With an ethos to cover every element of the COO remit, Pollen have added Procurement to their portfolio of capabilities.

Described as ‘a refreshing approach to Procurement’, the new service offering uses horse-power and analytical minds to deliver results that are extremely output driven, whether it is around category sourcing, supplier partnerships, Procurement as a service (PaaS), resilience or sustainability.

Pollen Consulting Group CEO Paul Eastwood states “With the addition of Procurement, we can now add value to the entire lifecycle of a product for our clients and truly become a ‘one stop shop’ for leaders with an eye on their operations.”

Pollen Procurement is headed by Director Aleksander Strasek who joined Pollen in February 2020. Originally from Germany, Aleks has an exceptional track record with over 15 years’ experience in strategy and management consulting. A leading specialist in finance and procurement, Aleks has successfully delivered multi-million-dollar transformation engagements for corporations across Australia, Europe, and APAC and has big ideas for Pollen Procurement.

Aleks states that “Supply Chain and Procurement have a lot in common, and truly integrating both operations can generate sizeable financial and non-financial benefits for our clients.” Although similar, Supply Chain and Procurement operate at a different rhythm. While supply chain is very dynamic and quickly adapts to changing business needs (e.g. seasonality, promotions, competition), Procurement’s pace is influenced by longer term objectives. Where Pollen accelerates, is the approach “to work alongside our clients to jointly achieve the results by deploying small, high impact teams that drive sustainable improvements across the entire product lifecycle.”

Aleks believes that delivering annual recurring cost savings are a given and doing more with less is the new norm. Underpinned by smart use of digital technology and centred around true customer experience, organisation can shift the dial not only in Procurement, but on a broader scale.

Joining Pollen just weeks before COVID erupted meant the Procurement business model needed to quickly shift to encompass the ‘new normal’. Aleks has taken this in his stride and states that “In our current environment the speed of change requires Procurement to be an agile partner to the business. While the challenges ahead of us are massive, so are the opportunities.”

To learn more about procurement contact Aleksander Strasek