January 22, 2001 -- In the e-business world, procurement professionals are seizing the day as they shift from a tactical purchasing position to a strategic one in their efforts to increase bottom-line savings. e-Sourcing is proving to be one of the most potent weapons in their corporate arsenal.
Technology companies are fully aware of this shift and are now embroiled in what one could liken to the arms race of the Cold War the e-sourcing war which escalates almost daily. One solid contender, B2eMarkets, upped the ante with their newly released, Web-hosted SeSM version 2.0.
In its short, six-month life, more than 16 companies worldwide have negotiated $750 million in spend through 60 e-negotiations with more than 800 suppliers on the SeSM platform. B2eMarkets' strong showing has caught the attention of industry analysts: Between its existing customer base, strong backlog and solid functionality, there's no reason why B2eMarkets shouldn't make nearly every short list for companies looking at an e-sourcing product, said Pierre Mitchell, service director for enterprise management strategies at AMR Research.
With v2.0, suppliers can respond to requests-for-quotes (RFQs) with attachments such as CAD drawings, specifications, terms and conditions. On the buyer side, the new coaching feature offers sourcing guidance. Once buyers have the sourcing game down, they can lock in year-to-year prices or volume discounts with the multi-interval contract feature. Kitting and subassembly options for multi-line, multi-attribute items parts or components provide negotiating power. Of course, no e-sourcing tool would be complete without a multi-currency function. Buyers can accept bids in predefined currencies that are then converted and managed at favorable exchange rates.
With e-sourcing weapons like these on the market, procurement professionals should have little problem maneuvering into a strategic position within the corporate structure.
