Etiket arşivi: e-sourcing tool

Are E-Auctions too Price focused?

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Unless you are one of those who when at the point of making a purchase, especially online would settle for the first and only option you are provided without seeking alternative brands and price offerings, then I don’t think this is a fair question to ask. Given the vast and endless opportunities provided by the internet, procurers will definitely seek out the best options available to them before settling to buy. Although there is more to online procurement than just pricing, negotiating so as to get the least price possible is definitely top priority for any smart procurer.

Online auctions take advantage of the internet to allow procurers arrive at the true market prices for goods and services being sought for. Most online auctions usually go the route of the “reverse auction” whereby  suppliers in a bid to win over customers tender bids that are lower than those of her competitors and this is the practice that seems to make e auctions appear too price focused. This Increased participation for a buyer’s business would naturally drive down the price. Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that the lowest price will automatically win the bid; modern day auction technology allows the procurer and supplier to consider factors other than pricing. Factors such as quality, brand, reliability, guarantees,  experience, delivery speed, Warranty, volume discount, technical specifications, delivery dates, shipment methods, legal conditions, customer support, financing options e.t.c. All these are additional specifications that buyers can build into their RFQs and present electronically via the internet to an endless list of suppliers.

e- Auction tools are beneficial to both sellers and buyers. In the long term sellers will benefit by seriously pruning down their sales force since most of their sales will be performed online, saving huge staff costs and other incidental costs associated with maintaining a workforce. Likewise in the short term, buyers can immediately experience reasonable savings from online procurement options.

Other Benefits of e-Auctions

The advantages are extraordinary. In spite of the fact that e-auction tools are different based on individual suppliers, e-autions normally permit purchasers to consult with a good number of suppliers and vice versa all at the same time rather than in a sequential order as in physical procurement. This tends to save the procurer and supplier a lot of time and resources. Purchasers taking an interest in the site’s offering possess the capacity to reduce negotiation periods from about two months to as little as two weeks, empowering e-procurement administrators to focus more attention on other projects and tasks rather than a staggering amount of paperwork

Similarly, there is no need any longer for e-procurement managers to spend hours and hours in one-on-one meetings with potential suppliers sometimes even travelling and arguing over contract terms and details.  Instead, a buyer is simply expected to fill an RFQ (of which several e-negotiation platforms already have templates available) that he submits online. Likewise, suppliers are also capable of replying such requests electronically by submitting online proposals that provides detailed information such as price discounts, delivery dates and shipment methods. E-Auction platforms that has e-negotiation features essentially creates a level playing field for all suppliers who are provided the opportunity to compete, as most times e-auction processes are transparent and the results are clearly visible for all to see

It’s now obvious that there are other reasons that drive the demand for e- auctions  other than significant cost-savings, hence it would not be fair to say that e-auctions are too price focused. Unlike online auctions whereby it is the person with the lowest bid that wins, e-auction activities that feature e-negotiation tools is a huge leap towards a much broader seller – buyer online collaborations. In fact there currently appears to be a shift in focus from price based bargains to quality and performance based bargains amongst procurement professionals, so the argument that e-auctions are too price focused no longer hold water.

There’s even more, e-Auction solutions also provide a fair competing ground for all suppliers to compete for business. Buyer’s can deliver RFQs electronically and can even adopt readymade templates with only a few adjustments and likewise suppliers can deliver their proposals to the buyer via the same medium saving both parties a lot of time and resources. These proposals can also be evaluated electronically based on buyer’s specification thereby easily eliminating unqualified applicants saving also time and making sure that only the exact specifications are considered for purchase.

There is no denying of the numerous impacts that e-Auction technology has had, and will continue to have, in this industry. Buyers and sellers are no longer relying on e-marketplaces to just simply play matchmaker. But with huge opportunities at significant cost and time savings, better quality, stronger collaborations, self-empowerment, more functionality, and improved supply chains, e-auctions will continue to be the way to go in the procurement industry both now and in the near future.

What Procurement Professionals want in 2017

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The New Year is here already, after the holiday season filled with lots of giving and sharing with employees, colleagues, friends and loved ones, it’s now time to implement new spending strategies to help you make the most of your 2017 budget. If your company is planning to up the ante on event spending next year, they need to be aware what procurement professionals are looking out for and be better prepared on how make the most out of its 2017 procurement teams.

