Settling and arranging the workflow should be one of the main goals of any company while building a Supplier Relationship Management strategy. Let’s review the key steps that should be undertaken to settle the convenient SRM workflow.
It is critically important to have a supplier relationship management process in place, but it is much more critical to engage all members of your company in this process.
The joint work of all team members over the development of the SRM process will allow you to quickly identify errors, while a variety of points of view on the same issue will allow you to find the most optimal solutions.
Implement the appropriate supplier relationship management solution to store all the supplier information and record all the communication with suppliers in one place. Also, it is highly recommended to implement the solution that would enable you to generate, process, and send purchase orders to your suppliers. Such an effective and affordable software as Acquirell combines all these features in a single platform.
According to the 2017 State of Flux Global SRM Research Report, people and their skills are the base of SRM, so you need a department that would manage the supplier relationships, or even a dedicated supplier relationship manager. Even if it’s just part of someone’s routine work, having people in your organization who are responsible for SRM is critical.
Document the process that will help your team manage suppliers. In larger companies, this documentation may include various flowcharts, papers, agreements, rules, and regulations. Or it simply can be a 2-3 page document that covers all the points of working with the suppliers, starting from organizing sourcing events, and ending with managing the contracts. Later such a document can be used to control the workflow.
The report also states that 37% of supplier relationship managers have a higher level of interaction with suppliers when they interact with them in this way. Such an approach enables you to expand your business and reduce unnecessary downtime that can be a serious waste of time for other business drivers.
We have reviewed the main steps that should be undertaken for settling the SRM workflow. A convenient SRM approach includes both adopting best business practices and implementing effective SRM software. Such an SRM approach develops effective communication both within a company, and between a company and its suppliers. You can test this approach by centralizing your SRM and other procurement processes in Acquirell, an all-in-one SaaS procurement automation software.
Fill out the form and the Acquirell team will create a profile for you shortly to experience centralizing your SRM activities in a single system.