A lot of companies seem to think that e-sourcing isn’t a good fit for
them, but in all our experience we have not found a simple company or
industry that could not benefit from adopting an e-sourcing approach.
Below we’ve compiled a list of common e-sourcing myths or misconceptions
about e-sourcing, and explained why they just don’t hold any water.
E-sourcing doesn’t allow you to interact with potential suppliers
In fact it facilitates interaction with potential suppliers, making
it much easier and more efficient. When using an e-sourcing system, you
still talk to your suppliers to engage them in the process and get them
hungry to participate. The tool simply replaces your manual method of
obtaining, collating and analysing the bids and proposals so that you
get faster and more meaningful results.
Suppliers don’t like it
Ok, maybe some suppliers don’t like it, and maybe your current
suppliers won’t much like it. That’s because adoping e-sourcing allows
you to dramatically open up the field to new and competing suppliers.
The truth is that the suppliers that will complain are, by and large,
suppliers that are overcharging you and are afraid that you will find
out!
E-sourcing doesn’t work when you want to source services
This is just false, and in fact the opposite is true. Some of the
best savings results are to be had in services – for example in legal or
accounting services tenders we regularly see savings upwards of 20%.
In the same way you can procure services via a manual process you can
re-create the RFQ on the platform — and invite more suppliers to bid and
even follow up with an e-auction to get maximum savings.
E-sourcing doesn’t work for complex products and services
Not only does it work, it makes the process less prone to error. In
the same way you can procure complex products and service via a manual
process you can re-create the same thing via the platform. It is
flexible and enables you to expertly articulate your requirements so
that suppliers can submit a full proposal. It also allows for easier
analysis of bids, to make sure that they do indeed fit your
specifications.
E-sourcing drives down quality along with the price
This could be said of any process. Bids are made against a set of
standards that you set ensuring that you pay a fair price for the
quality and service you desire and on the terms that you agree. And, as
always, the results will only be as good as your RFQ.
It’s too complicated to be worth doing
Actually, this is often times correct. Buying a system to use
yourself can be a huge exercise, one that you might not have the time or
resources for, additionally you may not want to risk a fixed overhead
for something untested. Plus you have to train your staff, keep the
training up to date with the updates in the tool and as your staff turns
over. And, like with all systems, ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’,
and buyers can be put off using a system that they are not confident
in. In the end, for a lot of companies and organisations, it really
does end up being to complicated to be worth it.
… But that’s where we can help. At Enabling Procurement we have
expertise in how to create and run a successful event and have a tool up
and running and ready to go. With our e-sourcing as a service
offering, you pay a fixed price per tender, and are not stuck paying
huge license fees for a software tool and investing your staff’s
precious time in onboarding. Your buyers are free to focus on their
strategic sourcing plans and engage with your suppliers.
