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We’ve benefited from others sharing their methods, techniques, and tools. We try to return the favor.

Case Study - CKW Group: Sourcing of a group Intranet Solution in 2 days via Lean-Agile Procurement
Procurement so far has shown that CKW must move faster and closer to customers in order to better meet their needs. So they decided to try Lean Agile Procurement (LAP) for the first time in order to procure a group intranet solution. With fantastic results, e.g. 400% increased time-to-market!

Thought leaders like Dr. Jeff Sutherland promotes Agile in his book “Doing twice the work in half of the time“ (1). Wouldn’t it be cool to increase time-to-market in procurement as well?-Free Download of our Article in “THE PROCUREMENT MAGAZINE”

Shorter & readable Contracts - Disruption or just faster horses?
UK government lawyers have created a shorter, more user-friendly public sector contract to encourage smaller businesses (SMEs) to bid for £12m worth more easily. Is this really a disruption or just faster horses?

What could Business learn from Startups?
In Agile organisations, external partners are often treated as suppliers instead of partners, not recognising the opportunities they could potentially bring to their teams. In faster changing and complex environments, it will become a competitive advantage for companies to have fast access to an ecosystem of trusted partners with matching values and a fast contribution to goals. Join us this Friday as Mirko Kleiner will discuss what businesses could learn from startups in how they work with external suppliers.

Slides from my Speech "Success Factor Agile" from Agile Bodensee Conference, Konstanz/Germany
Approximately 60-90% of all sales are in the hands of procurement, which is a key success factor for companies. At the moment, digitization is taking place, especially in the area of imple procurement. However, the latest study by the University of St. Gallen shows that there is no recipe for the effective procurement of complex products and services. Does agility offer a solution? - It is about billions and thus nothing less than the survival of suppliers and customers!

3D-Printed Aircraft Engine - Is your Procurement as agile?
This week GE released this great GIF of its 1,300-horsepower advanced turboprop (ATP) engine in which more than one-third of the components have been built through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The company is showing off its creation in real life at this week's big air show in Oshkosh, WI. In other words hardware development is getting more and more agile, is your procurement as agile?

Does the RfP Process need a MAJOR Upgrade - Episode 3: RfP 3.0 'Request for Participation'
Looking back in the history of the RfI/RfP process we see, that it’s source was developed in another time at the end of the 19th century. Of course the new channels like phone, email, web, etc. allowed new possibilities and increased efficiency. However the core of the process stayed nearly the same. Do we may be need a major upgrade after almost 120 years?
Lets have a look at the RfP 3.0, the request for participation and how this improves competitive advantage of buyers and suppliers.

Does the RfP Process need a major Upgrade? - Episode 2: The Facts
Looking back in the history of the RfI/RfP process we see, that it’s source was developed in another time at the end of the 19th century. Of course the new channels like phone, email, web, etc. allowed new possibilities and increased efficiency. However the core of the process stayed nearly the same. Do we may be need a major upgrade after almost 120 years?
Lets have a look at some interesting facts and experiences from the field handling complex tenders with the classic RfP process.

Does the RfP Process need a major Upgrade? - Episode 1: The History
Looking back in the history of the RfI/RfP process we see, that it’s source was developed in another time at the end of the 19th century. Of course the new channels like phone, email, web, etc. allowed new possibilities and increased efficiency. However the core of the process stayed nearly the same and struggles with increased demands of complex orders. Do we may be need a major upgrade after almost 120 years?
Lets first look back in history, how it come to the todays RfP Process.

Success Story POCathon@CSS Insurance - A Participative Evaluation in just 3 days
If you're wondering how a big room evaluation day (Step 3 of 4 in lean-agile procurement) could look like read this awesome interview with Konrad and Dominik about their custom implementation at CSS Insurance called "POCathon". CSS is one of the largest health insurers in Switzerland. For there complex evaluation of a software service provider they've invited 4 providers and put them all together in one room for 3 days. At the end of these 3 days they were able to decide with whom of the service provider they will continue agile delivery at the next day!

Going Digital, Procurement in Kanton Zug
Repeating last year’s very successful event, CIPS-Switzerland is teaming up with the Technologie Forum Zug and the Economic Promotion team of the Kanton Zug for this special Procurement & Supply Chain (P&SC) event. Speakers include leaders from companies with regional or global headquarters in the Canton around the theme of “Going Digital, flowdays took place with a booth to represent the disruptive approach lean-agile procurement.

Good Practice in procurement of business Services & Results of the Performance Excellence Study 2016
The conference about good practice in procurement of business Services in Bern, organized by procure.ch and University of St. Gallen (UNISG) Research Institute for Logistics Management brought together an amazing group of pan-european/-industry procurement experts. The UNISG presented their Results of the Performance Excellence Study 2016 and the top performer an open and honest insight about their current state in procurement. I really hope this kind of event will be continued!

How Karlstad Hospital accomplished Objectives through Partnering and Agile Contracts
Karlstad Hospital has procured new construction and extension in order to conduct effective care with a budget of about €105 million. The new construction was built on time, on budget and was ready for business on Day 1. The hospital has also saved Värmland County Council €300 million. The secret?-Agile contracts, partnering and fully focusing on the target. So what created the conditions for success? We interviewed Lars Nilsson, the Head of Procurement at Karlstad Hospital.

Public sector in the Nordics is showing us what's possible with agile@procurement
The agile procurement conference in Stockholm, organized by members of crisp.se, is a unique format with a unique audience. It proofs what would be possible in the public sector and purchasing using agile. This blog post is about my personal summary about it. I really can recommend it, meet you there next year!

1st Survey: State of Agile Procurement
It's my pleasure to present the 1st survey "State of Agile Procurement" summarized and translated from the German, Source: Komus : Kurzstudie Agiler Einkauf (2017).
My key learning of the survey is that lean-agile procurement is leading edge and might become the option to disrupt the procurement industry. Nevertheless the transformation is still at the very beginning.

1st purchaser of the book: lean-agile procurement
It feels awesome, the book is in a very early state and the first purchaser decided to buy the book. Thanks a lot!-This motivates us to continue our journey
GOTO Night with Mirko Kleiner & Joe Justice
The GOTO Night with Mirko Kleiner & Joe Justice was split into 2 parts. First the Inspiration Speech by Mirko Kleiner, the Creator of Lean-Agile Procurement presented a new promising approach for procurement, followed by an intro in scrum@hardware by Joe Justice, CEO of Wikispeed and Scrum@hardware at Scrum inc. The Slides, as well as impressions are published in this blog post

Interview (German): «Agile as Enabler for effective IT-Procurement»
Mirko shows with Lean-Agile Procurement a more agile Alternative to the current procurement Approach. In the Interview with Netzwoche he explains, why a more agile procurement is a win-win for the customer and the vendor.
The Interview was published in German in the print magazine and online.

Agile Breakfast 08/2016 - Intro in Lean-Agile Procurement
At Agile Breakfast Luzern August 18th 2016 flowdays presented Lean-Agile Procurement to bigger audience of agile experts at once. The feedback was positiv!
Find in this post the slides of the speech and some results of the open space.

US Department of Defense (DoD) embracing Agile contracts
Under the direction of Jeff Sutherland (Co-Creator of Scrum) the US Department of Defense has begun to embrace Agile contracts for procurement