Welcome to Una's Pain Points in Procurement series. Each week, the Una team will explore one of ten common pain points impacting procurement today, and put forth actionable solutions to each of these challenges.
There’s a brilliant scene in the Disney film Zootopia where police bunny Judy Hopps is in a tearing hurry to “run a plate” in her quest to solve a crime. She rushes into the DMV only to find – to her horror – that the place is entirely staffed by sloths who will be unbearably slow in processing her request.
From a stakeholder’s perspective, procurement can seem sloth-like in the time it takes to complete what appears to be a simple purchase request. Slow time-to-source can lead to frustrated stakeholders, impacted business objectives, and can contribute to procurement’s reputation for inflexibility and bureaucratic behavior.
Some of the reasons procurement takes a long time include:
Speedier procurement processes can help organizations meet customer demands faster and reduce the time and resources required to complete procurement tasks, leading to cost savings. Moving faster can also improve customer satisfaction by improving delivery times, and boost agility by helping the organization respond fast to changing market conditions.
But how can we speed up time-to-source? The golden rule is to work smarter, not harder.
Some strategies include:
Review the procurement process to identify any inefficiencies or bottlenecks that are causing delays. Streamline the process by removing unnecessary steps, simplifying procedures, and setting clear timelines.
Read: How to Make Procurement More Efficient
Leveraging technology to automate certain aspects of the procurement process, such as supplier identification, request for proposal (RFP) creation, and bid evaluation. This can significantly reduce the time required to complete these tasks.
Explore: Tech Vendors & IT Spend Solutions
Maintain a centralized database of suppliers and their capabilities. This can help procurement quickly identify and qualify potential suppliers, reducing the time required to source new suppliers.
Discover: How to Use Centralized Purchasing to Obtain Volume Discounts
Identifying, assessing, qualifying, and onboarding a prospective vendor can draw out a procurement process. Simplifying these steps will drive leaner, faster procurement, not to mention make life easier for your suppliers. This can be achieved by establishing a universal set of guidelines as well as standardizing your supplier performance and monitoring processes.
Master: Supplier Experience Management
Work closely with stakeholders to understand their requirements and priorities. This can help procurement focus on sourcing the right products and services from the right suppliers, reducing the time spent on unnecessary meetings and searches. At the same time, educating stakeholders on how procurement operates can help speed up future conversations and transactions.
Read: How to Communicate the Value of Procurement to the C-Suite
If there are existing contracts with suppliers that meet the organization's needs, procurement can leverage these contracts to expedite the procurement process.
Explore: Una's Supplier and Contract Portfolio
Sourcing products and services locally won’t always be possible but it’s certainly worth looking into. Sourcing locally reduces transportation time, costs, supports the local economy, and promotes sustainability.
Understand: Why Local Sourcing Makes Sense After COVID-19
Another way to improve time-to-source is by engaging the help of a group purchasing organization, or GPO. Here at Una, we’re proud of our speed-to-savings approach. We connect our members to ready-to-go supplier contracts that align with your stakeholders’ goals in weeks, not months.
Contact Una to learn more about improving time-to-source in procurement to increase cost savings, meet consumer demand, and streamline your procurement processes.
