Smarter sourcing

These days, men and women shop to look at scads of clothes or cellular gadgets that often don’t look so new. Yet, there are also impulse buyers who go for trends to be in synch with the latest fashion, sometimes, with reckless abandon as to their pockets. At the end of the buying spree, however, consumers aim to feel good about items purchased, and perhaps attain some "internal gratification." Some are gratified if an item purchased was marketed on limited basis, others opt for cheaper alternatives vis-à-vis the well-known brand types, and there are those who want to extend their peso’s worth by embarking on a "value-for-money" approach. The way satisfaction is measured varies, depending on the consumers’ overall buying objectives.

Within the e-Commerce terrain, "trendy" need not be costly. Most, if not all providers, have scaled down business approaches that enabled them to reach out to consumers. In fact, the age of information techno-logy now provides various platform choices that fit well with existing business practices, and those that are within appropriated capex. Early adop-tion of a decision to streamline costs is fast becoming a norm among organizations, yet there are enterprises that need not go through extensive planning and be more able to shop for opportunities in a "smarter" way.

These days, decisions need to be made fast, or else planned investments might be eroded in real terms due to escalating prices. For example, those that may have already ventured into an internal enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform might have missed on calculating the present value for the entire project, by not factoring in both tangible and intangible costs associated with technological upgrades. New versions are to be expected as improved features arise, which should be offset by higher anticipated cash flows over time. Yet those that might feel caught in a "spending trap" need not lose hope. There are routes that can allow you to shorten payback on investments, without extra spending.

If there’s one thing I wouldn’t miss out on my e-Commerce selection spree, it’ll be joining eMarketplaces. Within Source-Pilipinas, for example, trading partners need not allocate additional tech-related budgets, and functionalities are readily available that suit an enter-prise’s overall decision-making process. eMarketplaces also allow companies to extend their network resources, and keep them in the loop at all times, toward advancement. Linkages are also optimized where demand aggregation is feasible, as eMarketplaces are able to move the purchasing process three to five steps forward. This would include aspects related to negotiation planning, proper contract formulation strategy, appropriate benchmarking of the supplier evaluation process and international sourcing trends, among other things. Also, specialists are readily developed by enabling eMar-ketplace users to identify key market structures in coming up with price analysis and cost analysis approaches, specifi-cally on break-even and reverse price analysis. As a result, methods and proce-dures are attuned to both industry and macro-related developments at all times, aside from obtaining another check-and-balance scheme to spot possible loopholes in an enterprise’s prevailing opera-tions flow.

So, before embarking on a massive plan in establishing an internal system or moving on to sequel steps, in case you’re looking at upgrading your systems, there’s nothing to lose trying out features available in eMarketplaces.

Remember, smarter sourcing need not be expensive.

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Maritel E. Mallo is a senior business development associate of SourcePilipinas.com and specializes on banking/finance, multinationals, non-alcoholic beverages, refined petroleum and fuel, automotive, logistics, inorganic chemicals and pharmaceuticals. For comments or queries, e-mail her at maritel.-[email protected].