RS
Maintenance, Repair, and Operational Supplies (MRO)
In partnership with CIPS, RS welcomes you to the CIPS Official Knowledge Partner area for MRO procurement. We’re committed to driving procurement excellence as an enabler for growth and in this area we will share best practice, advice and thought leadership with CIPS Members.
Through the knowledge shared in this area we aim to support you to optimise suppliers and processes and help define cost-saving strategies to reduce the true cost of procurement, which is significantly more than simply the cost of products.
2025 Indirect Procurement Report – Tackling the cost of business
Discover how companies are responding to major challenges across the global procurement landscape. Featuring insights from leading voices across the academic and commercial sectors, this report is your essential guide to navigating the year ahead. Produced in partnership with The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.
What is the procurement bill?
New legislation governing public sector procurement is going to affect their supply chain. Organisations need to prepare.
Every year, the UK public sector invests £300 billion to procure goods and services – a figure that amounts to £1 in every £3 of public money spent. Now the legislation that governs this spending is about to change, with huge implications for public sector organisations and private sector businesses alike.
What can businesses do to make it easier for those responsible for indirect procurement to manage organisational transformation too?
“Every survey we’ve done has shown a massive increase in how procurement is valued and how procurement is treated within organisations,” said Helen Alder, Head of Learning and Development at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), during a roundtable discussion featuring senior indirect procurement professionals held at RS Group headquarters in London.
How do you manage demand within indirect procurement?
How do you manage demand – and how do you address the issues that make this challenging? These were two of the most pressing questions at a roundtable discussion featuring senior indirect procurement professionals held at RS Group headquarters in London at the end of 2022. This article is the first in a series reflecting on this discussion and exploring key concerns for those responsible for MRO: how best to manage demand, navigate change and mitigate risk.
Delivering efficiencies with digital tools
Digital tools add value by giving back time you can spend on core business functions and more, says Ed Orgill, Head of the Value-Added Solutions sales team at RS. One of the biggest and most consistent challenges that my team and I have seen in recent years is that those working in manufacturing and production are being asked to do more with less.
What next for digital procurement?
The digital transformation of Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) procurement is well underway. The vast majority of organisations in our 2022 Indirect Procurement Report already use some form of eProcurement. So what’s next?
Effective supplier management
In a world of rapid change, supplier relationships have never been more important. But do Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) procurement teams always know how to get the best from their suppliers?
ESG is more important than ever
The extreme weather conditions in the UK this summer have focused minds on the need to reduce carbon emissions to tackle climate change. It’s also increased the imperative for companies to address Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues.
How to embrace change and transformation
Procurement teams are second only to operations in managing change in their organisations, according to 2022’s Indirect Procurement Report. But change management can be daunting, so how do you get started?
2022 Indirect Procurement Report: Taking Control As The Pressure Rises
This year's Indirect Procurement Report provides an in-depth overview of the fast-changing category of supplies for Maintenance, Repair and Operations.
Maintaining continuity in MRO
You might expect the pandemic to have pushed business continuity planning for critical parts up the agenda in the 2021 Indirect Procurement survey. But it hasn’t. Why is this and what lessons can we learn?
Managing stakeholders - a critical skill for MRO procurement
Managing stakeholders is not easy at the best of times, and these certainly aren’t the best of times. In the 2021 Indirect Procurement Report the percentage of people saying it’s a daily challenge rose to almost half. So how can you improve relationships with stakeholders?
Making MRO sustainable
Sustainability and ethical behaviour are no longer ‘nice-to-have’ add-ons hidden in a corporate social responsibility policy. Failure to live up to the standards customers and stakeholders expect can fatally harm a company’s reputation.