34 Supply Chain Management Review • November 2012 www.scmr.com ADVANTAGE ALIGNMENT PROFITABILITY PROCUREMENT OUTREACH HOW STEELCASE TOOK CONTROL OF SUPPLY RISK By Thomas V. Scannell, Sime Curkovic, Robert Lundquist, and Michael Isaac Dr. Thomas V. Scannell (thomas. scannell@wmich.edu) is Associate Professor of Management and Dr. Sime Curkovic (sime.curkovic@wmich. edu) is a Professor of Supply Chain Management, both at Western Michigan University. Robert Lundquist is Supply Chain Manager leading the Supplier Qualification & Development team for Steelcase Inc. Michael Isaac is Supply Chain Leader-Principal in Steelcase’s Procurement Department. They can be reached at rlundqui@steelcase.com and misaac@steelcase.com. S upply risk management has taken on increased strategic importance as global supply and demand markets luctuate due to political and economic uncertainties, shortened product lifecycles, sup- plier performance issues, natural disasters, and other factors. In this volatile environment, procure- ment needs to be established as a risk management discipline that is supported by company structures and process- es. This is what Steelcase Inc. accomplished through its Global Procurement Process (GPP)—a comprehensive initiative that links supply risk management to procurement activities in a way that leads to fact-based decision making and superior business performance. This article describes the Steelcase experience with its GPP. We relate the pain points leading to the creation of the initiative, the key elements incorporated into the GPP, and some results achieved to date. We also discuss implications that the Steelcase experience may have for others pursuing similar supply manage- ment initiatives in their own organization. Steelcase Background Steelcase Inc. is a global, publicly traded company with iscal 2012 revenue of approximately $2.75 billion and nearly 10,000 employees worldwide. The company competes in the global ofice furniture industry with a portfolio of ofice environment solutions. Steelcase encompasses three core brands: Steelcase, Turnstone, and Coalesse as well as several sub-brands, including Nurture, which is the company’s healthcare division. Suppliers provide design, production, and service support for the Steelcase brands and are a key to the company’s competitive success. As Steelcase has grown over the years, many of their suppli- ers have grown with them, resulting in long-standing relationships with a proven supply base. In this regard, the company had been operating in a relatively low supply risk environment as the strong Matt Herring