Why Saving Time Should Be At the Top of Every Sourcing Professionals Daily Goal List
I understand that achieving realized savings and being able to prove it will always be a top goal or the top goal. In many organizations time is the biggest hurdle to achieving this goal. Frequently the sourcing process is rushed or compressed and this makes saving time even more critical.
I believe that continually working to improve the process will help you find the time you need and in most organizations there is an abundance of opportunities to do that. I suspect you know what can be done and where. How ironic that finding the time to get started may be the biggest challenge for you. Expecting things to get better if nothing changes is the definition of insanity so take the first step.
If you are a frequent reader of my posts you know that I like to pose questions for your consideration.
Here are some broader questions to start with:
- What are the biggest questions or issues raised by internal customers?
- What are the biggest frustrations or issues raised by suppliers?
- What recommendations have been made by team members that have not been implemented?
- What changes have you thought about but haven’t documented or passed up the line?
The answers to these questions will give you a good place to start.
What if you can’t find the answers or you aren’t sure if a repository of this information exists?
- Creating a simple two or three question survey should get you what you need.
- It is human nature to want to put your ideas forward so getting internal customers and suppliers to take your survey should be easy.
- They want to save time too!
- There are online survey tools that will make this job a snap.
- The next step will be to identify the low-hanging fruit that can be changed quickly.
Patrick Lewis who is in one of the sourcing discussion groups I participate in described how one company reduced the NDA process from two weeks to eight hours. They also reduced the manpower to handle this dramatically. I don’t know all the specifics however I can imagine all of the redundant and unnecessary steps that were culled out of the process.
This is not an unusual situation. Without the time or motivation to find a better way things continue as they always have. In looking at a process think about steps that were put in for a one-time event. These can be removed from the regular process and handled as an exception basis if needed.
When will the change occur? When it becomes too painful to continue the way things are.
Action Step: What would be the next step if you want to start saving time?
If your tools are making it a challenge to for your organization, we should chat.
EC Sourcing Group is one of the companies I represent because their tools have been created by dedicated and experienced sourcing professionals. They know the day-to-day challenges your team faces and have built their tools to solve them. Clients frequently tell us that they are saving 30% of the time it used to take to run sourcing events. How much different would your life be if you could do that? If you want to know how, I invite you to request a demo or 30 minute discovery conversation so you can experience the platform, process, people, and tools. You can reach me at 973-936-9672.
Next week I will continue on this same theme so your organization can improve your bottom line.
If you would like to know more ways to reduce costs without changing the way you do business simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact information and the best time to reach you.
You Won’t Drift to Success©
Think about it.
Until Next Time, I Wish You Great Success in Your Business and in Your Life
Mike Jeffries