by Janice Marquardt | Oct 13, 2026 | Org Chart, Processes
In our AI age, people give me the side-eye when I pull out my Sharpie and Post-its. They’re trying to be polite about it, but I know they’re wondering: “This gal makes spreadsheets for her vacations. Why pull out the Post-its?” Everyone expects me to pop open the...
by Janice Marquardt | Sep 10, 2026 | Org Chart, Supply Chain Career
In 2021, supply chain leaders suddenly got seats at executive tables. CEOs became supply chain experts overnight due to material shortages. In some companies, the supply chain leader kept their newly-acquired position close to leadership, but in others we faded back...
by Janice Marquardt | Apr 7, 2026 | Org Chart, Processes
Most procurement teams don’t have a category strategy problem, they have a category taxonomy problem. If your categories are unclear, inconsistent, or overly broad, everything built on top of them starts to break down. And yet, category taxonomy is something that...
by Janice Marquardt | Nov 18, 2025 | Definitions, Org Chart, Processes
I once had a supervisor who was obsessed with what he called “the 4-box model” of procurement. His version graphed supply chain complexity/risk on the y-axis and supply chain cost on the x-axis, classifying suppliers into one of the four resulting quadrants. Low cost...
by Janice Marquardt | Sep 16, 2025 | Contracts, Processes
Following last week’s article, you’ve decided you need more contracts to add value and reduce your supply chain risk. Maybe you have a couple of blanket POs and want written terms, or maybe you have a couple contracts on supplier paper. But now what? What does the...
