Welcome to Procurement News, part of our ongoing aggregate news series covering recent supply management headlines and trends pertinent to Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement leaders. Contact us with your news story here.
CPOs
Catalyze Appoints Joseph Kiwak to SVP of Supply Chain Management
BOULDER, Colo. — Catalyze, a clean energy transition company that builds, owns, and operates solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems for commercial and industrial customers, announced the expansion of its executive suite with the hire of energy sector supply chain executive Joseph Kiwak as senior vice president (SVP) of Supply Chain Management.
The company states that as the power, transportation, and building sectors work to transition to zero-emission energy sources, clean energy companies are attracting industry veterans who recognize the opportunity to be a part of innovative solutions that offer lower costs and greater reliability. Catalyze’s new additions to its leadership team will play a critical role in enhancing the company’s ability to deliver sustainable, profitable, and simplified energy solutions nationwide.
In his role as SVP of Supply Chain Management, Kiwak will be responsible for ensuring the availability, sustainability, and affordability of the resources needed to deliver Catalyze’s diverse clean energy solutions.
Kiwak boasts over 30 years of experience in the energy sector, including executive positions at Sunfinity Renewable Energy, Sunnova Energy, and NRG Renew. He is thoroughly experienced at managing diverse, multidisciplinary teams in the execution and successful completion of multimillion-dollar projects within time and budget constraints, including more than 60 solar projects in C&I rooftop, community solar, as well as utility-scale and residential solar projects accounting for close to 1GW in total.
Read the full announcement here.
Procurement News
Mercedes-Benz Signs Supply Deal with Rock Tech Lithium for EV-Ramp Up
STUTTGART, Germany & VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Mercedes-Benz AG announced finalization of a supply agreement with Canadian-German-start-up Rock Tech Lithium Inc. to secure high-quality lithium used in battery production as part of a direct sourcing approach.
Starting in 2026, including a qualification period, this allows the Stuttgart-based luxury carmaker to get its battery partners supplied with raw materials to rapidly scale up its production of fully electric vehicles.
The company states that Mercedes-Benz plans to go all-electric by the end of the decade, wherever market conditions allow, requiring the brand to open new sources of raw materials with new partners. As part of the agreement, Rock Tech Lithium plans to supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide to Mercedes-Benz battery partners from a converter based in Guben, Brandenburg, Germany.
According to Markus Schäfer, member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, chief technology officer, responsible for research and development and procurement, “This significant amount of lithium sourced directly from Rock Tech will help Mercedes-Benz to advance localization of European production of state-of-the-art battery cells,” Schäfer says.
“Together with additional sourcing partnerships in the future, the on average 10,000 tons of lithium per annum will play a key role in securing the lithium supply for our battery production in Europe, to help achieve our ambitious electrification goals,” he adds.
Read the full announcement here.
Capital on Tap Raises $110 Million to Power the Spend of Small Businesses
ATLANTA — Global FinTech Capital on Tap announced that it has secured a $110 million corporate revolving credit facility with Atalaya Capital Management to provide small businesses in the US and UK with a central hub to manage all aspects of their business finances.
The company states that since launching in 2012, Capital on Tap has provided over $5 billion of funding to more than 200,000 small businesses. In 2021, Capital on Tap launched its US business, which already has more than 14,000 Capital on Tap Business Credit Card holders in its one year of existence.
The funding will allow the company to build out its central finance hub for small business owners in the US and UK. This will include a full accounts payable suite to manage bills and expenses, a credit score builder to help new companies gain access to business credit, and several other products and features that will help small business owners from the day they start their business.
According to Alan Hart, CFO at Capital on Tap, “We are extremely pleased to have received this facility, which will allow us to better serve our small business customers with the spend management tools and flexible funding they need to grow,” Hart said. “Moreover, it is fantastic that we have broadened our relationship with Atalaya to include a general-purpose corporate facility.”
Read the full announcement here.
Walmart, Ørsted and Schneider Electric Announce First Cohort for Renewable Energy Supply Chain Program
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Walmart Inc., Ørsted and Schneider Electric announced that they have successfully convened the first cohort of suppliers to participate in Walmart’s renewable energy accelerator: Gigaton PPA.
The company states that five suppliers, Amy’s Kitchen, Great Lakes Cheese, Levi Strauss & Co., The J.M. Smucker Co., and Valvoline Inc, have collaborated to execute an aggregated purchase of renewable energy from Ørsted’s Sunflower Wind Farm located in Marion County, Kansas. Over the 12-year term of the agreement, the purchase is expected to generate approximately 250,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually of new renewable power, or the equivalent of avoiding the carbon emissions from more than 458,000 gasoline-powered passenger cars driven for one year, according to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
The cohort’s success will directly support Walmart’s Project Gigaton™ goal, which aims to reduce or avoid one gigaton (or 1 billion metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions from the global value chain by 2030. The Gigaton PPA program was developed jointly by Walmart and Schneider Electric in 2020 under Project Gigaton™ to increase renewable energy market access for companies that have historically been limited in their procurement opportunities.
According to Jane Ewing, senior vice president of sustainability at Walmart, “It is very exciting to see these companies come together with their collective purchasing power to bring clean energy to market and take actionable steps toward reducing their carbon emissions,” Ewing said.
“We developed Project Gigaton™ to help accelerate our suppliers’ zero-emissions efforts and the Gigaton PPA program is a key example of how we are making progress by harnessing the collective to make renewable energy more accessible to more companies. We are proud of our collaboration with Ørsted, Schneider Electric and this initial cohort of valued suppliers,” she added.
Read the full announcement here.
Supply Management News
McCormick Plans to Eliminate $100M in Costs and Inefficiencies
Biden Awards $2.8B to Boost Domestic EV Battery Supply
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