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SourceDay Expands Its Software to Give Manufacturers & Distributors Greater Control Over Operations

TORREY PINES, California – SourceDay, a pioneer in purchase order management automation software, has enhanced its software as a service offering, providing better information for accountability and planning purposes. The new features are available in the product today for all customers.

The product now includes:

Advance ship notification: Vendors can provide notification to their manufacturing and distribution customers immediately upon shipment. SourceDay also now provides standard receiving labels for easier tracking of incoming parts. In addition, SourceDay has integrated data from major freight delivery services to alert customers to updates in shipment status.

Split lines: Vendors can now use SourceDay to request purchase orders splits where a single PO line can be split into two or more lines with individual due dates and quantities. This allows vendors to best serve their customers aligning with near term material demands while not impacting their scorecards.

Automatic spend approvals: Manufacturers and distributors can assign budgets to individual buyers for immediate approvals up to their spending threshold, and automate approvals for any additional purchases.

Vendor scorecard: SourceDay gives customers a vendor summary based on historical data for fast and accurate assessment of performance trends in terms of quality, delivery, cost and more.

“These updates are a direct result of feedback from our customers, who understand better than anyone what SourceDay can do to improve their operations,” Tom Kieley, CEO and co-founder of SourceDay. “Now manufacturers and distributors can make better decisions about their operation knowing what materials will be on hand, how their vendors help or hurt profitability and place a more strategic focus on buying.”

SourceDay manages purchase orders with a web-based platform - freeing manufacturers from hours of email, spreadsheets and phone calls while providing valuable intelligence on vendor relationships and available materials for production. It automates supplier and purchase order communication in one place, with a secure, responsive platform. In addition to the features announced today, SourceDay provides:

Real-time buyer-vendor updates

Vendor PO acknowledgement

Ability to request vendor status updates

Tracking of past due POs

Alerts for high-priority POs

“Hot PO” queue for at-risk items

Historical PO communication

Real-time automated PO updates

“Manufacturers need to maximize their production without incurring extra costs. The information we provide through these new features is a big step forward in knowing what can be produced and when,” says Clint McRee, COO and co-founder of SourceDay. “Further, purchasing managers can have far more productive, specific and fact-based conversations with buyers and vendors to improve the supply chain in ways that make an important difference in the company’s success.”

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Can Your Company Survive Without Communication?

Communication is important. It's safe to say that's an understatement in any industry. Consider this, The Society for Human Resource Management estimates poor communication costs larger companies (100,000 employees or more) up to $62.4 million annually. Smaller companies (100 employees or less) average losses in the amount of $420,000 per year. Even though our communication tools are more advanced than ever, effective internal and external communications for many companies remains elusive. What are the effects of poor communication between your manufacturing organization and your suppliers and how can you overcome them?

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Manufacturing companies are like intricate machines. Each department, regardless of how small, is critical to operations. Implementing an effective communications plan and utilizing the right tools ensures that the machine runs as efficiently as possible. In addition to internal communication, manufacturers must stay in constant communication with suppliers and customers. Companies literally can not survive without good communication. Here are four reasons why.

Missed Purchase Orders- What happens when a supplier purchase order is missed or overlooked by your supplier? In the short-term, you may have to pay for expedited shipping or pay an expedited rush fee to your supplier. In the long-term, you may damage your reputation with your customer. Said another way, your suppliers impact how you well you service your customers positively and negatively. Don't forget to factor in the extra administrative time it takes to find out what happened and prioritize the issue. Real-time purchase order management solutions provide critical communications that will avoid missed purchase orders.  

Changes To Purchase Orders- POs are always dynamic. Vendors are constantly changing purchase orders, and your ERP system is constantly adjusting material demand. How quickly are you able to capture these changes with your suppliers? And, are you updating your ERP system with these changes, so your company can make adjustments to your production schedules? Good communication means implementing a system that will automatically make updates and send the change data to all appropriate departments.

Quality Issues- Real-time scorecards and communicating quality issues on a timely basis with your suppliers is critical to keeping rejected materials out of your inventory saving precise capital. Furthermore, supplier quality issues can be detrimental to your organization if these quality issues impact your customers’. Does your current software provide you with valuable data about suppliers? Quality ratings, timeliness, responsiveness and price are key data points that help you get the highest quality at the best price. Are you receiving that real-time communication?

