strategic value to the organization. When time and resources are tight, transactional work tends to take over, leaving little space for relationship-building or long-term improvement efforts.

We will hear from James Altwies, Principal Supply Chain Risk Advisor at Exact Sciences, how he has seen this imbalance affects results, team workload, and supplier performance, and how to find balance again. We will also hear from Dan Pellathy, Director of Operations for the University of Tennessee-Knoxville's Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative, who will share a recent industry whitepaper he wrote on Future-Ready Procurement.

UWEBC members will look at practical ways teams are creating clearer priorities and better structure. Topics may include:

• defining roles and responsibilites to achieve transactional, relational and strategies priorities
• tools and frameworks to help segment suppliers and categories to help prioritize the most strategic partnerships
• segmenting suppliers to focus relationship efforts where they matter most
• carving out protected time for improvement projects
• how leaders can communicate trade-offs openly so teams understand what will—and won’t—get attention

Participants will leave with concrete ideas they can apply right away: ways to streamline routine work, focus relationship management where it adds the most value, and create space for more proactive contributions. Whether your procurement team is highly tactical or already taking on strategic work, this session will offer practical steps for balancing competing demands in a sustainable way.