Now it’s the time for action to show what purchasing really can do.

In this, our packed, first newsletter of 2009, I hope you can find many ideas on how you could increase the value your department offers to your company by adopting new methods and complementary tools to help cope with the current economic climate, but as part of a carefully planned program that will continue to deliver increased value once we are through these turbulent times.

Don’t miss to sign up for the “Sourcing in a downturn”-webinar and get knowledge about how purchasing should handle the current recession. 

Eva Svensson

How should purchasing handle the current recession? To answer this question the IBX Consulting Group developed the concept “Sourcing in a downturn”.

In an exclusive webinar they will explain opportunities and sourcing approaches to give your corporate purchasing a winning position. The session is limited to 100 seats … first come first served!

Knee deep in the current global recession there is one thing that is clear; this is the time for purchasing and; most importantly; it’s the time for proving our worth. This the time for purchasing in terms of bargain hunting or margin squeezing, it’s the time for purchasing to step up to the challenge of really becoming a key value generator.

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) used IBX’s e-sourcing and e-auction tool in their recent purchase of ground equipment. With two suppliers bidding for high stakes the process resulted in a significant price reduction.

- As well as giving us a result faster than traditional negotiations would have, the e-auction gave us a dramatic and welcome price drop, says Niclas Lind, Director Ground Handling Purchasing, SAS AB.

Knowledge is the key to the right decision, and information is the key to knowledge. A proper business intelligence capability, offering the possibility to analyze and visualize data from purchasing activities across the company, is an important part of a purchasing solution.

“Our new BI solution provides quick and easy access to key purchasing data. It not only allows customers to understand and analyze their current situation, but will also support them in planning what next steps to take to further improve efficiency in purchasing” says Jesper Lagerstedt, product manager, IBX Group.

With 250 companies in 50 countries, process engineering and manufacturing leader GEA Group has diversified supply needs that don’t always easily fit into a centralized mould. The corporate supply management team has successfully introduced company-wide purchasing processes and tools.

“When we buy machinery today, we are able to reduce costs at a much earlier stage by questioning product design. This is not only good for us, but also helps the supplier to become more effective.” says Frank Bauwens, director of supply management at GEA.

The CIO is pulled in two directions: should he rather assume the role of technology provider, or that of a strategic business designer? Should he provide all the IT in-house, or act as the head of a network of specialists who each play their part in the added value chain by controlling the outsourced IT?

On-demand represents an attractive alternative for the CIO, especially in times where IT budgets are tight. It is not without reason, that SAP recently launched its own on-demand solution – SAP Business-by-Design – onto the market. But is an on-demand supplier model the best possible solution for every company and every organisation?

Easy-to-use and high quality catalogue content is the corner stone for every successful eProcurement rollout. To further enhance content quality, and accelerate the implementation of new catalogues, IBX launches supplier content management.

IBX supplier content management is available 24/7 and covers the complete catalogue creation process. It supports uploading of catalogue contents, pictures, attachments as well as the sign off process by the buying organization and a strong content validation function.

"We have been a supplier on IBX for many years, and we serve more than 40 customers via the market place 'e-handel.no' run by them. As several of our customers use IBX, the demand for quick and efficient publishing of new catalogues has also increased. Because of this demand Supplier Content Management has been a longed-for resource for us. As I see it the advantage of this offering is that I have an excellent overview of the catalogue process so I can act faster when needed, and I have the same view of our catalogue as our buyers", says Aleksander Engesvik, Marketing Coordinator at Norengros AS.