Employee frustration- "Frustration" has been dubbed the silent killer of productivity. Employees need the tools to work productively. Frustration ensues when they feel accountable, yet helpless, when orders are missed, quality is lacking or some other part of their job goes wrong. The company pays with decreased productivity and increased turnover.

You Can Survive

This is certainly the technology age. Companies have numerous tools at their disposal to improve communications, such as email, fax, text, chat and internal networks. However, communications coming from numerous sources are easy to get lost, overlooked or ignored. The solution is a single platform that allows suppliers, and the manufacturer to access real-time data 24/7. An automated purchase order process is more than just a system to manage orders. An effective purchase order process provides the communications that are critical to a manufacturing company's survival, including:

PO Status updates, including vendor acknowledgement, past due tracking, alerts for "at-risk" items, shipped item tracking and historical data.                                    

Supplier scorecard data, including their reliability record, quality rating, price variance over time and responsiveness.

Real-time reports.

SourceDay is a software as a service company that specializes in the needs of manufacturers. Contact us to learn more about improving your communication through an automated purchase order process.

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Is your PO’s status: ‘Not my Problem’?

Of all the statuses a purchase order may be assigned – waiting for approval, approved, pending revision, cancelled – the very worst is ‘Not my Problem’. That unofficial (but very real) designation puts POs into a dangerous state of limbo that may be hard to resolve, leading to discontented suppliers and wasted time. This is especially true when the PO process is manual, tied to physical sheets (or stacks) of paper that must be shuffled from desk to desk in search of resolution. When a supplier calls looking for information about their overdue payment, potentially jeopardizing service or delivery continuity, tracking down paper invoices becomes an inefficient scavenger hunt.

The PO process connects many different enterprise functions – and not always in a good way. Discrepancies need to be resolved, approvals need to be secured, and payments need to be issued in a timely fashion. The fact that so many internal groups are involved in manually processing POs increases the risk that open issues will be passed from desk to desk, or worse – that they will fall between the cracks and be lost.

Automated PO management eliminates the dust, paper cuts, and clutter of manual processing. By keeping POs in digital form, their status and assignment can be centrally tracked and reported on over time. Everyone with access to the system will be looking at the same information in real time.

The fact of the matter is, manually processed POs are everyone’s problem. They prevent multiple functions from making the most of committed enterprise resources through reports that can be instantly available with automated PO management. For example:

Accounts Payable: They are often considered the ‘end of the road’ for Not my Problem POs. If anyone is going to be forced to wade through pending transactions and payments, it is AP. With real time visibility and status tracking, AP can ensure that no POs are left to languish in dark corners of the enterprise.

Procurement: Although the management of POs is often viewed as taking place after procurement’s traditional hand-off point, this break in continuity has a downstream impact on the organization and its suppliers. It also denies procurement an important opportunity to extract maximum value from each contract. With easy access to PO status, procurement can include it in supplier performance reviews and risk assessments.

Legal: Are suppliers living up to the terms and conditions of their contracts? The best way to get this information is by conducting a historical ‘audit’ looking for timeliness and evidence of communication between buyers and suppliers. Manual PO processes require legal to walk the same path POs travel looking for feedback. Automated PO processes allow legal to quickly access actual facts about PO history by supplier.

Operations: The most critical piece of information to operations is when their goods are due to arrive. When everyone is connected centrally and in real time, they can easily request updates from suppliers about the status of open orders or set automated alerts so they don’t have to stop and think about POs at all. Staying on top of stock levels and delivery timelines can avert the need for costly rush shipments.

Finance: Depending on the working capital strategy of the company, the timing of supplier payments may be more of an art than a science. Monitoring POs by date gives Finance the greatest degree of control possible over cash flows without violating the terms of supplier agreements.

Automated PO processing offers a number of benefits, not the least of which is to strengthen the cross-functional internal relationships that would otherwise be stressed by the effort to track and process POs. By keeping POs in digital form, it is no longer a matter of figuring out who’s problem each PO is, but helping the enterprise see that POs are not a problem at all.

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Announcing SourceDay Summer Webinar Series

Join us this summer for our summer webinar series. Each month we'll bring you topics around best practices on procurement and purchase order management.

