The keys to reaching success in the strategic sourcing process are to have the most up to date technology, resources, and to have access current relevant data.
For most companies, the cost of maintaining subscriptions and databases of critical data outweigh the benefits that can be obtained in a single sourcing initiative. Companies that engage Source One do not need to make heavy investments in this information, as Source One already has access to the data and information that will help your procurement project become a success.
Below are some examples of the technologies, systems, and subscriptions that help make our projects successful.
Historical Commodity Database
Source One has been providing strategic sourcing services for over 18 years. During this time, Source One's internal ERP system has collected critical data on thousands of suppliers, products, service levels and price points.
Source One uses this information in its strategic sourcing initiatives to quickly identify the supply base and price points for our clients and develops target savings opportunities.
Real Time Market Intelligence
Source One provides free online eSourcing solutions to hundreds of buyers throughout the world. It also has various private label electronic sourcing toolsets used by other Procurement Service Providers and industrial marketplaces. At any given time, Source One has access to dozens of live sourcing events including all specifications and bids.
Access to GPOs
Source One is partnered with several Group Purchasing Organizations, and in fact, does the strategic sourcing for several GPO categories. When conducting a Strategic Sourcing event, Source One will also evaluate GPO offerings for its clients to see if they make more sense than a customized agreement direct with a supplier.
Expert Specification System
After learning the culture of our client's organization and the team members involved, Source One sets out to ensure that a proper specification of the product or service is developed to assist in the sourcing event. In order to provide minimal disruption to our client's subject matter experts, Source One's team does the majority of the research necessary to build the specification.
Source One owns a proprietary database to assist in building specifications and subject matter expertise. This database contains a structured vocabulary of over 70,000 product and service terms including over 35,000 preferred industry terms, and 35,000 synonyms. The 70,000 terms are structured into multiple categories across all industries, and can be related to one another based on the product and service groupings it belongs to. Additionally, the database has 1.3 million attributes and values for classifying and identifying services down to a category level. The database also provides cross-mappings to the industry recognized UNSPSC, NAICS, and SIC classification systems.
Supplier Databases
In addition to having internal qualified supplier database lists, and the free services available on the web, Source One subscribes to multiple vendor identification pay services in specific categories and commodities. Using our internal databases, and subscription based services, Source One can build and qualify supplier lists that traditional discovery methods would not have identified.
Tariffs and Indexes
Source One takes the guess work out of contracting, and provides fact-based negotiations with suppliers. In order to accomplish this, our team is trained to gain access to the latest industry tariffs and regulations. Additionally, Source One subscribes to leading index publications to ensure that pricing for commodity services is consistent with industry recognized indexes, such as the metals, pulp and paper, and chemical marketplaces.
Benefits and Insurance Databases
Through our partners, Source One has access to a database of over 200 insurance and benefits brokers/advisors and administrators. The database allows us to search for SIC categories and provide specialized matching. Additionally, we have visibility into a premium volume of 5,000 domestic and international Property/Casualty, Group Benefit and Service providers.
Tools and Technologies:
Source One uses state of the art technologies and tools to accomplish its goals in strategic sourcing. Source One is experienced in using multiple technology platforms and welcomes to opportunity to use the systems that our client's specify. For companies that do not have their own technologies, Source One provides free procurement tools through its global sourcing platform, WhyAbe.com
