With over 25 years of progressive experience in supply chain management, Matt Wilkinson has navigated the complexities of both public and private sectors, demonstrating a remarkable ability to adapt procurement strategies to shifting market landscapes. As the Head of Procurement at Manitoba Hydro and the founder of S2P Inc., Matt combines his deep industry knowledge—from automotive to healthcare—with exceptional negotiation and analytical skills. His innovative approach to “Consumer Sector Procurement” underscores his commitment to empowering consumers in their purchasing decisions. In this interview, Matt shares his insights on the critical role of agility in procurement, the importance of strategic flexibility, and the development of innovative tools designed to streamline the procurement process. Join us as we explore how his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit are driving change in the supply chain landscape.
How do you adapt your procurement strategies to respond to changing market conditions?
Having worked mainly in Canada’s public sector, as well as in the UK automotive and Canadian agricultural manufacturing industries, I’ve seen firsthand how market conditions can drastically shift. In a fast-paced automotive environment, rapid changes in raw material prices and demand swings required quick adjustments in sourcing strategies to ensure production lines kept running. In contrast, public sector procurement in Canada, especially in healthcare and energy, demands a balance between agility and regulatory compliance. I continuously analyse market data, geopolitical factors, and currency fluctuations to adjust procurement tactics and ensure contract provisions are included to negotiate terms as required throughout the life of the contract.
Whether it’s locking in long-term agreements or sourcing domestically to minimise risk, my approach is grounded in strategic flexibility and adapting to local and global market forces. This allows me to make informed decisions and adjust strategies accordingly.
For instance, during periods of inflation or supply shortages, I may negotiate flexible contract terms with suppliers to lock in prices or ensure supply continuity. I also diversify my supplier base to mitigate risks and leverage technologies and data analytics to forecast demand and optimise inventory levels. My focus is always on being proactive rather than reactive, ensuring that my strategies are resilient enough to meet the evolving needs of the organisation.
By staying proactive, I can mitigate risks and keep costs controlled, allowing my procurement strategy to remain flexible and aligned with both market and business needs. Safety stocks are managed on a continuous basis to minimise any obsolescence and ensure cost-effective inventory levels.
Having a 2 year strategic contract plan for known procurements significantly helps to plan the procurement workload, and monthly meetings with key stakeholders and programs to gain insights into future procurements ensure that ebbs and flows are minimised. My father instilled his phrase, “Hindsight + Insight = Foresight” into me during my early teenage years, and this has been very useful throughout my Supply Chain and Procurement career for creating strategic visions and preparing for the future.
How has agility helped you overcome supply chain disruptions?
Agility has been crucial in navigating disruptions across the industries and continents I’ve faced throughout my career. During my time in the UK automotive industry with Omron Automotive Electronics, Kingswinford, when supply chains were disrupted by logistical issues or sudden demand spikes, I learned the importance of diversifying suppliers and building redundancy into the system.
Whether due to geopolitical issues, natural disasters, or pandemics, being agile means having the ability to pivot quickly when disruptions occur.
In Canada’s public sector, particularly during a pandemic, healthcare supply chains became heavily strained. My team and I had to quickly source PPE and medical supplies from non-traditional suppliers while ensuring compliance with government regulations.
In my role as Chief of Logistics for the Regional Incident Command Team with Southern Health, Manitoba, for H1N1 vaccinations, the Medical Officer of Health made me an Honorary Public Health Professional for my recommendation to utilise mobile clinics to help manage the vaccination shortages. Approximately 85% of the population within the health region was vaccinated.
Being agile allowed us to pivot quickly, ensuring critical supplies were delivered where and when they were needed most. I also prioritise a decentralised supply chain model, which helps spread risk and enables faster recovery when one part of the chain experiences issues. In such scenarios, it’s important to have strong relationships with key suppliers based on trust and transparency, which allow for immediate solutions, ensuring business continuity.