JUNE WEBINAR Extending Your PO Management into the Cloud Webinar

Does your company process purchase orders manually? How is that working out for you? Join us to hear how you can manage your POs in the cloud.

Thursday, June 29  |  12:00 CDT Register Here

JULY WEBINAR Top Frustrations with Current Purchase Order Management Processes - Do You Have Any of Them?

Are you constantly chasing down purchase order updates? Do you spend your time manually updating your ERP with PO changes? Join us to discuss some of the top productivity killers and how to beat them.

Thursday, July 27  |  12:00 CDT Register Here

AUGUST WEBINAR Thinking of Implementing an ERP Vendor Portal? Top Reasons to Think Again

The concept of an ERP portal is great, but often supporting them can put a huge burden on your company and already busy IT staff, leaving you and your vendors frustrated. Join us to discuss a better alternative.

Wednesday, August 30  |  12:00 CDT Register Here

*Can't make a webinar? Register anyway and we'll send you the recording

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Do You Have the Best Suppliers? Find Out with Automated Supplier Grading.

"Most manufacturing companies could significantly grow their profits by strengthening their supplier relations" was the conclusion of one study published by Forbes. A good supplier relationship is critical in any industry, but especially in manufacturing. Evaluating a good supplier goes far beyond a quick glance at how much they are charging you. Here's a look at how you should evaluate each supplier.

What to Look For

Price is always what comes to mind first when manufacturers look at suppliers. If competing suppliers come in with significantly lower prices, it's time to investigate. Don't be afraid to ask your supplier about the price discrepancies. However, remember the "cost of doing business" with a supplier involves more than the invoice amount. Does every order require negotiation for a decent price? How often are employees having to deal with damaged or low quality materials? Are late deliveries slowing production? Even if the invoice price is great, the company may be losing money in staff time, lost productivity and upset customers.

The supplier's reliability directly affects how your customers view your reliability. Quick delivery helps minimize the amount of inventory you must keep on hand, resulting in less risk of ending up with obsolete materials and lower cash needs. Don't automatically assume larger suppliers have the most resources and best reliability. Smaller companies highly value consistent clients. Look for smaller companies within your geographic area. These often provide competitive pricing, higher reliability and minimal freight charges. 

Is your supplier innovative? An effective supplier should contribute to new product development as much or more so than your own team. Their role is to be cutting edge in whatever product or material they are offering you. Does your supplier stay up-to-date on industry trends? Do they understand your needs so much that they bring new ideas to you or can tweak your creative team's ideas? Look for suppliers that offer the latest, most advanced products.

How to Gather Data Evaluating suppliers should be part of a company's strategic plan, and it must be done at regular intervals. Take a hard look at how often shipments are late, damaged or incorrect. How quickly do they respond to your purchase orders? Gathering and tracking this data doesn't need to be a cumbersome administrative task. Automating your purchase order process with a system such as SourceDay allows for automated supplier grading, a real-time scorecard. Suppliers are evaluated with letter grades in each of these categories:

On time Performance

Good Parts Received Quality Rating

Price Variance over time

Responsiveness to acknowledgements and status updates

Should You Make a Change? Armed with tangible data from the supplier scorecard, your manufacturing company is in a great bargaining position. You have concrete data about the supplier's price variance, timeliness and responsiveness. Your supplier may be shocked when they realize how low their score is. Should you give them another chance? That's for your strategic team to decide. It is worth considering. A low score may bring to light issues the supplier did not know were so severe. They may be willing to offer you a discount to give them another chance. Working with a supplier through a difficult time may also instill loyalty, making the supplier more likely to lend you a hand during a future cash crisis. However, if the supplier does not respond apologetically to your scorecard data, or it's clear you have outgrown their capabilities, it's time to make a change. The study mentioned at the outset was unique because it evaluated "soft" benefits, supplier relationships that go beyond the price tag. Researchers noted the economic value of a supplier's non-price benefits. Keep tabs on both the price and non-price benefits through automated supplier grading. Contact us to learn more.

