Before the Negotiation: eSourcing Suites and LCCS

Add comment March 14th, 2006 Jason Busch

I recently returned from a whirlwind visit to China where I met with suppliers in various industries. The trip emphasized to me the great variation in supplier capability and sophistication in developing markets, and the importance of a prequalification processes to winnow down potential vendors before conducting onsite visits and assessments. The good news is that eSourcing applications can play an incredibly useful role in helping companies of all sizes to qualify low cost country suppliers. Even without deploying a competitive negotiation process, by using an RFI capability and / or by creating a custom assessment template, it is possible to save significant time and effort by examining and comparing the capabilities of suppliers on an apples-to-apples basis. When looking at software to help automate this process, it’s critical to ensure that these capabilities are integrated into a broader sourcing suite that enables global users to share information and supplier intelligence with each other during the sourcing process. And as important, look for an interface which is self explanatory and easy to use on the supplier side. In the global sourcing process, where face-to-face meetings can lead to the best price and terms, an eSourcing suite can be a lifesaver even if you rarely use reverse auctions or other competitive negotiation features.

- Jason Busch

Entry Filed under: General, Global Supply Issues/Risk, Suppliers

e-Sourcing From the Client View

Add comment March 14th, 2006 David Bush - Iasta

I got my latest copy of European Leaders in Procurement last week and I must commend Mark Perera, as the publication is relatively new but very well done and extremely high quality.

This issue featured an editorial about e-Sourcing software from Dennis de Jong, SVP of Global Procurement, ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam.

Mr. de Jong makes excellent points about how companies lose focus of the benefits of e-Sourcing tools beyond the occasional e-auction. The amazing thing is that the occasional e-auction still drives ROI high enough for many companies to justify the license expense of a software package but there is so much more behind the curtain that is untapped.

He mentions points that I repeat constantly such as: knowledge transfer, collaboration, speed/efficiency, and assistance with Sarbox compliance. He also brings up some interesting concepts of how these tools are meant to support and make purchasing teams more effective, not impinge on their value to the company.

Interestingly, this topic is very relevant to the Iasta e-Sourcing Benchmark survey that was conducted recently. Our report findings will be released very soon and match very consistently with Mr. de Jong’s ideas. Check back as I will soon be covering some of our conclusions on E-Sourcing Forum.

Entry Filed under: Functionality, General, Supply Management Best Practices, e-Sourcing Marketplace