Identify a Kenyan ( Rwandan) enterprise of your own choice

The Company of choice is from Rwandan perspective is Bralirwa Ltd , also known by its French
name Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda, is the largest brewer and soft beverage company in
Rwanda. Its shares of stock are listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange, where they trade under the
symbol: BLRW.
1. Procurement operations at Bralirwa
In a business environment, the procurement function is one of the most critical functions as it
provides the input for the organization to convert into output. Materials today are lifeblood of
industry. They must be available at the proper time, in the proper quantity, at the proper place,
and the proper price.
Bralirwa for instance, procurement plays a vital role in company’s ambitious journey. Primarily
the company ensure that supplies are secured and that business assets are protected.
Additionally, it is supported by HEINEKEN Global Procurement in delivering value through
optimizing the supplier base and leveraging on global scale. However, they not only do drive the
Cost and Cash agenda but also actively advocate brewing a better world and innovation through
cooperation and connecting the best people.
2. Procurement challenges faced by the organisation
Risk: One of the top challenges will be about adopting a holistic risk strategy that includes
minimizing total risk exposure, risk mitigation investments and risk transfer. And for
procurement professionals to achieve this, category managers with keen understanding of next
generation supplier risk management will be the rescue rangers.
Sustainability: Companies then will operate from a frame of mind that rejects “linear economy”
based on exploitation of resources and move toward a more “circular economy” based on
recyclable opportunities. Economic growth propelled by this model of sustainability in supply
chain will spark new economic growth embraced by the younger professionals.
Finance: Finance will no more be a skill limited to finance department. Leading procurement
thinkers will discover newer potential of the skill and thereof transactions will be more cross-
departmental. It is a fact that in many of the organizations CPO report to CFO. A strong
collaboration between finance and procurement will be the strategy to kill competition and
advance market presence.
Information: If you wish to count your organization among one of the high performing ones, then
your procurement wing must get comfortable with advanced data mining and analysis technique
in big data. It will be a data world more complex than it already is, so the preparation for
sustaining in that decade would need you to focus on evolving big data strategy and technology.
Technology: How can we think of waging a battle without best-of-class technology? There will
be no room for anything manual and the entire practice of procurement will run on basic
commands of artificial intelligence, intelligence augmentation, machine learning and scores of
newer technologies now underway. Where do you stand in technology today would determine
your coping mechanism.
Transparency: Imagine if your brain gets visible and people can watch your thinking. Scary,
right? Well, in businesses, if there will be any visible function in the operations, it will be
procurement that by dint of digital media, will solicit a lot of attention and scrutiny. And without
a strong practice in place, your procurement will be vulnerable and exposed which will cost your
company a fortune. With increasing regulatory pressure it is now a necessity for businesses to be
transparent in their organizations; this transcends down to individual functions and Procurement
is not an exception to this.
People: None of the above suggested solutions to the 7 key challenges can be fulfilled without a
dynamic people resource. Chief procurement officers are expected to participate in the
recruitment process to insure there is good young blood, infusion of new cultures, progressive
mindsets and dynamic procurement geeks.
3. Strategies to improve Procurement Challenges
Think Carefully Before Making a Purchase
Procurement reduces costs while obtaining the items a company needs. Yet simply creating a
purchase order for every request that comes in doesn’t mean costs are actually being reduced, in
fact, often it means the opposite. Continually surveying what is being used and communicating
with whoever is using those products keeps the company running faster and smarter.
Build Virtuous Supplier Relationships
One of the main components of being procurement professional is being surrounded by a group
of trustworthy suppliers. Building and maintaining good supplier relationships streamlines the
procurement process and eliminates the need to start from scratch on every bid request. Fair,
detailed, and straightforward negotiations and RFPs increase efficiency and make suppliers
happier.
Expand Your Network
It may seem easiest just to take charge of projects and not involve other teams, but working
efficiently means involving key stakeholders. Input from other departments widens the
perspective on good suppliers, quality, and pushes projects to completion faster. Building close
relationships throughout an organization speeds up processes, builds trust, and increases
efficiency.
Use Your Analytical Skills to Make the Right Decisions
Between project planning, vetting vendors and bids, and negotiating the best deals, being in
procurement means having top-notch analytical skills. Having a full perspective on every part of
the process keeps projects on track and finances in check. Most modern contract management
platforms have extensive analytics that will make gathering metrics and reporting back simple
and effective.
Sharpen Your Negotiating Skills
Part of developing good relationships is negotiating well. Making a good deal for an organization
while keeping suppliers happy can be a fine line to walk, but developing strategies to make both
parties happy is vital to becoming efficient.
Negotiations always involve a contract, and in the past, this meant emailing or even mailing
documents back and forth. This often muddled conversations and could lead to confusion as
different people were involved on different email chains or conversations. Implementing a
contract management platform makes negotiation much simpler as everyone is now able to
redline, edit, and comment in one place.
Think Globally
Today’s economy is global. Often the best deals in the business are in an unexpected location.
Building relationships with global partners increases flexibility and options for an organization.
Global supply chains often provide more options and better prices than limiting the search to
close locations.
Move Forward with Technology
Digitizing processes is one of the fastest ways to increase efficiency and be successful. Moving
contracts and documents to the Cloud is essential for speeding up processes and becoming a
forward-thinking company. Having an automated contract lifecycle management platform in
place will help contract creation, real-time negotiations, faster signatures, and automated
reminders to increase compliance.
4. Explain how the knowledge of this unit would help you in solving those challenges
1. It helps to decide what to buy, when and from what sources.
2. It allows planners to determine if expectations are realistic; particularly the expectations of
the requesting entities, which usually expect their requirements met on short notice and over a
shorter period than the application of the corresponding procurement method allows.
3. It is an opportunity for all stakeholders involved in the processes to meet in order to discuss
particular procurement requirements. These stakeholders could be the requesting entity, end
users, procurement department, technical experts, and even vendors to give relevant inputs on
specific requirements.
4. It permits the creation of a procurement strategy for procuring each requirement that will be
included in the procurement plan. Such strategy includes a market survey and determining the
applicable procurement method given the requirement and the circumstances.
5. Planners can estimate the time required to complete the procurement process and award
contract for each requirement. This is valuable information as it serves to confirm if the
requirement can be fulfilled within the period expected, or required, by the requesting entity.
6. The need for technical expertise to develop technical specifications and/or scope of work for
certain requirements can be assessed, especially where in-house technical capacity is not
available or is non-existent.
7. Planners can assess feasibility of combining or dividing procurement requirements into
different contract packages.