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5 Reasons Why Automating The PO Process Can Minimize AP Problems

Don’t Wait until There’s A Problem If you had to rate how well your accounts payable process is going, what would you say? AP is in a tough spot. Their job is to pay invoices, not analyze purchase orders and receiving transactions. Unfortunately, in the real world, invoices rarely match purchase orders or packing slips causing major delays for AP teams. This is a somewhat hidden hole that sucks not only dollars but time from the company.

Wasted dollars in AP actually begin with inefficiencies in Purchase Order management. The longer the problems persist, the more risk to the company.

If your PO process is manual, one thing is certain: you have errors. Without knowing your company or your PO process, one can safely assume there have been mistakes made, things missed, and communications have suffered in some sense. These mistakes aren’t made in a vacuum. Each mistake causes ripple effects throughout the entire company - in AP and perhaps other areas, such as manufacturing, distribution, and supplier relationships.

By the time the suppliers invoice gets to AP, it’s hard to figure out where the discrepancy may be. It takes manhours to figure out where the error occurred. You don’t want to wait until the invoice makes its way all the way to AP. By then, the damage has been done and resources are being wasted.

Related: Study Shows Cost Cutting Is The No. 1 Reason for Switching to Purchase Order Automation

Where are the PO errors most frequent? According to an academic report from Northwestern University’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences:

These errors can cause quite a headache in your AP department and significantly impact revenue and customer satisfaction. Here are 5 reasons why automating the PO process make a difference.

1. Purchase Orders Can Be Complex Purchase orders can contain dozens of lines of orders, even pages worth. With each supplier and order, there are specifications, quantities, pricing, dates, and other details that can get complicated. The supplier may not have the needed materials, may not acknowledge the PO right away, or may have delays on their end. Managing all of these moving parts takes time - lots of it. There are risks for errors, missed items and deadlines, and AP errors.

Many buyers and sellers rely on email, fax, and phones to communicate delivery, receipt, and acceptance of the POs. While these modes of communication may work, they aren’t exactly efficient. Emails quickly pile up and there’s no easy way to search for what you’re looking for. Faxes create mounds of paperwork and phones don’t leave a paper trail that may be critical when something goes awry.

The relationship between buyers and suppliers is critical, yet too many are depending on manual management of POs. When the process is automated, the risk for errors decreases dramatically. Suppliers are more accountable and deadlines are less frequently missed.

Related: Technology Aside, Vendor Management Is A Relationship

2. Purchase Orders Can Be Wrong With all of the detail on a PO, there is a good chance something on the PO is incorrect - a spec, quantities, delivery dates, pricing. Multiply that by every supplier and every single line item and you get the picture.

One error can wreak havoc. One report found that typical error rates for manual data entry are about one error for every 300 keystrokes. Do companies really want to rely on someone catching a mistake before it gets too far down the line? One missed error can mean wrong deliveries that delay manufacturing, which delays product development and customer delivery which impacts customer satisfaction, which harms brand reputation. It’s a chain reaction that is difficult to halt once it begins.

When the PO process is automated, however, these mistakes are much easier to spot. Many orders are repetitive, making automation a no-brainer. Using modern PO management software, manufacturers and distributors have greater visibility into every PO and every line item. Automation also brings clarity as to where the problem is, something spreadsheets and desktop tools are unable to locate.

3. Purchase Orders Can Create A Ton of Paperwork Every order generates paperwork. Every acknowledgment, every acceptance, every accounts payable. One order can require countless emails, faxes, and back and forths until the order is received and paid for. All of this paperwork must be tracked and managed, creating an administrative nightmare.

Just as with banking, utilities, and virtually all of our personal and business accounts, automation can change how buyers and suppliers do business. It’s no longer sustainable or necessary to conduct operations using reams of documents and files. PO management software eliminates the paper without wiping out the paper trail. Every document and every buyer/supplier interaction is not only recorded and stored indefinitely without taking up a single square inch of office space, but they are easily accessible with the click of a mouse.

4. Purchase Orders Can Be Lost, Damaged or Ignored When there is paper, there is always the risk for damage or loss. Paper can be misplaced. Paper can get buried and ignored. When a supplier, for instance, receives a PO via fax, it’s up to them to retrieve it, respond, and store that document. Keep in mind the supplier is likely receiving dozens, if not hundreds, of similar documents everyday. How confident are you that your specific PO is being handled with care and getting the attention it needs so you can deliver on time?

