New Perspectives, Clear Leadership, Stronger Teams: How to Drive Performance in Procurement

In this episode, Katharina Claes talks with Bart Ader from MANN+HUMMEL about performance in procurement—and why it never means the same thing to everyone. The conversation covers his career change from supply chain and logistics, specific use cases as a way to explore new topics, and the question of how new perspectives can help challenge the phrase “That’s how we’ve always done it.”

Bart also discusses why job rotation in procurement can provide fresh momentum, how stagnant supplier relationships can be revitalized, and what makes a strong team: people who support one another without being asked. Another aspect is his perspective on resilience and antifragility—how to learn from crises, shocks, and changes, adapt, and become better.

At MANN+HUMMEL, Bart Ader is responsible for strategic procurement of direct materials, with a procurement volume of approximately 1.6 to 1.7 billion euros. Having moved from supply chain and logistics to procurement, he brings a broad perspective on performance, collaboration, and change.