It’s no longer news that procurement teams fuel the profitability and growth of some the world’s most successful companies, from aligning procurement’s deliverables with top business goals to understanding exactly what needs to change in procurement to drive financial results, there are several habits that organisations can establish to encourage effective procurement practices that result in value generation for the company as a whole.

Some of the Industry trends that procurement professionals tend to be leaning toward in the New Year include:

  1. The power of relationships

The ability to build strong relationships with suppliers, clients and stakeholders can contribute to success within service delivery, recruitment and the list goes on.

Too often we see organisations fail to manage their contracts and suppliers. An effective supplier management framework that appropriately aligns risk, effort and reward is a key enabler of ongoing sustainable value creation. The framework needs to include segmentation (i.e., strategic, operational and tactical), performance management framework(s) and a clear articulation of organisational accountability and responsibility. Procurement professionals should be looking to do more in this regard in order to provide a more personal and tailored approach towards procurement in 2017

  1. Online Platforms

A growing amount of procurement professionals are tapping into online platforms to help build these global relationships. Procurement professionals can leverage what’s happening in retail-related user experience to build commercial business cases to invest internally in great systems.  Systems that will improve productivity and allow organisations to capture data and move from spend analysis to predictive procurement. Platforms that are cost effective and allows for easier data capture at point of purchase for procurement professionals. These niche platforms offer similar functions to a social network but also much more

So what are these online platforms? They aren’t just the usual culprits of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Now there’s a new wave of social media which is tailored to professionals in specific industries – the niche online business network. As for the procurement industry, some of these platforms include; Procurious, Salesforce, Amazon, SAP e.t.c. Procurement professionals should seek to delve deeper into these platforms to see how best they can further build upon existing successes recorded.

  1. Global networking

It’s no secret the logistics, procurement and supply chain profession is global in nature and these niche networks allow procurers, buyers and suppliers to network with people from all corners of the globe.  The online space is no doubt a key channel for establishing business relationships with professionals from some of the world’s largest economies. With functions such as networking capabilities, industry specific news and discussion forums, these platforms create focused global communities. They provide opportunities for members to converse, network and share knowledge with like-minded peers across the globe.

  1. Tailored learning

Niche online networks are also hubs of knowledge which can be useful when fostering relationships with several stakeholders. For example, if procurement professionals want to do business in new locations or with a new supplier, they’ll need to understand their background, the market they play in and local industry issues. Sites and platforms should foster discussions groups which can help one learn about another culture or industry’s way of doing business before entering the market.

 

The value that the an efficient and effective procurement department brings to an organisation are huge not just in cost savings but also in terms of long term profitability of the business and also in promoting  sustainability business practises and majority of businesses are beginning to establish and encourage habits that can drive these benefits. While the outcome of alignment and transformation projects are different for every organisation, the end result creates a clear path for procurement to drive financial results, earn more internal budget and resources, and demonstrate to key stakeholders the immense value and critical nature of their program. Procurement professionals are constantly challenged to provide the latest innovations that are truly integrated, mobile and social-enabled in order to deliver productivity gains and raise employee engagement and compliance while leading to better supplier management and auditing.

HOW TO IMPROVE COMPETITION WITH FEW SUPPLIERS

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The use of on-line auctions (e-auction) has increased rapidly in the last few years. Since they came onto the purchasing scene in the late 1990’s through the development of internet-based applications but just like with every other breakthrough events and technologies, e-auctions too come with its attendant risks and it is important that buyers and suppliers understand what these risks are so as to mitigate against its effects. Some of these risks are;

  • Bids not having enough qualified and competent suppliers;
  • suppliers not being able to demonstrate the overall value of their product or service and
  • Oversimplification of requirements to ‘fit the system’.

Without effective change management expectations may never be reached and inexperienced suppliers may bid below a sustainable price which makes the entire process unattractive to qualified and competent bidders. If a supplier suffers from a bad e-auction experience, then it is likely they may be reluctant to enter into the process again. Try to make sure that before rolling out an e-auction programme, the process is as fair and transparent as possible and has been approved by a pilot group including suppliers and that feedback from the pilot process is enacted on.

