The Vanishing Tail: Getting a Grip on the Long Tail Spend by Following the Three C’s

"Tail spend is time-consuming and complex to manage and it is full of stakeholder satisfaction landmines. One wrong move and your attempts to make tail spend vanish are disrupted. Most companies rely on automation or full outsourcing to tame their tail, but Merck took a unique approach that included a more expansive and value-oriented path leading to tangible business results and a positive ROI.

In this AOP podcast, Thomas Cicale shares Merck’s tail spend story. Joined by Sameer Sharma, Procurement Strategy and Services at WNS Denali, the pair discuss how they collaborated on a program that met and surpassed Merck’s tail spend objectives, including the 3 C’s that ensure the success of your strategic tail spend management efforts.

Thomas Cicale and Sameer Sharma share:

How to build a business case and accurately forecast your ROI for a tail spend program (especially if you have to overcome the “bad taste” of a failed previous program)

How to manage tail spend while balancing competing priorities

How to engage internal stakeholders and build relationships with the right people to ensure success

The tangible business results you can gain by making your tail spend vanish

The benefits of running a pilot project to broaden the scale of your effort"

About our Guests:

Thomas Cicale, C.P.M.

Tom Cicale is VP of Procurement with Merck KGaA responsible for Global Plant Services consisting of MRO, CAPEX/OPEX, Site Services, Utilities and Logistics. He has over 30 years of global procurement experience across various industries, in both the direct and indirect material arenas, with companies like The Gillette Company, Cabot Corporation, and Raytheon Corporation.

Sameer Sharma

Sameer Sharma is a client engagement leader in Denali’s delivery organization. Sameer is responsible for developing and implementing solutions to drive sustainable process and system transformation needed to meet client goals. He has over 20 years of international experience and has worked for global organizations like American Express, Accenture Management Consulting, Ariba and FreeMarkets