Boosted by digital transformation and the rise of technology, the procurement department has undergone remarkable development over recent years. Its practices have been accelerated and have become more reliable, and its insertion into the company\u2019s strategy has strongly improved. However, the basics of the procurement process haven\u2019t changed. The requirement to respond with as much added value as possible to a purchasing request (through sourcing, then supplier referencing) is still the priority for procurement teams. Although the procurement process is now based more on digital resources and skills, these steps remain essential.<\/p>\n
Sourcing is the opening phase to identify the most appropriate response. In this first phase of the procurement process, the buyer follows three main steps.<\/p>\n
For goods and services that have not yet been listed, the first step in the purchasing process is to help the internal customer to specify their need. The quality of the response provided by the procurement department lies, first of all, in taking into account all the use parameters of the requested product.<\/p>\n
The specifications<\/strong> include, for example:<\/p>\n The discussion with the internal customer enables the buyer to qualify their needs precisely. In certain cases, it may also result in the definition of an alternative, more innovative approach compared to the initial request. The procurement team\u2019s know-how when listening to the request and identifying the challenges as a whole is essential here.<\/p>\n Based on the specifications and according to the data available, the second step in the procurement process is to put together a panel of partners that will be part of the supply chain. This panel brings together the stakeholders who should be able to deliver the product that meets the specifications.<\/p>\n For each of the suppliers included in the panel, qualification work<\/strong> is carried out according to the criteria of the business\u2019 procurement policy:<\/p>\n The procurement department then gets a tight panel of suppliers that serves as a basis for the consultation stage.<\/p>\n The procurement team invites each of the suppliers selected in the panel to take part in the consultation through a call for tender. The clauses of this third step in the procurement process are specified in a series of documents:<\/p>\n In parallel to the consultation\u2019s launch, the procurement team draws up a scoring chart bringing together all the useful criteria to distinguish between the competitors.<\/p>\n The consultation generally takes place in two phases:<\/p>\n Referencing is a concluding phase to situate the response from a sustainable operational perspective. This second part of the purchasing process also includes three stages.<\/p>\n This fourth step in the procurement process is based on an objective analysis of the value proposition<\/strong> from each of the finalists. At this stage, it\u2019s not so much about the technical capacity to respond to the request, which is demonstrated on admission to the panel, but instead the smooth running of the partnership is assessed within the companies. The price, quality and deadlines proposed are obviously significant factors in the decision.<\/p>\n The procurement team\u2019s intuition and professionalism play a very important role in considering relationships that may last several years. The selection process finally results in the choice of the most promising supplier for the company.<\/p>\n The purpose of the fifth stage in the procurement process is to convert the promises into commitments whose observance will be measured over time. The idea is to find a win-win consensus<\/strong> with the future partner supplier that will maximise the company\u2019s satisfaction without affecting the partner\u2019s capacity to fulfill its obligations over time.<\/p>\n This is a negotiation stage that the procurement team must prepare for as much as possible. The buyer must anticipate the strategic points on which to focus and, of course, hone their arguments. The presence or absence of history (if the supplier who came out first in the consultation is already listed or not) is a crucial point in this negotiation process.<\/p>\n The last stage in the purchasing process is capital in the sense that it makes the collaboration binding<\/strong> between the procurement department and the supplier for the long term through a contract.<\/p>\n This contract must address two aspects with as much precision as possible:<\/p>\n The buyer\u2019s role has considerably changed over recent decades, from an administrative function focused on products to a strategic position in charge of optimising costs, creating value, and managing risks.<\/p>\n Today, the procurement process is based on six key steps that help the development of a mutually beneficial customer-supplier relationship. This work lays the foundations for a sustainable supplier relationship, which must then be fostered in a continuous improvement approach.<\/p>\n The procurement function faces another challenge: supplier relationship management through the assessment and management of their partners\u2019 performance. New opportunities are then open to optimise the management of these purchases: implementation of a transaction digitalisation solution (centralising product search, order, invoice, payment), deployment of the framework agreement, streamlining the supplier portfolio, etc. All these procurement projects support companies\u2019 competitiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Boosted by digital transformation and the rise of technology, the procurement department has undergone remarkable development over recent years. Its practices have been accelerated and have become more reliable, and its insertion into the company\u2019s strategy...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":22734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[64],"tags":[131,49,110,133],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Identifying potential suppliers<\/h3>\n
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Launching the consultation also referred to as a call for tender<\/h3>\n
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Purchasing process: the three key stages of referencing<\/h2>\n
Choosing the best supplier<\/h3>\n
Negotiating the most beneficial conditions<\/h3>\n
Setting the conditions of the partnership<\/h3>\n
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