Some of the reasons why suppliers may be reluctant to participate in an e-auction bidding include;

  1. Unsuitable commodity/service – this might be an item where there is no competition in the market place, or that is too complicated to specify or largely cannot be specified
  2. Lack of competitive supply base – if a product or service does not have at least three suitable suppliers, then the e-auction process is not generally suitable
  3. Poor training of buyer/supplier – getting things right first time is imperative to build trust amongst suppliers in your company’s e-auction process
  4. E-Auction timing – If you are inviting suppliers to participate from a different country and time zone, take care that if the timing chosen to run the auction is convenient to those suppliers.

So what if you are running a bidding process and there are not enough suppliers to make the process as competitive as you would want, what do you do?

Highlighted below are some of the strategies you can adopt to find your way around that problem

1.Supplier implementation

Firstly the best good advice I can give to you is that it is important to get supplier input during the pre-bid (for example through participation in building the RFx) to ensure that they feel a part of the process. One key advantage of this is that this dampens emphasis on pricing and buyers and suppliers can focus on understanding and meeting technical elements of the bid, i.e. meeting the customer’s real needs and this can help to produce the desired results even when participation is not very robust.2.

2.Getting supplier buy-in

There is more supplier acceptance of online auctions than there once was, but still you need to tread carefully to get their buy-in. Visit suppliers or invite them to briefings to explain carefully the principles not just of auctions, but more broadly of online sourcing. They will have concerns, but they will have useful input too: they know their businesses better than you do, and what they tell you will help you optimise your strategies for online bidding events. As a result of hard talking up front, online sourcing will help you to create precise and detailed RFQs that will improve communication and reduce business risks further down the road.

3. Driving Best Practise

In order to improve on the numbers and achieve a more competitive bidding process, a procurer needs to put some people, process, performance measurement and knowledge capabilities in place. The first requirement is a clear understanding of the supply base and the criticality of each supplier to the business. Typically an organisation can segment between strategic partners, value-added suppliers and commodity product suppliers. One will also need to build up market intelligence in order to gain a clear understanding of the dynamics of the market sectors and to define sector strategies – for example properly crafted online RFQs and RFPs can help expedite the communication between buyer and suppliers and can help drive a standardised sourcing process across the organisation.

4.Training

Lastly the importance training and retraining of suppliers as to the workings of your online procurement process cannot be overemphasized. Many buying organisations underestimate the amount of time it takes to educate suppliers in online auction tools. Suppliers with less tech-savvy sales teams may need some extra handholding through their first events, and here the assistance of the auction technology provider can be invaluable. Bidders need feel more comfortable about participating in the process especially when there is a limited number of them.

E- İhale ,Elektronik İhale Nedir?

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Artık günümüzün en popüler kullanım ağı internet. Bütün işlerimizi gördüğümüz  ve bütün ihtiyaçlarını karşılayan en büyük mecra diyebiliriz. Sadece çok büyük uluslararası şirketler değil aynı zamanda orta seviyede hatta yeni kurulumunu tamamlamış şirketler bile artık görüşmelerini internet üzerinden güvenceli şekilde gerçekleştiriyor.

Şirketler hakkında bunlardan bahsettikten sonra E-ihale sisteminden de bahsetmek lazım.

E-ihale yine yukarıda belirttiğimiz gibi şirketlerin zamandan kazanmak ve satın alma işlerini hızlı şekilde birçok tedarikçiye ulaştırmak amacı ile oluşturulan bir platformdur. En büyüğünden en küçüğüne kadar tüm şirketler bu elektronik ihaleye katılabilir ve fiyat teklifinde bulunabilir. Satın alma yapan firmalar kazancını kaybını çok iyi hesaplayabilir.E-ihale platformunun en büyük yararı ise zamandan büyük kazanç sağlamasıdır. Zamandan kazanç bir şirket için çok büyük avantaj anlamına gelmektedir. Aynı zamanda ulaşabileceğinizden fazla şirkete satın alma işleminde ulaşabilirsiniz. Çünkü bütün tedarikçi firmalar sizin elektronik ihalenize bir bilgisayar ile ulaşabilecektir.

