The truly global nature of the procurement profession has been reflected by the Procurement Leaders Network as it successfully launched in the US with a series of high-level events which attracted scores of US-based procurement executives.

The PLN has held four separate events in the US, attracting senior sourcing professionals to roundtable discussions in New York and San Francisco. And the success of those events has left Matthias Gutzmann, vice president of international operations at Sigaria, in no doubt that the US offers an exciting opportunity.

“The procurement profession is a global one,” said Gutzmann. “To reflect that, our first step is to offer knowledge sharing between our European members and North American colleagues. This will be followed in 2010 with further events in Asia. While there are subtle differences in approach, the challenges remain common regardless of where in the world these executives are based. Cost control, supplier innovation, risk management and CSR are all global issues.”