Is your supply chain adding value?
How do you know?
Your supply chain shouldn’t just keep the business running. It should move the business forward.
Improve your supply chain value...
Do you know the answer?...
Are your processes efficient? Are they good enough to implement AI without just “speeding up garbage”?
Are you getting the right value from your spend? Are you negotiating everything you can and should? Are you drowning in ambitious savings goals?
Where are your biggest risks? Do you have enough contracts and are they robust enough to survive today’s wildly volatile supply chain world?
What should you fix first? When everything is on fire, which opportunity has the most value? Which quick wins will quiet your stakeholders fastest?
If you know the answers to all of these questions, you can stop now. If not, this is where I can help.
Results Driven
Driving Results
Know what’s happening in your supply chain, what matters, and what you should do about it. ➡️
Maximize your spend leverage without hiring another full-time executive. ➡️
Prepare to implement AI agents that actually increase efficiency and accountability. ➡️
Create measurable change in your bottom line. ➡️
Trusted Advisor
Leadership Experience
Passwall Solutions is your trusted advisor, from someone who’s been there. I’m here to tell the truth about where you are, what’s working, what’s not, and what to fix first. Then I can help you fix it.
I’m not a software vendor. I’m not an e-auction platform. I’m not a giant consulting firm with a team of (smart but inexperienced) analysts. I’ve actually run this stuff.
I started as an engineer, so I still think like one.
I was the first VP of Supply Chain for a company that would be a Fortune 200 company if it stood alone (instead of the Fortune 10 position its parent company holds).
I led a large team across the US and ran thousands of e-auctions.
I wrote Transform Procurement: The Value of E-auctions which became a bestseller in three categories and won two literary awards.
Contact me to figure out what’s really happening and where to find your value.
Make the changes you need to move forward.
Our Services
Break Through the Supply Chain Wall
Supply Chain 360
Supply Chain 360
Get an objective view of what’s really happening and if your supply chain is as good (or bad!) as you think it is.
Quick Kaizen
Quick Kaizen
Fix the processes that are holding your team back. Get ready to implement AI in a way that doesn’t just speed up a bad process.
e-Auctions
e-Auctions
Capture more value from your supply base, without destroying supplier relationships. E-auctions are a chainsaw: use them right to harness their power safely.
Consulting
Consulting
Build the capability to sustain value. Make sure you have the right size team, in the right seats, with the right tools to keep maturing your supply chain.
Learn with us
Insights...
Here's where you'll learn how to cut costs while improving efficiency.
Profit, Power, and Quadrants: Classic Matrices Still Drive Modern Value
Today’s article talks about using matrices in helping determine sourcing strategies. We explore a generic 4-box model, the Kraljic Matrix, and the Kearney Chessboard, discussing their differences and uses in the supply chain world. The article also discusses how to use these matrices to maximize value for your business.
Thrive as an Introvert in an Extrovert’s World
Are you an introvert or extrovert? How does that affect your life and career?
My introvert self ran straight into my professional self this week when a volunteer event completely drained me. So today’s article talks about
How being an introvert affects me:
1. I can only socialize with strangers for so long.
2. I hate picking up the phone and calling suppliers.
3. I can only do about two days of a conference.
4. I have a very narrow circle of friends.
Pitfalls of the holiday season:
1. Holiday Gatherings.
2. Kid Concerts/recitals/plays/championship events.
3. Shopping crowds.
And how I cope:
1. Plan ahead on downtime.
2. Reward myself for doing the hard things.
3. Schedule time for what I can handle (boundaries!).
4. Take a moment when needed.
5. Say yes to coffee.
Pitfalls of a New Supply Chain Leader
The delightful and insightful Chandhrika Venkataraman published a post in August calling out the first four pitfalls:
1. Trying to prove value too fast
2. Treating suppliers as subordinates
3. Assuming spend authority is decision rights
4. Dismissing value-driven Procurement as vague (or worse, soft)
Today’s article takes those four and adds:
5. Managing up while kicking down
6. Not listening to their team or stakeholders
7. Not delegating to the team
8. Not making time for their team (and not doing one-on-ones regularly and frequently)
9. Thinking they don’t have to “play politics”