Afternoon Coffee: Learn how Unilever is overcoming contract management challenges – free webinar, last chance to register! And other procurement news

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How are forward-looking organizations like Unilever embracing digitalization in contract management to overcome challenges in managing third parties?

Find out first-hand in this upcoming free webinar, “CLM Maturity Spectrum: The Journey to Commercial Value Management,” airing tomorrow, Wednesday Oct. 30 at 11 am ET / 10 am CT.

Gaurav Gupta, Unilever’s General Manager of ETS Supplier Strategy and Performance, along with SirionLabs Founder Ajay Agrawal and Spend Matters’ own chief research officer Pierre Mitchell will lay out a progressive new contract lifecycle management approach, called commercial value management, to help your business drive contract management capability “to new heights.”

In addition to first-hand detail from one of the largest procurement practitioner organizations in the world, attendees will also discover:

• An integrated CLM maturity model framework that plots organizational maturity and digital maturity to maximize commercial value, and
• Emerging CLM technologies that deliver sustainable enterprise value

Register right here!

GM strike to cost carmaker nearly $3 billion

The UAW strike, which lasted six weeks, has hampered GM's free cash flow and forced the company to "slash its earnings forecast for the year by $2 a share, or about $2.9 billion," according to Bloomberg via IW. "The walkout hit GM’s profit by $1 billion in the third quarter alone, the company said in a statement," according to the article – with most of the financial hurt to be reflected in the final three months of this year.

Mastercard Blockchain to bring traceability to food systems

A new food supply chain system based on Mastercard’s blockchain network will be demonstrated at the Money 2020 event in Las Vegas later this week. Topco food cooperative will pilot the technology to trace the source of seafood at member grocery stores starting with Food City. The system was built in a partnership between Mastercard, Envisible (a company that makes food supply-chain systems more transparent) and Topco Associates, a large U.S.-based food cooperative that will pilot the technology at one of its grocery chains, Food City.

Amazon removes Amazon Fresh fee for Prime members

Faced with competition from players such as Walmart, Amazon announced today that it would make Amazon Fresh — the fresh food delivery service it now offers in some 2,000 cities in the U.S. and elsewhere — free to use for Prime members, removing the $14.99 per month fee for the service, TechCrunch reports. In addition, Amazon is also giving users one- and two-hour delivery options for quicker turnarounds, and it’s making users’ local Whole Foods inventory available online and through the Amazon app.

Uber, Lyft moving into healthcare

Uber says its healthcare arm plans to integrate an app into Cerner Corp.'s electronic health record system, according to Modern Healthcare. This will help caregivers schedule rides for patients. Competitor Lyft is now providing rides for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries in six states, though the company's work in the states varies.

Lockheed nabs big F-35 procurement contract

The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a potential $7 billion contract modification to make and deliver 114 lot 13 F-35 fighter jets to domestic and foreign military sales clients, according to GovCon Wire. The Department of Defense said Monday the modification calls for Lockheed to build 77 F-35 units for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and 37 units for the government of Australia, Norway and Italy.