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Hurtigruten: Steering procurement from local to global in a 130-year-old cruise tourism company

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It has been said that indirect IT (Information Technology) procurement is complex. 

Just imagine then how complex it would be to ensure IT supplies had to be delivered to cruise ships travelling form port to port around the globe, in a cost efficient and timely manner without excessive maverick/rogue spend. 

That is the case at Hurtigruten and if there was an award for “demonstrating unique complexity” at Markit Forum 2023 then surely, the presentation by would be favourites to win it. 


Tom said that many companies have experienced the challenges going global, but on top of this, Hurtigruten’s global setup does not have a home port and they are sailing in some of the most rural and dangerous waters in the world, which adds another layer of complexity.  

He gave an example related to software usage (who really looks at the text stating where in the world it can be used on the existing licence?).  

Tom explained, "...2 months ago a red flag was blinking in the licence centre of a global software company as our European licence was being used outside of the jurisdiction for that particular license...", another complication to be resolved.  

Tom then shared, in a very transparent, and entertaining way, some of the specific challenges they face. 

  • Supply Chain and Vendor Setup: By shifting the total setup to a new part of the world, they had to start from scratch to build up the vendor setups, still a work in progress. The ships will travel to new destinations, so it is a continuous assignment for procurement.  
  • Logistics: As you can imagine, logistics is a nightmare, e.g., for high value IT equipment delivered to extremely rural locations. 
  • Increased Spend: Due to supply chain and logistics – the cost of equipment can often double or triple in cost before it reaches the ship – in addition to what mentioned before, we must add the costs of storage, customs, and port handling.  
  • Rogue Spend: Due to not having a supplier in pace in a particular part of the world, or "just needing it immediately", rogue spend has increased significantly "just to fix issues". An area we admit to needing to control harder in the years to come.  
  • How to evolve: This is the big question – how can we get global partners on board that do not only think of national (and or personal) budgets and control?

In addition, Tom explained the strategic "must haves" 

  • A scalable operating model  

  • More/all spend under management 

  • ESG in the Supply chain - Extremely important to Hurtigruten -- buying local, reducing CO2 emissions on everything, on and off their ships etc.  

Hence the "procurement restart" and why Hurtigruten are all about looking into what they do now, and what / how they want to be doing in the future.  

In true Markit Forum spirit, Tom thn invited other delegates to "help us in the years to come".

Hurtigruten has begun to overcome the crises and moves positively forward. 

Watch the Hurtigruten presentation on YouTube now. 

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Read the main Markit Forum 2023 Report or check the other individual client presentation reports from: 

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