You Da' BOM

El Segundo, CA  July 31, 2001  iSuppli, a provider of procurement and supply chain management services for the electronic components industry, is expanding its offering with a new set of procurement services aimed at providing decision support to purchasing departments and decision makers within the electronics industry supply chain, according to an announcement this week from the company.

The four new services, offered by the company's market intelligence services group, will involve the areas of bill of materials (BOM) optimization, component strategies, sourcing strategies and a price tracker.

iSuppli says the new services can help its customers improve processes in their procurement operations and can produce cost savings and data for strategic planning.

"Supported by fact-based procurement outlooks, our procurement services aid customers in optimizing internal systems, selecting suppliers, managing supply risk, and optimizing supplier base performance," said Greg Sheppard, vice president for market intelligence services at iSuppli.

The new iSuppli procurement services include:

BOM optimization services  Assist procurement departments in analyzing part numbers included in new or existing BOMs to flag and correct potential errors that could delay procurement or inhibit order aggregation, while identifying devices nearing end-of-life or other supply constrained conditions that will negatively impact future continuity of supply. iSuppli experts suggest both alternative components to solve sourcing dilemmas and further improvements in BOM structure and content to improve overall procurement efficiency.

Component strategies  Provide detailed analysis and recommendations for specified commodity markets, including market segment overviews, supply and demand outlooks, pricing trends, capacity availability projections and technology assessments.

Sourcing strategies  iSuppli procurement specialists apply the information in a component strategy to specific client objectives and recommend how to bring component requirements and sourcing efforts into a more effective alignment. iSuppli experts work with procurement professionals to develop approaches for new procurement strategies that address cost reduction and supply continuity, among other concerns.

Price tracker  An annual service providing monthly spot and contract pricing for approximately 160 specific components that represent 15 different commodity groups. iSuppli analysts also provide component forecasts to help procurement professionals with long-term planning.

Costs for iSuppli procurement services begin at $5,000 per engagement.