360 Degree Supply Mgmt Efficiency Reviews

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For two decades, Strategic Procurement Solutions has helped clients to improve the performance of their supply chains. We have refined a proprietary set of analytical processes, to efficiently assess how well each company (or public sector agency) performs each aspect of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process. 

A 360 Degree Supply Management Efficiency reviews can be performed for your organization during just a few weeks by one (or two) of Strategic Procurement Solutions' supply chain experts. 

The results are compiled into a comprehensive report, and presented to the client sponsor and/or their executive management team.

What differentiates Strategic Procurement Solutions from the costly reviews performed by some of our competitors? Our process results in a written report which documents gaps between the client’s supply management operations on core elements of the supply chain, and “best practice” techniques used by world class organizations within similar industry sectors. Strategic Procurement Solutions then identifies multiple options for the client to close each of the gaps. But unlike many other consultancies, the options we present are typically ones which the client can perform themselves without the aid of any consultancy. In other words, our recommendations are not designed to sell more of our services ...a quite different approach from most consulting firms.

A 360° Supply Management Efficiency Review™ provides a client with the following services:

• Expenditure Review – Our team first takes time to analyze the client’s annual expenditures. Sometimes clients have already performed an expenditure analysis , and we can utilize that as our starting point. Or at a nominal cost to our clients, we are able to take data from the client's expenditure sources (from Accounts Payable and PCard sources) and develop a Pareto analysis to reflect where the expenditures are occurring. The hard-data result of this analysis is further refined by our project leaders, who apply our industry knowledge to the results to provide insightful reports and observations.   
• Interviews with Procurement Leader and "C" Level Executives – Our project representative(s) meet with key executives to understand the organization’s culture, procurement organization history, concerns, and focus upon issues for improvement. This information is very important to understand, in order for Strategic Procurement Solutions to know which rocks to look under during our assessment.   
• Online Supply Management Employee Skills Diagnostic™ Testing – Working with our client sponsor, we administer our firm’s proprietary SCM competency knowledge testing tool, to identify training needs of the procurement staff (as well as decentralized stakeholders outside of formal procurement groups, who may manage key supplier expenditures). The 160 question diagnostic results in a quantitative report that shows (in group and individual formats), the understanding of “best practice” concepts related to 24 different procurement competencies needed by today’s procurement professionals. The skills assessment is incorporated into in the overall assessment report, along with recommendations on training, mentoring, and career mapping which apply to the organization.    
• Interviews with all Procurement Staff Members –Strategic Procurement Solutions spends time with each procurement staff member to understand their approach to their role, This interview includes a behavioral assessment of each persons’ job focus, and a review of their key contributions. Interviews with sourcing and supplier management personnel also review the history of key high-dollar supplier relationships (identified though the expenditure review) so that we can understand the strategic sourcing strategy in the selection, formation and administration techniques employed.    
• Reviews of Utilized Procurement Technologies – Our review includes a review of the technology tools being used by the procurement organization. The current state is then compared against best practice options to identify tools which the client may wish to consider. Unlike many of our competitors, Strategic Procurement Solutions IS NOT a technology company or integrator, thus our review is performed in an objective manner. Key technologies that are available in today’s SCM arena include Spend Analysis, eSourcing (eRFx & Auction), Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), eSourcing, Auction, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Procurement, eProcurement (Catalog), and ePayables. Our firm is well-known for helping clients do more with their existing systems, and frequently provides small and mid-sized client organizations with formats and templates they can use to build their own efficient technical resources. We have also helped clients “activate” unused functions within their existing systems to gain far greater value.    
• Interviews with Key Stakeholders – We also spend time speaking with two types of stakeholder groups: (i) Procurement’s major customers, to understand the current service levels they are receiving, as well as desired improvements they would like to have made; and (ii) Other groups within in the supply chain which impact, or are impacted by, the procurement organization. Observations shared by multiple sources are then incorporated into the final report.    
• Review of Contract Portfolio, Risk, Contracting Tools, and Document Development/Execution Processes – A foundational part of any supply management organization’s success is its ability to aggregate spending, consolidate supplier relationships, and integrate long-term value-added programs into their expenditure patterns. One of Strategic Procurement Solutions’ specialties is a detailed understanding of meaningful changes in contract development, execution, and administration…and we utilize our insights to greatly-enhance the efficiency of clients’ contracting processes. This element of our review.
• Online Survey of Key Suppliers (Optional) – Utilizing an online survey tool, Strategic Procurement Solutions can work with the client team to distribute a questionnaire to a representative sampling of suppliers. The survey instrument helps to ascertain the supplier community’s perceptions about their relationship with (i) the client organization, and (ii) the procurement group and other stakeholder groups with whom they interact. This survey can be very educational in determining additional value that can be offered by suppliers, identifying process changes which can affect cost and quality.    
• Mapping of Key Procure-to-Pay Processes – To improve a process, it’s very important to first understand the current state. Strategic Procurement Solutions can spend time with the client’s team members to accurately map key flows within the P2P process. We then can brainstorm ways to simplify the processes, or enhance them to achieve benefits desired by the client’s leadership.     

• Final Report – With this information, coupled with the results of the Enterprise Expenditure Analysis, we prepare a report that summarizes the client's growth potential in the following areas of performance: (i) Supply Strategy, (ii) Organizational Effectiveness, (iii) Expense Base Impact, (iv) Meaningful Metrics, (v) Sourcing Practices, (vi) Supplier Management, (vii) Internal Customer Relationships, (viii) Professional Skill Development, and (ix) Technology Tools. This report benchmarks the client's performance in each area, against "best practices" utilized by other supply-management organizations.  The information is arranged to provide the client with a "menu" of meaningful concepts they can implement. The report also identifies key cost reduction opportunities available to the client enterprise through sourcing, renegotiation, and even outsourcing.