ARRIVA UK BUS
Ian Jones , Head of Procurement at Arriva UK Bus , discusses his company ’ s procurement transformation journey in the transport sector
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W ith a drive to deliver value-adding innovative procurement and supply chain solutions , Arriva UK Bus harbours clear procurement transformational goals in the supply chain space .
Ian Jones , Head of Procurement at Arriva UK Bus , oversees the company ’ s procurement strategy and believes that sustainable long-term improvement within procurement and the wider supply chain is fundamental for success . “ Over the past five years , we ’ ve really focused on transformation . When I first joined Arriva , there was a centralised procurement team in its infancy and a regionalised purchasing function ,” he explains . He commenced building a synergised category management procurement team with supporting programme management , data extraction and categorisation underpinned with proactive analytics . “ All the transactional activity was undertaken in five regions , each with their own purchasing team ,” says Jones . “ However , we felt we could achieve more leverage , control and compliance by centralising all activity through one location ,
FEBRUARY 2020