More and more earnings announcements these days are filled with references to operations- and procurement-led earnings improvement. Sony, the venerable Japanese electronics giant, is a perfect example. Earlier this fall Sony announced a quarter in which both supply chain and procurement investments played a significant role in propping up the bottom line and improving working capital through better managing inventory and supplier relationships. On the call, Sony suggested that “the structural transformation process that we initiated earlier this year is progressing in line with our expectations. We now have targeted 330 billion yen in annual cost savings from the structural transformation … thus far, we have achieved approximately 80% of the targeted 330 billion yen in savings.”
