Vista Outdoor Inc., the parent company of Simms Fishing Products and other outdoor brands, has been named one of the world’s Top 50 procurement organizations for the second year in a row by Beroe Inc. The global SaaS-based procurement intelligence and analytics provider on Aug. 22 awarded Vista Outdoor the gold medal in the leisure products category based on how the company’s procurement strategies help create shareholder value. It’s the second straight year Vista Outdoor took best-in-class honors among its peers.
“Earning recognition as one of the top procurement organizations in the world is a testament to the hard work of our supply chain departments at the corporate and brand levels, as well as across all areas of our company,” said Gary McArthur, interim CEO, Vista Outdoor. “The past few years have brought new challenges to sourcing and procurement, but our hard-working and talented teams routinely find unique solutions to overcome those obstacles. Thanks to their expertise and execution, we’ve improved profitability and increased shareholder value.”
To compile the “World’s Top 50 Procurement Organizations” list, Beroe ranked public companies using a best-in-class index that measured four parameters: cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales, inventory as a percentage of sales, payables as a percentage of sales, and gross margin return on investment. Once again, when Beroe’s analysts applied their algorithm and crunched the numbers, Vista Outdoor stood out as one of the best.
“Companies (that have won best-in-class procurement awards two or more times) consistently exemplify the pinnacle of procurement excellence,” Beroe wrote in its awards announcement. “Their achievements reflect not only their commitment to best practices and innovation but also their dedication to operational efficiency and strategic foresight. Garnering the best-in-class procurement awards multiple times, these titans of their respective fields have showcased the importance of adept procurement strategies in maintaining industry leadership. It is their unwavering commitment to quality, adaptability, and forward-thinking approaches that set them apart, further solidifying their esteemed reputations on the global stage.”
Vista Outdoor (gold) was recognized for 2023 best-in-class procurement; Hasbro (silver) and Shimano Inc. (bronze) were also recognized in the leisure products category. Vista Outdoor won for adeptly overcoming such procurement challenges as soaring inflation, high interest rates, supply instability, inventory overload, geopolitical sanction threats, and more. According to Beroe’s report, “all of these challenges, whether directly or indirectly, influence a company’s profitability. Therefore, by ensuring the smooth functioning of operations, procurement is instrumental in bolstering a company’s bottom line.”
Vista Outdoor’s unique and successful approach to procurement begins with the company’s supply chain center of excellence, which is one of several within the company. Vista Outdoor operates COEs for supply chain, digital, and M&A, each of which provides meaningful industry differentiation across the company’s 41-brand portfolio.
“I am very proud of all the members of the Vista Outdoor team who helped achieve the results that led to this award,” said David Stokoe, vice president of strategic procurement and head of the company’s supply chain COE. “We have maintained our emphasis on supply but added increased focus on managing inventory while reducing cost and integrated five new acquisitions. Our centers of excellence provide our brands with significant shared resources that can be leveraged to drive growth in revenue and profitability including expertise in sourcing, global distribution, enhanced purchasing power, sophisticated e-commerce systems, advanced analytics, and a proven M&A playbook.
“Integrated supply chain management is a core focus of our company. We source finished products both domestically and internationally for global distribution and have teams of local sourcing and quality assurance experts on the ground where our largest suppliers are located. We continuously seek to improve our vendor base as well as our in-country support and oversight, and through our integrated supply chain management process, we seek to provide year-over-year reductions in product costs.”
Click here to learn more about the world’s Top 50 procurement organizations.
