Hey friends,

I was reflecting this morning on just how wild the last ten years have been in our industry.

If you rewind to 2015, the biggest worry for many of us was simply "getting the lowest rate." It was a buyer’s market. Excess capacity was everywhere, fuel was relatively cheap, and the supply chain felt like a boring, predictable utility.

Then came the Hanjin bankruptcy. Then the 2020 sulphur cap. Then COVID. The Ever Given getting stuck. The post-pandemic boom. And now, the Red Sea crisis and the impending EU ETS carbon costs.

If that decade taught us anything, it’s that the old playbook—the one built entirely on "cost reduction" and "just-in-time" perfection—is not just outdated; it’s dangerous.

If I were stepping into a CPO role today, I wouldn’t just look for better negotiators. I would fundamentally change the mindset of the operation.

Here are the five specific mind-shifts I would instill in my team on Day 1.

For years, procurement managers were celebrated for shaving $50 off a TEU rate. But what did that $50 saving cost us when the vessel got blanked, or the equipment wasn’t available during the crunch?

The Shift: I would ban the celebration of "savings" that don't account for risk.

If I were running the team today, we would focus entirely on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). That means asking: “This carrier is 10% cheaper, but what is their on-time reliability score? What is their roll-over ratio? Do they have their own terminals in our key transshipment hubs?”

Cheap freight is expensive when it arrives three weeks late and shuts down your production line. The goal isn’t to buy the cheapest ticket; it’s to buy the most reliable path.

In the last decade, sustainability went from a "nice-to-have" marketing slide to a hard financial reality. With the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) and the upcoming FuelEU Maritime regulations, carbon emissions now have a direct price tag attached to them.

The Shift: Procurement isn't just buying space anymore; we are buying emissions liabilities.

I would train my team to view carbon intensity (CII) as a procurement metric equal to price or transit time. Why? Because a vessel with a poor CII rating might be forced to slow steam (delaying your cargo) or will incur higher tax penalties that will eventually be passed on to us via surcharges.

If we aren't factoring the "carbon cost" into our tender analysis today, we are effectively ignoring a future invoice that is already in the mail.

During the supply chain crisis of 2021-2022, we learned a brutal lesson: contracts are only as good as the relationship behind them. When space was tight, carriers didn't prioritize the customers who had squeezed every penny out of them during the lean years. They prioritized the partners who were fair, transparent, and easy to work with.

The Shift: Stop asking "What can this supplier do for me?" and start asking "Why would this top-tier supplier want to work with us?"

I would measure my team not just on how tough they are, but on their Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)score. Are we paying on time? Are we providing accurate forecasts? Are we solving problems with the carrier, or just screaming at them?

In a volatile market, being a "Customer of Choice" is the only insurance policy that actually gives you some guarantee.

I love Excel as much as the next person. But managing a global supply chain in 2025 using static spreadsheets is like trying to navigate a ship using a map from 1990. The data is dead the moment you hit "save."

The Shift: Democratize data and demand radical transparency.

I would invest heavily in tools that provide real-time visibility—not just for my team, but for the rest of the company. Procurement shouldn't be a "black box" where requests go in and rates come out.

We need a "Control Tower" mindset where we track market indices (like SCFI or Xeneta) against our own performance in real-time. If a surcharge pops up, we shouldn't be scrambling to verify it; our systems should already know it's coming. The modern procurement pro is a data analyst first, and a negotiator second.

Finally, the biggest shift is in talent. The old school "freight buyer" who knows every port code by heart is valuable, but the future belongs to the strategic problem solver.

The Shift: I’d hire for adaptability.

I want people who ask why we are shipping this from China in the first place, not just how much it costs to ship it. I want team members who are curious about how AI can automate our invoice auditing, or how blockchain might solve our Bill of Lading friction.

The maritime world is changing faster than the textbooks. I’d rather have a team that knows how to learn and adapt to new technologies than a team that perfectly memorized how things worked in 2010.

The last decade was a stress test. It broke the old models of "stable, cheap, invisible" logistics.

If you are leading a team, or just managing your own desk, take a moment this Sunday to ask yourself: Am I still buying like it’s 2015? Or am I building a strategy for the reality of 2025?

The difference isn’t just in the rates you get—it’s in whether your supply chain survives the next storm.

Cheers,

Fernando

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