THE AGREEMENT ALCHEMIST: The Importance of Having Master Service Agreements with Denise Sena

SHOW SUMMARYWe welcome Denise Sena on What the Duck?! today to discuss the importance of having a master service agreement (MSA) with key suppliers in the supply chain. Denise shares her experiences working in various companies and highlights the challenges and lessons learned in implementing MSAs. Denise emphasizes the importance of finding a high-performing procurement expert, prioritizing critical areas, and using industry benchmarks in crafting MSAs. The conversation underscores the significance of building strong supplier relationships and the positive impact of effective MSAs on business operations.  SHOW HIGHLIGHTS The Significance of Internal and External Collaboration Supply Chain Professionals Must be Agile and FlexibleData-Driven Decision-MakingChallenges of Accurate Forecasting Establishing Master Service Agreements Building a High-Performing Procurement Team MOMENTS TO DUCK AROUND DENISE: On Data-Driven Decision-Making“It’s extremely important to have effective communication so we can align on goals, we can resolve issues together, and we can come to consensus. I think the second, for me, is that you find in supply chain the ability to be agile and nimble and flexible, right? And so, supply chain folks, they pivot under duress all the time, and there are always unplanned events. And so, you have to be able to feel comfortable mitigating the contingency plan. And the third, which is my favorite, is data-driven decisions, right? And so, supply chain creates a vast amount of data, and so the ability to leverage that data, analytics, and technology is crucial in order to enable data-driven decisions, informed decisions, which actually becomes a competitive advantage for some of the companies.” DENISE: Benchmarking and Using Industry Standards for Reference“We always worked with industry benchmarks as the standard to say, "This is what we would like." And so, we always started with that and then either worked backwards or forwards. So, a lead time was very important to us, a quality level was important to us as well. So, I would just say, know what good looks like for your organization. For us, we did some benchmarking outside of what the industry would look like, and then we went with that and started our conversation there with our suppliers.” Connect with Denise and learn what she’s been duckin’ around with:Denise SenaConnect with Sarah and find out more about what the duck she’s up toLinkedIn | Twitter | SourceDay | SourceDay.com Had fun with the podcast? Leave us a like, share our content, and subscribe! Seeyou soon on the next episode of What The Duck?!