When global shipping routes were disrupted by the pandemic, I quickly shifted to local suppliers and utilised air freight when necessary to avoid production delays. This ability to act fast, combined with maintaining open lines of communication with suppliers and customers, allowed me to minimise downtime.
I believe that an agile supply chain is one that can respond swiftly to external shocks, such as natural disasters or regulatory changes, with minimal disruption to business operations.
What strategies do you use to maintain flexibility while ensuring cost-effectiveness?
In both the private and public sectors, flexibility and cost-effectiveness can seem at odds, but I’ve learned how to strike a balance. In the automotive industry, I focused on just-in-time procurement and strategic sourcing partnerships to minimise inventory costs while maintaining supply flexibility. In Canada’s public sector, the focus is on building flexibility into long-term contracts that provide stability but include clauses for volume adjustments, price renegotiations, currency fluctuations, and alternative delivery schedules.
By working closely with suppliers and leveraging internal data analytics to forecast needs, I can negotiate terms that offer the flexibility to adapt to changes while keeping costs under control.
Maintaining flexibility without compromising cost-effectiveness is a delicate balance, but it allows me to reduce inventory holding costs while maintaining flexibility in responding to demand fluctuations. Using data-driven insights and predictive analytics also helps me optimise purchasing decisions, ensuring that procurement activities are both lean and adaptable to changing market conditions.
How do you balance agility with long-term supplier relationships?
Balancing agility with long-term supplier relationships is about building trust and maintaining open, clear communication. In the UK, the automotive sector moves fast, so I developed relationships with suppliers that allowed for flexibility without jeopardising long-term agreements. In Canada’s public sector, especially in healthcare and energy, long-term partnerships are critical for ensuring supply stability.
I work closely with suppliers to build collaborative strategies and business relationships based on integrity and ethical practice. It is important to have clear visibility of suppliers’ own supply chains as far back as the raw material level, so that when there is an interruption, having clear visibility allows us to see where interruptions occur and enables us to make informed decisions to stay the course or pivot and find a solution to fill any gaps in supply.
On many occasions, I have also helped suppliers with their supply chain challenges to ensure they maintain supply to our organisation and cost predictability. I emphasise building relationships that are collaborative rather than transactional.
By maintaining open lines of communication, suppliers are more likely to offer flexibility in response to changes. I also diversify my supplier base while ensuring that I nurture key partnerships. In some cases, I’ll negotiate with long-term suppliers for contingency plans that provide flexibility during volatile periods.
Keeping a mix of long-standing partners and exploring new relationships can maintain agility while securing the benefits of stability and trust that come with long-term arrangements. By establishing mutual goals and creating contingency plans, we can respond quickly to changes without sacrificing the long-term partnership.
In return, suppliers often provide priority access to materials or services during shortages. I ensure that while we focus on maintaining an agile supply chain,our strategic suppliers still feel valued and are aligned with our long-term vision.
Can you share an example of how procurement agility helped your organisation?
In early 2019, I completed my MBA that focused on Supply Chain Management, which was ideal to help set agricultural manufacturer Vaderstad, Saskatchewan, up for success. My final project was titled “Supply Chain Optimization Empowering Global Expansion” and focused on agility, globalisation, and risk management.
Shortly after starting with Vaderstad in June 2020, I was able to reduce part shortages from four A4 pages down to none, and from late 2020 into 2021, there were no production line stoppages, which was a major success story given the market conditions and disruptions at the time. This enabled the organisation to quickly increase its production volume and, in turn, helped increase revenue by over 120%, while gaining significant market share from its main competitors, who had experienced supply chain disruptions.
I also worked closely with our logistics team to expedite shipments and minimise downtime. By leveraging my global supplier network and remaining flexible in my sourcing strategies, I was able to prevent costly production halts, maintain delivery schedules, and meet customer demand. This approach saved costs and also strengthened relationships with both suppliers and internal stakeholders.
Not only did we keep our production lines running, but we also improved our relationships with newer suppliers, creating additional sourcing channels that strengthened our supply chain resilience for the future.