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In today’s headlines, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as president and vice president of the United States — amid a flurry of challenges and crises. In other news, reports show that frontline e-commerce roles grew 73% as online sales boomed last year. Also, the recent SolarWinds hack has supply chain leaders analyzing the role of third-party networks. Afternoon Coffee brings you the latest in procurement and supply chain news.

Sylvie Noel is the Chief Procurement Officer at Covea Group. (LinkedIn photo)

“My daily job and what I’m trying to do with my team is to prove the value — with a big V — of what procurement is,” said Sylvie Noel, the Chief Procurement Officer at Covea Group. “For me, the best value we can have is to be involved as soon as possible in the goals and the KPIs the business might have. … You have to know really well in advance what you are going to buy and how you are going to buy it.”

We met with Sylvie Noel to discuss value in procurement as part of our “Women in Procurement Wednesday” series.