Comments on: eSourcing 2.0: Making the Case

By: Andrew Bartolini

Andrew Bartolini — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:42:21 +0000

Jim –

I don’t think the issue you are facing is cultural, per se. eSourcing has been a primary mechanism for negotiations with between western based buyers and Asian based suppliers for most of last decade.

I personally have worked with a variety of companies as they began their LCCS initiatives. Retail for private label; consumer appliances for a wide range of categories and a wide range of components; manufacturers for chemicals and raw materials. I could go on, but if you email me, I can hop on a quick call to share more (non-proprietary) detail, maybe Friday (7th) or Monday (10th). Thanks!

By: Gregg Brandyberry

Gregg Brandyberry — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:16:20 +0000

Andrew, great blog. As a long term proponent of electronic sourcing I’m excited about the idea of eSourcing 2.0. eSourcing has been embraced by countries all over the world, various cultures, forms of government etc. Just proves that smart buyers and smart sellers love to compete. I believe we are on the verge of a “smart buying revolution” where easy to use technology will be used by consumers to promote fair, ethical and transparent competition when they buy “big ticket items” both goods and services. I hope to play a central role in this revolution.

By: Jim T

Jim T — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:02:08 +0000

Andrew —

I am looking for case studies on 2nd tier opportunities particularly in Asia.

As a company we work with a large number of factories in Asia and I am looking to provide sourcing on Components and Raw Materials through an online Sourcing Process but currently I am getting a lot of push back mainly due to the culture I think.

What if any events have you been involved in that might fit these criteria that you would be willing to share?

By: Andrew Bartolini

Andrew Bartolini — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:12:56 +0000

Scott, Rajiv, Bernd, and Ken –

Thank you for the great comments and insights!

I’ll respond more fully in tomorrow’s article that will look at the internal mechanics of rolling out or selling a new policy (eSourcing 2.0).

By: Ken Syme

Ken Syme — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:31:32 +0000

eSourcing 2.0 and your comments on the myths are right on! Early in our journey to adopt eSourcing tools, we reinforced a strong policy statement by establishing “spend through the tool targets” for each category team. Once the teams realized the benefits and usage of became inherent in the business process, we were able to eliminate the target setting.

By: Bernd Huber

Bernd Huber — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:05:48 +0000

Agree that eSourcing 2.0 should be an enterprise-level system of record that captures the key elements of the discussion with suppliers that result in the final (or agreed upon) business requirements and associated terms. I found this also relatively easy to communicate to sourcing specialists and internal stakeholders when it comes to eAuctions as there is a clear value from online competitive bidding. However, when it comes to small eRFP projects, it is much harder to capture interest, as the additional set up time in the eSourcing system (e.g. supplier registration, online questionnaire design) can be an impediment outweighting the benefits of a central repository.

By: Rajiv

Rajiv — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:01:26 +0000

Agree completely, Andrew. In my experience some of the biggest argument against esourcing is often –
1. Strategic supplier relationships and we need to treat them well and making them participate in an auction is signalling we treat them as everybody else – Well it is difficult to understand if one had great relationships with suppliers why they couldn’t be persuaded to use the esourcing platform
2. Subject goods / services could not be sourced through an electronic bidding – The biggest advantage of esourcing is that it forces the users and buyers to bring a high degree of certainity / clarity in requirements, criterias to evaluate proposals and terms of service, all of which take away a lot of pain from the downstream contracting process as well as help bring a stronger alignment to overall category management guidelines.

I can go on and on…

what does pain me to some extent is the low usage of these best practices and tools even though this space has been so very heavily invested in by providers and solutions have matured over last decade or so…

well said..keep it up.

By: Scott Meiser

Scott Meiser — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:59:42 +0000

Brilliant! When will we learn to use the technology to our advantage and stop being afraid.