Günümüzde e-ihale yöntemini kullanarak işlerini geliştiren bir şirkete örnek verecek olursak, şirket bu yöntemin bütün tedarikçilere adil bir rekabet ortamı sağlandığını da açıklıyor. E-ihale yöntemi  sadece birkaç saat bazen de 10 dk gibi kısa sürede gerçekleştirebiliyorlar. Bu yüzden teknolojinin avantajlarını çok iyi kullanmayı başarabiliyor. E-ihale yöntemi ile tedarikçilerinize adil bir satınalma ortamı oluşturabilirsiniz.

Elektronik ihale platformunda rakipler birbirlerinin fiyatlarını ya da sıralamalarını görebildikleri için kendi fiyatlandırmalarını da düzeltip değiştirme imkanı bulabiliyorlar. Bu sayede Tedarik Zinciri’ni oluşturulmasını isteyen firma için büyük mali kazanç meydana geliyor. Bütün firmaların satın alma fiyatını görmek ve bunu bir platformda düşünerek süzgeçten geçirmek önemlidir. E-ihale yönteminde tedarikçi  firmalar ihaleye verdiği teklifi görebiliyor. Her şey büyük bir şeffaflık içerisinde gerçekleşiyor.

Yurtdışıda oldukça yaygın olarak kullanılan elektronik ihale Türkiye’de henüz istenilen seviyeye gelmedi gibi görünüyor. Tüm şirketler kendi büyümelerinin daha hızlı olmasını istiyorsa elektronik ihale yöntemine uyumunu da hızla oluşturmalıdır. Bu sayede gelişim ve kazanç sağlanabilir. Avrupa’da ve Amerika da  şirketlerin  yoğun olarak kullandığı bir sistem e-ihale yöntemi.

E-ihale yöntemi ilk olarak 2002 yılında başladı. 2006 yılında ise büyük ölçüde gelişimini tamamladı. 2008 yılındaki büyük krizden sonra ise artık tamamen yaygınlaştı ve şirketler tarafından kullanılmaya başlandı. Çünkü dediğimiz gibi amaç büyümeyi ve maddi kazanç devinimini hızlandırmaktı.  Dünya’da ve Türkiye’de profesyonelleşmiş şirketler e-ihale sistemini kullanmaya başladılar.  Bu şirketler tedarikçi firmalar için e-ihale hizmeti sunuyor ve ortamı oluşturuyor. Bu konuda danışmanlık almak, profesyonel  kişilerden eğitim almak da öneli bir konu haline geliyor.

Bu platformda ihalenizi açmanız için e-ihale hizmeti alacağınız şirkete bilgileri vermeniz yeterli oluyor. Artık ihale gününü bekleyip ihale sonucu size ulaştırılıyor. Sonrasında ise gerekli adımlar izlenerek ihale sizin için kazançlı olarak sonuçlanıyor.

E-ihale yaratmak istediğiniz zaman ilk olarak şartnameleri ve e-ihaleye katılmasını istediğimiz tedarikçilerin listesini e-ihale hizmetini aldığınız şirkete bildiriyorsunuz. Tedarikçiler belli bir tarihe kadar şartnameleri inceliyor ve e-ihale için tekliflerini hazırlamaya başlıyorlar. Daha sonra belirlenen tarih, ve saatte e-ihale başlıyor. Yeni bir teklif revizyonu gelmemesi durumunda ihale sonuçlanıyor. Şirket tarafından ihale size raporlanıyor.

eSourcing and eProcurement Software, Don’t just buy it, Use it!

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We all have different criteria for what we think deserves our money. If your goal is to save any money at all, however, one rule can always help: if it’s going to end up in a junk drawer or cupboard, just don’t buy it. Most organisational change programmes fail to achieve all of their objectives. There’s no single reason for this – lack of leadership, poor planning and unreasonable timescales can all contribute. But often the failure comes down to taping into the inability to engage the workforce or senior team (or both) with the change. And this often boils down to poor communication.

