Individual work with suppliers in the purchasing strategy

The future of purchasing departments and supplier management will depend on their ability to provide enterprises with measurable value. The ongoing industrial revolution is imposing improvement of efficiency, innovation, higher levels of customer service and better fulfilment of his specific needs. And, as a result,  it should improve competitiveness of the company.

In the opinion of managers, purchasing departments will need to focus on developing strategic cooperation with suppliers. One of the most effective activities in this area is individual work with suppliers. The Oxford Economics study shows that as much as 46 percent of purchasing managers intends to focus precisely on this element in their daily work. Developing closer relationship with selected suppliers can help with identification of their strengths and generate maximum value from the cooperation.

The IT system is a key element of the new strategy

Paradoxically, one of the most important steps in the implementation of individual, strategic cooperation with suppliers, is the implementation of an IT system in the purchasing department. In the same study, employees responsible for managing supplier relations indicated, that as much as 55 percent of their time was devoted to administrative tasks.

Shifting the burden to strategic tasks means the need to free up employees’ time. This is possible only through the implementation of technological solutions to improve the performance of everyday repetitive tasks. Modern IT systems allow for comprehensive automation of administrative tasks. They also reduce employee involvement in the area of analysis and reporting. The most advanced applications using artificial intelligence also allow the elimination of the human factor from simple decision-making processes.

To sum up – IT systems do not make employees redundant. On the contrary – thanks to IT solutions, they can focus on tasks that bring more value to the business. Such as, for example, individual work with suppliers, business negotiations or Supplier Relationship Management. Such a tool is the proprietary supply chain management system – ESSA.

ESSA [Eveneum Strategic Sourcing Application] is the solution creating integrated cooperation with suppliers, enabling identification and use of their innovation to increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs, as a result, increase the competitiveness of the offered products or services. ESSA is a complete environment for managing relationships with suppliers. Within its framework, purchasing, logistics, quality and design departments can create a co-operation strategy with suppliers in a coherent and transparent manner.

Do you want to learn more about the ESSA and its capabilities to improve productivity and efficiency in the purchasing department? Contact us.