Digital documents are indefinitely accessible and stored in a cloud so there is never a risk for loss. Even better, PO management software enables buyers to track where their PO is at all times so they know if the PO has been received by the supplier. They know when the supplier viewed the PO and if the PO hasn’t been acknowledged, the buyer is alerted. The buyer can have the software send an automated reminder to the supplier that there is an outstanding PO that needs acknowledgment. All without a single email, phone call, or paperwork.

5. Purchase Orders Are Only The Beginning While POs are vital to both the buyer and the supplier, the most important element of the relationship is communication. The two parties must be in constant communication yet this isn’t always easy. Playing phone tag or sending emails back and forth is no way to operate. It wastes time and resources.

Automating the PO process means automating communications as well. The best PO management software places communication front and center, making it easier to connect without the use of email or phone. Both buyer and supplier can use the software to send and receive messages, update dates and statuses, send reminders, and check on progress. When communications are streamlined and documented throughout the process, there is less room for error and “he said, she said.” Relationships are stronger because there is no risk for miscommunication or avoidance.

The PO process will never be simple, but thankfully, there is now software available to make it as easy as possible to manage the highly complex nature of manufacturing and distribution. Automating the PO process enables companies to better track expenses, gain visibility into spending and supplier performance, and optimize supplier management and communications. If you are still relying on phones, faxes, emails and paper to manage your business, it’s time to digitize. See what automation can do to modernize your business.

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You probably chose SyteLine as your ERP solution for several reasons. One of these may be SyteLine's flexibility which has allowed you to grow your business. Are you still using manual processes in your PO management costing you time and money? SourceDay presents: 5 Steps to Automating Your PO Management for SyteLine Users Webinar

When: Thursday, Feb. 16

Time: 10:30am CST Register Now! 

Made to enhance and seamlessly integrate with SyteLine, and focused solely on manufacturing, SourceDay provides easy-to-use automation to acknowledge new POs and track late POs.

If you have manual processes and use spreadsheets, emails, and constant phone tag to stay on top of your open POs, join us for this short webinar. Make 2017 a whole lot easier! All attendees will be eligible to win a free Amazon Echo. **Unable to attend? Register anyway and we’ll send you the recorded version to watch later.

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Back by Popular Demand - SourceDay & Epicor - Purchase Orders Simplified

Our Live webinar series on automating PO management for Epicor users.

When: November 16th at 1pm CST 

Where: Webinar

Join our Webinar to learn how to Automate your Epicor Purchase Orders and improve your supplier's performance.

We look forward to introducing you to SourceDay and connecting on November 16th.  

SourceDay has revolutionized Vendor and Purchase Order management.  Even the most proficient suppliers create risk to manufacturing companies.  Join us November 16th at 1pm CST to learn how using SourceDay with Epicor:

Reduces Supplier generated risk.

Brings suppliers closer to your business.

Eliminates clerical errors.

Reduces risk to inventory, production, and improves customer satisfaction.

Improves supplier performance.

Spend 60 minutes with us to see a demonstration on how SourceDay automates Purchase Order Management and provides:

Centralized PO processes and communication.

Real-time Vendor management.

Automated Expedite communication.

Automated Late PO communication.

Automated communication on at-risk PO Lines.

All attendees will be eligible to win a free Amazon Echo.

Sign up here and don’t forget to invite others from your organization to join!

REGISTER NOW

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Back by Popular Demand - SourceDay & Syteline - Purchase Orders Simplified

When: October 27th at 1pm CST Where: Webinar

SourceDay has revolutionized Vendor and Purchase Order management.  Even the most proficient suppliers create risk to manufacturing companies.  Join us October 27th at 1pm CST to learn how using SourceDay with Syteline:

Reduces Supplier created risk.

Brings suppliers closer to your business.

Eliminates clerical errors.

Reduces risk to inventory, production, and improves customer satisfaction.

Improves supplier performance.

Spend 45 minutes with us to see a demonstration on how SourceDay is automating Purchase Order Management and providing:

Centralized PO processes and communication

Real-time Vendor management

Automated Expedite communication

Automated Late PO communication

Automated communication on at-risk PO Lines

One attendee will win a free Amazon Echo.

