Strategic sourcing is the planned, tactical approach utilized in the supply chain management process. Though the term might mean different things to different people, it is essentially the researched, comprehensive, and measured approach to procurement. When you are looking to purchase goods or services for your company’s operations, you are looking for the lowest cost, the highest quality, and the most streamlined way to go about procuring them.

Using best practices and formalizing the way information is gathered, analyzed, and used to continuously improve and reevaluate your organization’s purchasing activities through strategic sourcing will allow you to increase efficiencies and reduce spend.

In today’s marketplace, it is vital that your company seeks the best possible value in the marketplace by leveraging its purchasing power in order to stay competitive. Now more than ever, efficiency is vital in all of your organization’s departments, but especially in supply chain management.

If your organization is struggling with strategic sourcing, it’s time to reevaluate your sourcing strategy and find solutions that will enable you to procure the best goods and services for your dollar, in the most efficient way.

Here are three excellent solutions you may want to consider.

Outsourcing

Many leading organizations have been moving away from the traditional source-to-pay procurement model and trending towards flexible, adaptable, on-demand procurement outsourcing models instead. Handing over the responsibility of sourcing to a third-party company is a strategy you may want to consider.

The service provider will segment and manage your suppliers through their lifecycle and track vendor performance and risk in order to make informed sourcing decisions, which will enable your organization to achieve its business goals. You will gain access to a team of sourcing and procurement experts with extensive knowledge of industry best practices and real-time market insight who will provide you with a scalable strategic sourcing solution. You will enjoy a higher ROI in terms of costs and overall savings.

Invest in Procurement Advisory Services

If you do not want to give up control of your procurement process, consider investing in procurement advisory services instead.

Sourcing consultants can identify sourcing opportunities and capitalize on economies of scale. To do so, they will identify the size of your spend to determine which categories you most need assistance with. They will then analyze your current processes and evaluate spend by category to reveal potential savings and efficiencies. They will have the tools, technology, and resources needed to gain market intelligence that will help you stay ahead of your competitors. When you invest in procurement advisory services, you will have experts on hand to help you create custom procurement solutions that are built upon your unique business needs. The results: tangible and significant cost savings.

Integrate a Vendor Management Program

A vendor management program can provide you with the insights and visibility you need into your suppliers in order to make more strategic sourcing decisions. You will increase efficiencies by automating the process, as you will have access to a centralized repository for all of your vendor data. You will be able to easily view and analyze insurance certificates, risk assessments, security policies, pricing policies, financials, and contracts, among a wealth of other valuable information. You can use this data in a meaningful way to cut spend during the sourcing process. Additionally, using vendor management software will allow you to streamline operations, reduce the risk of costly errors, eliminate duplication, and reduce administrative and labor costs.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve, reduce spend, and increase efficiencies, your organization must focus on strengthening its strategic sourcing. If you’re struggling with this issue, consider investing in one or more of the three solutions mentioned above.