Team spotlight: Strategic Sourcing

This past month, we spoke with Joseph Kerley, the deputy chief procurement officer and director of strategic sourcing, about the strategic sourcing team, its recent accomplishments, and upcoming projects. Here’s what he had to say. 

Please provide a brief overview of your team. 
The Strategic Sourcing team delivers strategic value to the university within each of the 55+ categories that comprise the majority of all purchases at Yale. 

What is the primary focus of your team’s work?  
Strategic Sourcing’s primary focus is on engagements over $100,000, where we strive to deliver value optimization, standardization, total cost of ownership analysis, risk mitigation, and professional negotiation. Additionally, in each of our categories, we seek to facilitate strategic initiatives, including but not limited to vendor consolidation, master agreements, vendor partnerships, innovation, process optimization, and continuity of supply for Yale University. 

What have been some of your and your team’s most significant accomplishments?
The Strategic Sourcing team continually works hard to fulfill the university’s requests. While far from an exhaustive list, some of our largest accomplishments have been our work on the Supplier Diversity Classification project, Peabody Museum Renovation, Research and medical catalog conversions and negotiations, the Library ERP agreement, Technolutions admissions renegotiation and standardization, execution of MSAs, and Procurement process documentation and optimization. 

What projects are you looking forward to in the coming year? 
On the horizon, we are looking forward to the Huron Master Agreement, the renegotiated AmerisourceBergen agreement, the Lab Startup initiative, Procurement’s Vendor Show, the Integrated Source to Pay project, as well as new/remodeled real-estate interior fit-outs. 

Is there anything else you want to include about you or your team?
The Strategic Sourcing team is highly focused on delivering exemplary customer service and helping our university community achieve its goals while maintaining a focus on compliance. As a team of dedicated procurement professionals, we work very hard to ensure that the work that Strategic Sourcing is involved in carries a holistic view of the broader university, a strategic mindset, and a vision for the future.