Sign up now here and don’t forget to invite others from your organization to join!

We look forward to connecting on October 27th.  

REGISTER NOW

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When: Wednesday, October 12 at 1pm CST Where: Webinar

Imagine a world where supplier scorecards are automated and where 100% of suppliers can grade themselves on demand.

Do you grade your suppliers?  Are you able to provide critical feedback to your entire supplier base instantly?  Are you pulling reports from Syteline and sifting through piles of data to build more reports in preparation for your quarterly or annual supplier reviews?

Join our Webinar to learn how SourceDay helps Syteline customers automatically grade their suppliers while giving suppliers real-time scorecard data.

REGISTER NOW

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When: Thursday, August 25th at 1pm CST Where: Webinar

We look forward to introducing you to SourceDay and connecting on August 25th.  

SourceDay has revolutionized Vendor and Purchase Order management.  Even the most proficient suppliers create risk to manufacturing companies.  Join us August 25th at 1pm CST to learn how using SourceDay with NetSuite:

Reduces Supplier created risk.

Brings suppliers closer to your business.

Eliminates clerical errors.

Reduces risk to inventory, production, and improves customer satisfaction.

Improves supplier performance.

Spend 60 minutes with us to see a demonstration on how SourceDay is automating Purchase Order Management and providing:

Centralized PO processes and communication

Real-time Vendor management

Automated Expedite communication

Automated Late PO communication

Automated communication on at-risk PO Lines

All attendees will be eligible to win a free Amazon Echo.

Sign up now here and don’t forget to invite others from your organization to join!

                                                    REGISTER NOW

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When: July 7th at 1pm CST Where: Webinar

We look forward to introducing you to SourceDay and connecting on July 7th.  

SourceDay has revolutionized Vendor and Purchase Order management.  Even the most proficient suppliers create risk to manufacturing companies.  Join us July 7th at 1pm CST to learn how using SourceDay with Syteline:

Reduces Supplier created risk.

Brings suppliers closer to your business.

Eliminates clerical errors.

Reduces risk to inventory, production, and improves customer satisfaction.

Improves supplier performance.

Spend 30 minutes with us to see a demonstration on how SourceDay is automating Purchase Order Management and providing:

Centralized PO processes and communication

Real-time Vendor management

Automated Expedite communication

Automated Late PO communication

Automated communication on at-risk PO Lines

All attendees will be eligible to win a free Amazon Echo.

If you missed our session at SUN this year, here’s your chance to learn about SourceDay.

Sign up now here and don’t forget to invite others from your organization to join! 

                                                     REGISTER NOW

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Join SourceDay at the SUN Conference in Las Vegas

SourceDay is excited to return to the annual SUN National Conference. We hope you’ll join us in Las Vegas April 6 – 8 to hear from some of Syteline’s leading experts, attend dozens of sessions that cover the entire spectrum of Syteline, Infor CloudSuite and Infor Service Management, and network with other top professionals on how they’re addressing today’s challenges.

Here are a few opportunities you don’t want to miss out on:

Attend the SourceDay presentation session at 9:30 on Thursday, April 7 and learn how SourceDay can automate scoring your suppliers as well as other PO management benefits.

Stop by our booth to meet our team and discover a simpler, more automated way to manage purchase orders.

Schedule an in-person meeting/demo with SourceDay by selecting the Book Now button below.

Avoid the rush, begin planning your session schedule to maximize your time and make the most out of your trip.

Not attending the event? Contact SourceDay to schedule an online demo at a time that works for you.  

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Syteline Advanced Planning Scheduling - A Fresh Approach to Planning

Traditional scheduling and planning systems (MRP) often produce unmanageable and unrealistic requirements like issuing purchase orders with past due dates.  Seizing the opportunity, Infor, the developers of Syteline ERP, introduced APS or Advanced Planning And Scheduling to simplify business management, increase planning visibility, increase production capacity and lower inventory.

While production scheduling by nature is difficult with varying factors like production mix, available resources, and time, APS tackles complex demands often from contending priorities.

