SRM from SAS

Supplier relationship management software adds enhanced analytics, supplier-ranking capabilities

Cary, NC  December 5, 2001  Business intelligence specialist SAS Institute this week unveiled the latest enhancements to its supplier relationship management (SRM) solution, adding new supplier-ranking capabilities as well as enhanced spend analysis and scorecarding features.


SAS says that version 2.2 of SAS SRM provides intelligence on suppliers and procurement activities, helping organizations effectively manage relationships with their suppliers and achieve savings in the process.


"Companies need to understand their supplier landscape in order to make improved purchasing decisions, negotiate better contracts and, overall, to realize significant cost savings," said Christine Kelly, SAS' global strategist for SRM. "That's what SRM is all about. The new supplier ranking capabilities ... extend our offering and enable our customers to reduce overall spend, mitigate supplier risk and improve their bottom lines."


Karen Peterson, research director at Gartner, said that SRM allows organizations to collect, analyze and leverage all aspects of their supplier data and purchasing history to create an accurate overview of total spending. "They can also rank their supplier base, match their business objectives with individual supplier performance, identify areas for cost consolidation, and predict optimal procurement strategies," Peterson added.


New capabilities in the SAS toolkit include ranking, scorecards and analysis features.


SAS says that SRM Ranking provides insights on supplier performance, quality and spending patterns so organizations can determine which supplier relationships are strategic and which are not. By rating and ranking suppliers, senior managers and procurement professionals can potentially better allocate valuable resources to create and maintain supplier relationships that bring the greatest value and profitability to their companies.


The SRM Scorecard allows executives and others within an organization to select any key performance indicator shown in a procurement dashboard, pull together relevant supplier and purchasing data and perform detailed analysis, according to SAS. Through the SRM Scorecard, senior managers can determine how well the sourcing process is functioning within a department, division or the entire organization, which can help them align their company's procurement activities with corporate goals and assist them in measuring the impact of these activities on specific key performance indicators.


The solution provider said that its SRM spend-analysis component, Procurement Vision, features increased security functionality, as well enhanced in-depth analysis. With Procurement Vision, purchasing and commodity managers can review summarized supplier and commodity data and then reach through to more detailed data. Resulting findings can be exported to other applications, saved for further investigation, or ranked with the SRM Ranking component.


SAS says that its SRM solution leverages existing purchasing data within an organization and turns it into meaningful information that can be used strategically in procurement activities.


Mike Cockrill, vice president of North American supply chain for Aventis CropScience, an SAS SRM customer, said, "With better intelligence about our suppliers and our purchasing operations, we expect to achieve significant savings from improved contract negotiation, better contract compliance, and other critical business drivers."

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