Jabil’s director of global procurement and supply chain managemer, Vadym Shakhno explains that with guidance from a procurement services partner, buyers can transform their procurement function from a cost center to a true strategic asset.
Companies are under growing pressure to leverage technology, streamline processes and find efficiencies in their procurement and supply chain organization in the name of cost reductions. At the same time, they’re faced with new disruptions on a near-daily basis. Internal supply chain and procurement teams know they need to fuse industry best practices with creative solutions, but may lack the internal capacity to implement change.
Collaborating with a trusted outsourcing partner to manage any aspect of procurement, from sourcing and supplier selection to end-to-end spend management can give buyers the best of both worlds—access to best-in-class procurement expertise while maintaining focus on core competencies. Outsourced services can scale with customers, adapting as they grow without adding overhead.
Cost leadership is a primary goal of most outsourced procurement partnerships. Procurement partners likely have established, executive-level relationships with key suppliers across an array of commodities. These connections can give buyers access to better pricing, assurance of supply and better customer service. If a necessary part goes into allocation because of a sudden shortage, buyers will be in a much better position than their competitors thanks to the partner’s well-planned supplier relationship management (SRM) program.
In addition to the supplier relationships, procurement service providers also have knowledge of the global supply chain at a scale that isn’t easily matched by organizations that just have in-house teams. Look for a partner with supplier relationship managers (SRMs) and global commodity managers (GCMs) with deep expertise in areas such as semiconductors, passives, PCBs, connectors and other raw materials. Experts who work with suppliers across industries every day on prices and lead times can apply their proven processes and best practices to buyers’ sourcing needs—essentially functioning as an extension of their own team.
Effectively gathering and managing this supplier and commodity data requires the right tech stack. The ideal procurement partner can help buyers plug into cutting-edge technologies and platforms that integrate data across the global supply chain to increase visibility, automation and analytics.
In today’s business environment, companies must think proactively about their procurement and supply chain functions to effectively mitigate risk and reduce costs simultaneously. Close collaboration with a procurement partner on SRM, sourcing and spend management can enable new levels of visibility to future challenges that may threaten the status quo. By combining these key processes, a partner can help build answers to problems that are highly likely to occur and lay the groundwork for strategic planning ahead of disruptions—ultimately saving businesses time and money.