In economically and geopolitically challenging times, reliable company data is the order of the day. However, we quickly realised this: Procurement officers have a different idea of ‘transparency’ and ‘reliable data’ than we do.
Our understanding of Transparency
Procurement has to deal with thousands of components and make strategically important decisions practically every day. Due to the large number of items, it is crucial that purchasing-specific - but also technical parameters are available for many item at the touch of a button. This is the only way to efficiently analyse the high volume of articles. But what is the difference between our view of transparency and the ‘traditional’ view of transparency of a procurement officer?
- Analysed at item level - and not just the supplier sales of the categories
- 100% of the articles are analysed and not just A-parts and/or high runners --> Mass Data Analysis
- Price-driving and technical features are available automatically --> Data-Driven Engine
- Volatile price components are updated daily (currency, material price, etc.)
- Insights into potential savings are available at the touch of a button
Data for Next Level Transparency
Transparency needs data. Preferably all price-driving, technical data at the touch of a button. In the case of components and assemblies, this is a lot of information that is collected per item:
- Exact material designation
- Weight
- Dimensions
- Number of shape and position tolerances
- Number of dimensional tolerances
- Coatings
- Number of holes
- Customs tariff number
- etc.
The list is long ... and the procurement officers wish list is even longer. But wishing is allowed!
Creating Data Heaven
Product descriptive data is available for many articles. These data are perfect data sources for reading out the needed parameters. The process of Data-Mining starts with our Data-Driven Engine. The parameters are automatically read from thousands of product-describing data. The volatile influencing factors such as currencies and commodity prices are of course adjusted to daily updated values. This ensures that calculations are not based on historically obsolete raw material prices or exchange rates. This step is also fully automated. The result: we now know everything about every item - absolutely everything. About thousands of articles. Now, the fun part begins.
Identifying Savings in Mass Data
- Which items are similar but at a different price level?
- Are the parts in a product group placed with the right suppliers in terms of their manufacturing expertise?
- How competitive is our internal production compared to external suppliers?
- Which almost identical components can be standardised into one component, which can then be procured more cheaply in larger quantities?
- Which customs tariff number is the correct one?
These questions can now be answered at the touch of a button. Learn more about Data-Driven Procurement. Digitalisation offers fantastic possibilities for extracting parameters from mass data and evaluating these parameters using artificial intelligence. The enormous speed is impressive and is decisive in removing internal hurdles such as ‘I can't look through thousands of .pdf files’. Doing is the order of the day! Is Next Level Transparency on your wish list? Get in touch with us. We will make your wishes come true.
