E-Sourcing Forum » Before the Negotiation: eSourcing Suites and LCCS

Before the Negotiation: eSourcing Suites and LCCS

March 14th, 2006 at 05:45pm 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

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

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