For eSourcing devotees, the benefits of using eSourcing are well known. eSourcing has a long and proven history of providing improvements in savings, efficiency, cycle times, transparency and compliance. However, there are still parts of your business that haven’t “seen the light” such as exposure to the benefits of eSourcing tools and techniques. Resistance to e-Sourcing can be reduced by clearly communicating the shift to a collaborative sourcing technique with a focus on process transparency and quality, knowledge sharing, interaction with stakeholders and to ensure that they follow strict rules and stick to commitments.

Given the technological advances and results reported by the eSourcing pioneers, it is somewhat surprising that these tools are still not pervasive throughout Fortune 1000 companies. Research by A.T. Kearney shows that while more than 75% of companies report that their procurement organisations have used these tools at least once, only a small fraction report using them in any significant way (Defined as more than 200 RFXs or reverse auctions per year). Fewer than 5% of companies report having reengineered their sourcing process to fully embed and leverage these tools. The story is no brighter on the sales side where only a few companies may have introduced these tools with great fanfare; they neither changed their business nor trained their staff to use them effectively. Highlighted below are some of the best practises that can enable an organisation deploy and successfully integrate an efficient eSourcing system.

Best Practises

  • Establish a centre of excellence:

Ensure to set up a centre of excellence from which you deploy eSourcing tools, starting small with highly visible pilots and very quickly training power users (rather than relying on external partners) to support other users. This helps you to invest significant time and funds towards training activities. Companies also need to design and implement a comprehensive change management strategy for how to deploy the tools more broadly while encouraging adoption.

  • Build a Meaningful governance Model:

Governance is vital to supporting and guiding a new programme, engaging stakeholders and defining the “rules of engagement” can be used to change the conversation from one of “prove to me why we should use these tools” to “prove to me why we should not”

  • Design and Deploy Metrics:

Measurement is very essential. Defining targets of the programme and tracking progress against those targets ensures that these targets are translated into individual annual performance for stakeholders and sourcing team members. These metrics should go beyond tracking savings to also include the number and types of events completed, the number of suppliers and stakeholders engaged , supplier compression achieved: among others.

  • Adhere to Highest Ethical Standards:

Learn to focus on the design, deployment and maintenance of these programmes, never giving suppliers or stakeholders any reason to question the integrity of the process or how the tools are deployed. Although mistakes can happen, there should never be any appearance of unethical practises. One of the advantages of eSourcing tools is the audit trail they provide, take advantage of it!

Pitfalls

As with all change efforts, one does not often achieve success without first encountering a few failures along the way. Understanding where the potential pitfalls are and how best to navigate them can help de-risk a new programme.

  1. Say No to pay-per-use:

Charging stakeholders for the cost of the technology or the sourcing staff’s time to support the technology is a bad idea. For the most part, stakeholders view these eSourcing tools as a risky proposition to start with, so charging them a hefty fee to use them can stop the programme before it gets off the ground.

  1. Don’t wait for people to opt in:

This is a recipe for disaster. Success depends on programme metrics tied to individual performance metrics that clearly communicate expectations.

  1. Forget the Flavour of the Day:

Merely rolling out the tools and some directives on how to use them will make the programme just the latest flavour of the day. Investments should be a long term, holistic change management programme in order to encourage use and adoption of eSourcing tools.

  1. Resist supplier Push backs:

Change is difficult for most people so do not be surprised if suppliers push back and try to circumvent, postpone or eliminate the process. Companies that stood Firm in their commitment to the process and tools and invested resources to communicate this stance to their suppliers were able to get past this hurdle. More suppliers have realized that access to these eSourcing tools provide them with access to critical information needed to compete for existing and new business.

In Conclusion

The past 20 or so years have been an exciting time for procurement leaders. Companies that Invested    in eSourcing tools to automate transactional activities and negotiations in order to reduce sourcing cycle times are well positioned to take their organisations to the next level. For those that have not, and are now in the catch up mode, consistency and perseverance seems to be a big problem as regards deployment and successful integration of these tools into business procurement operations. Procurement leaders have done a great job charting a roadmap to success, identifying best practises to emulate and pointing out the pitfalls to avoid, so you don’t have any excuse why not to take full advantage. Why not get on board and see how e-sourcing tools could change the outlook of how you do business, but remember; it’s not enough to deploy it, you must see it through till the end. Don’t just buy it, ensure you use it.