Lessons on managing procurement and supply chains in an emergency

We will never know the full cost in lives and money of the procurement problems that arose in the UK during the initial wave of the Covid 19 pandemic. It is clear, however, that multiple shortcomings in PPE and intensive care equipment procurement and supply chain management occurred. As Covid 19 has not disappeared, it is important to learn what went wrong as soon as possible, and so the Industry Forum held a virtual round table, on the topic of ‘Lessons in managing procurement and supply chains in an emergency’. Speakers were: Bill Esterson MP for Sefton Central, Sandeep Goel, Senior VP - Technology, for the fast growing Indian procurement platform Moglix, and Dr Chris Francis, Director of Government Relations, SAP. SAP operates the major, international ARIBA commercial platform and hosted the meeting. Many of the problems identified could have been avoided by stronger and better planning and operational control. This would also have enabled the UK health sector to operate more effectively with suppliers and procurement platforms and learn from their expertise and international experience. We may soon know if such lessons have been understood and applied.