Purchasing Experts

There are purchasing experts available in the global marketplace for every conceivable requirement

. Most international procurement consultancies offer services in designing and determining your strategy, setting out purchasing plans and identifying opportunities for cost reduction. There are specialists in e-sourcing, risk management, compliance, transactional procurement, and in every commodity or category that you wish to name from medical, aerospace to textiles and food.

Cost reduction

Cost saving is the #1 area of expertise where claims of potential and measurable savings of up to 20% are offered. Teams of specialists identify those areas where the greatest opportunities exist by providing visibility and analyzing third party spend. They look to leverage volume in both direct and indirect materials and in services by various means from a change in sourcing strategy to re-negotiation of existing contracts. Using commodity expertise and in-depth market knowledge, these service providers can reduce the true total cost of ownership (TCO) in any given area. There are experts in sourcing high value goods and services such as natural gas and fuels and innovators that can trim the costs of an item through a better design.

Becoming more efficient

There are many other ways to introduce efficiencies in the purchasing process. Professional expertise can assist with broadening the supplier base and breaking into new markets. Benchmarking services can highlight areas of improvement and provide information that will increase competitiveness. A service that is most often used is to mapping existing processes, perform a gap analysis and introduce procurement best practices. This is achieved through implementing new technologies such as e-procurement and supplier relationship management (SRM) which help to provide a more effective procurement service to the business.

Compliance, risk and controls

Experts in this area abound. The growing incidence of corruption and fraud, especially in emerging markets, has opened up opportunities for consultants and purchasing specialists and advisers. In addition, tighter internal rules for reporting exceptions and incidences of maverick spend and some new compliance requirements to laws and regulations mean that organizations need help and advice to fulfill their obligations.

Hot topics: sustainability, green issues and waste

Evidence of embracing green procurement is becoming more important. External assistance will be needed to provide guidance on developing a sustainable purchasing policy and suppliers will be required to conform to buyers guidelines and report on their carbon footprint. Recycling of waste is key to many companies especially in medical supplies and packaging/bottling companies. Many organizations are struggling with environmental regulations and a poor record of managing these issues can impact on sales. Purchasing experts have a role to play in this unchartered territory.

by: Johan Van Hamme

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