Syteline's Advanced Planning Scheduling coupled with Sourceday's supplier portal helps companies:

1. Communicate with suppliers more effectively.

2. Organize and manage past due purchase orders.

3. Automate purchase orders in a more timely and effective manner.

4. Manage material exceptions.

For more information on Advanced Planning Scheduling or for more details on Sourceday.com, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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Use Your ERP System to its Fullest Potential by Adding an Automated Purchase Order System

Your organization has invested in an enterprise resource planning system (ERP), but are you maximizing its technology to the fullest potential?  Adding an automated purchasing system to your ERP will unleash the power for each person who participates in the purchasing process to access important decision-making data and create opportunities for savings in your supply chain.

Combined with an ERP system, an automated purchasing system provides the following benefits:

Centrally communicate with suppliers

Negotiate better pricing on supplies

Better monitor costs of products and materials purchased from vendors

Streamline inventory and purchasing

Eliminate errors from manual entry requisitions

Shorten fulfillment times

Increase the efficiency of the ordering process for purchasers by showing a variety of pricing options and approved vendors, saving time in the overall procurement process

Additional savings will result from reducing the administrative costs. Purchasing is streamlined as technology is used to automatically complete requisitions and purchase orders reducing the amount of administrative time with better accuracy.

Automation also helps to bring down the COGS (costs of goods).   A centralized purchasing system standardizes RFQs / RFPs and increases competition resulting in better prices or discounts, along with greater options for contract negotiations.

A collaborative purchasing automation solution offers an opportunity to improve on inefficiencies by extending the capabilities of your ERP system.  For more information on integrating an automated purchasing system with your ERP, please contact us to learn more.  Sourceday.com

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Technology Aside Vendor Management is a Relationship

There is no question about it, the advances in the digital age have made supply chain and vendor management more efficient. The advent of systems that handle everything from demand forecast to just in time inventory have been beneficial to both buyers and vendors, among other things  shortening lead times and reducing inventory costs.

 Technology can hasten the process, but it is important to remember that vendor management is also about relationships.  Here are ideas to build a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship with the vendors you value the most.

 Understand that your vendor is in business to make money. A vendor that is constantly asked to cut cost invariably will cut quality first, before shunting you to the bottom of the preferred customer list. Vendor management is not all about price; a healthy vendor relationship is a commitment to improve productivity and competitive advantage for both parties.

 Using vendor provided parts and services are essential to move product out the door, including key vendors in production strategy meetings can create efficiencies for both companies. A good vendor does what they do well, tap into their expertise for insights from product development to production to put your firm ahead.

 Negotiate in good faith and look for a deal that both parties can draw value from. Strong arm tactics and one sided deals may provide short term results but the gains will be marginal, compared with the potential costs of a toxic vendor relationship.

 Come to a consensus on value. That is not paying the lowest price but focusing on the quality received for the dollars spent. A higher price should go hand in hand with higher quality and a commitment from the vendor to maintain or improve their quality standards.

 Remember the best relationships are for the long haul. Switching vendors to chase a half a penny here and a half a penny there will cost more money in the long run. Quality will fall and on time delivery will likely become a thing of the past. Developing long term relations with key vendors allows you to use their expert knowledge and may afford you preferential treatment.

 Vendor management has come a long way from the days when “Your failure to plan does not constitute a crisis on my part.” was an all too common thought in the minds of many vendors. Today it is essential for both buyer and vendor to be in a win-win relationship allowing for healthy growth of both businesses.

 An important part of any relationship is communication; SourceDay can help you connect with and monitor vendor performance to help you maintain long term and beneficial relationships with your suppliers.

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Easing the Burden of Supply Chain Management

Does this sound familiar?  Your Supply Chain Management staff spends their time on administrative tasks like chasing after late parts or managing poor performing vendors that ironically are critical to your business?  You are not alone.  Most organizations waste too much time on routine administrative tasks when it comes to their suppliers.  Ideally, wouldn't you like your supply chain professionals to be:

investigating and qualifying new sources

negotiating with existing vendors for better deals

working with engineering and manufacturing teams to reduce complexity and unit cost

Instead of draining your organization of valuable resources and money, you should consider solutions that will automate supply chain functions.  After all, wouldn't you rather have your supply chain management identifying opportunities leading to business growth, instead of checking up on delinquent vendors?

Give your buyers & planners the tools they need to add value to your organization with an automated purchase order and vendor management system. 

If you would like to learn more, please visit our website.