Cary, N.C.—Dec. 20, 2013—SciQuest, a provider of cloud-based business automation solutions for spend management, announced the newest version of the company’s Advanced Sourcing Optimizer. This is the first upgrade to the company’s advanced sourcing solution since SciQuest acquired CombineNet in September 2013. Designed in response to customer feedback, the new version provides several new ways to conduct bid analysis and scenario optimization, delivering greater analytical power and flexibility to end users.
Available immediately, the new version of Advanced Sourcing Optimizer includes more flexible ways for customers to evaluate sourcing data. As a result, users are able to gain a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of sourcing activities. New capabilities include:
- Cost model analysis flexibility, which allows users to create multiple cost models, including historic cost models, in a single sourcing event, while electing which cost model to apply in what-if scenarios for bid analysis and optimization. As a result, buyers can look at multiple pricing models, and compare total costs or specific portions of total cost to historic prices, benchmark data or market rates.
- A new ratio balancing rule, which is an optimization scenario rule that enables buyers to ensure that, when suppliers are awarded certain items, they are also awarded other items based on a ratio determined by the buyer. This results in more efficient transportation and supply chain execution, improves support for corporate sustainability and helps buyers balance the award of different items to suppliers.
- Pre-defined scenarios. Sourcing events in the Advanced Sourcing Optimizer now include three pre-defined scenarios (single supplier, lowest bid and lowest bid considering capacity) to support faster analysis of simple award strategies and support novice users as they begin to use optimized scenario analysis.
- Event editing. This new functionality permits buyers to change certain event features that were previously locked in once the event was opened to suppliers, allowing buyers to easily make changes to sourcing strategy at any time.
According to Greg Holt, product marketing director at SciQuest, “SciQuest has a long track record of listening to our customers’ needs and developing innovative solutions to meet those needs, helping users turn spending into a strategic source of savings. The Advanced Sourcing Optimizer enables better, faster decision-making while providing the flexibility required to conduct advanced sourcing events.”
