What Is E-Sourcing?
E-sourcing software is essentially a secure, web-based tool created by procurement professionals and entrepreneurs alike to assist procurement businesses around the globe. E-sourcing software helps procurement firms reduce costs, centralize information, ensure consistency and provide instantaneous feedback. An industry currently worth almost $6 billion and projected to increase to nearly $8 billion by 2024, e-sourcing software is fast becoming the face of the future of procurement services.
How To Get The Most From Your E-Sourcing Software
-
Understanding Your Software
A good starting point is to understand the current e-sourcing software you have in place. If it is not functional within your current system, you may want to consider replacing it with something more suitable.
As part of your analysis of your e-sourcing software, you will want to analyse the internal data situation and figure out what data streams you have, and the quality of that data. You can then use the data from your e-sourcing software to predict trends and take action accordingly. By relying on algorithms which can fast locate the most influential factors of a supply network’s success, your e-sourcing software can maximize your business output.
Find the ways in which you can use your e-sourcing software to minimize and cut out trivial decision-making which only takes up the valuable time of you and your team needlessly. For example, one entrepreneur conceived his software while listening to a client complaining about the amount of time his staff members were spending on trivial purchasing decisions. He in turn created a mechanism to streamline 20 percent of a company’s purchases, the equivalent of 80 percent of vendor interactions.
If it helps, you can map out clearly and unequivocally the benefits you expect to receive from your e-sourcing software, which will allow you to report back when they have been achieved.
-
Enhancing Communication
Utilizing your e-sourcing software to enhance your communication processes is key to ensuring the technology is correctly embraced. Use your software to internally and externally collaborate with all colleagues, users, suppliers and stakeholders.
If done correctly, your company will be adhering to a strict purchasing policy so your team will no longer be spending time negotiating terms or trying to enforce compliance. Again, this will free up your team’s time to focus more on generating revenue and securing new leads.
Typically, there can be some back-and-forth during a standard procurement process, with hours, days and even weeks spent on briefings and negotiations alone. Your software can cut this time expenditure dramatically through allowing purchasers and suppliers to access standard templates and collaborate via a central system which is accessible to all stakeholders.
-
Transparency
It is likely your e-sourcing software provides you with real-time feedback via analytical tools. This ensures that vendors can receive a big-picture overview of what their suppliers have to offer, providing crucial intelligence.
These features allow you to learn what products and services are in demand and allow the companies to make accurate predictions based on this data.
-
Stay On Track
One of the most crucial ways you should be getting the most out of your e-sourcing software is by using the software to allow you stay on track and meet deadlines. As most procurers will understand, you will be under constant pressure to reach key milestones while following strict compliance rules and minimizing expenditures. Using your e-sourcing software to come up with a consistent process may become integral to the success of your business.
Furthermore, in order to keep on top of your software you must not underestimate the value of providing ongoing training and education. This is the most effective way for users to genuinely appreciate the benefits of your software.
-
Embrace the change
Lastly, the business world is rapidly changing, and the rise in e-sourcing software is part and parcel of this change in the marketplace. Rather than becoming bogged down by this changing environment, learn to use the changes to your advantage.
To put it simply: let the automation do the work for you. E-sourcing software is famous for the removal of manual, paper-based processing as well as the removal or overheads from the supplier negotiation process. This in turn saves key costs. By utilizing your e-sourcing software with this in mind, your team will also have more time to spend on revenue-generating sales as opposed to manually entering customer data into a system, allowing you to make informed decisions.
How To Get The Most With ProcurePort’s E-Sourcing Software
ProcurePort’s unique range of strategic sourcing software and services are used all over the world by leading-edge firms, enabling significant cost savings, enhanced collaboration, transparency and improved supplier quality. To learn more about our range of e-sourcing tools and procurement services, register for a Free Demo or contact our solution specialists today for a consultation