I was recently asked my opinion (as a former Procurement Director) about the REAL responsibility of the Procurement function in a company.Without hesitation, my answer was "The SOLE responsibility of Procurement is to help the company sell more goods".  After the initial shock of my interlocutor has faded, I added that this translates into 2 concrete tasks that Procurement must accomplish, so it helps the company sell its goods:TASK 1: SUPPLY ASSURANCE - this means delivering an uninterrupted supply of the needed goods and services, at the agreed costs and timings. This is by far the most important responsibility, because without having the needed goods and services, the company cannot…