What is corporate sourcing? In the world of sourcing, procurement, and supply chain management, there are many different terms thrown around and so it can be quite difficult to navigate – particularly for those who are completely new to the industry. In this article, we’re going to focus specifically on corporate sourcing, what it involves, and how it can be of benefit to an organisation.
What is corporate sourcing?
So, what is corporate sourcing? Corporate sourcing refers to the sourcing approach that focuses on an entire corporation (which can be made up of a number of businesses) – as opposed to sourcing for one specific business alone.
Corporate sourcing often involves building a central purchasing process that coordinates with personnel from every department or location involved in an organisation.
Larger corporations that have a number of locations tend to have a purchasing department in a corporate headquarters. This department will be tasked with working closely with each location in order to accurately assess the usage of various goods and services, and then combine the total of all locations. When executed efficiently, the corporate sourcing process can allow businesses to retain more revenue streams as profit.
Of course, corporate sourcing is a strategic effort that is very much an ongoing activity. The needs of the various businesses and departments attached to a corporation will change and evolve as time goes by and having an overview of those changes will allow a corporation to pivot and adapt accordingly. Let’s take a closer look at some of the ways in which corporate sourcing can benefit an organisation:
What are the benefits of corporate sourcing?
What are the benefits of corporate sourcing?
- Reduced costs: Corporate sourcing is an effort that focuses on the overall costs of an operation, rather than each individual aspect of a corporation. Adopting this broader method of sourcing can allow a corporation to significantly reduce costs and help them to realise a larger net profit.
- A broader view: Corporate sourcing also allows a corporation to easily identify the level of demand for specific goods and services across each business under the corporation umbrella. This enables the corporate sourcing specialists to work with various suppliers to meet those demands and negotiate volume and pricing which can save the company money, as mentioned above. Having a broader view of a corporations sourcing requirements can make for much more efficient supplier relationships.
- Effective process management: When each individual business involved in a corporation is tasked with handling their own sourcing requirements, there can be a lot of miscommunication between branches. However, when corporate sourcing is applied, it is much easier for higher-tier management and stakeholders to gain a holistic view of precisely what each company needs to operate – and source those supplies and services accordingly.
- The principles work for small businesses too: Corporate sourcing can benefit just about any business of any size. For example, a small business can use the “corporate sourcing” principles by looking at each individual member of staff and calculate how much the individual needs in terms of office supplies on a monthly basis. Following that, the office manager will then be able to negotiate with local suppliers based on those monthly volumes and even potentially secure bulk discounts on the standard pricing for said required supplies. Rather than sourcing supplies on an as need basis, by adopting the corporate sourcing mind-set a business can anticipate which supplies will be needed and risk over-stocking or indeed not having enough to operate effectively.
What are the duties of a corporate sourcing specialist?
What are the duties of a corporate sourcing specialist?
- A corporate sourcing specialist will be required to coordinate all activities in an organisation related to the procurement of a commodity (supplies / services) from intent to purchase (why?) through to the delivery (how?)
- Corporate sourcing specialists will also be required to analyse the required commodity, including the initial specs, preferred suppliers, and the dates at which said commodities are required.
- Another big aspect of the corporate sourcing process will be to solicit and evaluate proposals for the requested commodities an organisation needs to operate. A corporate sourcing specialist will be required to investigate potential suppliers, interview and negotiate with them accordingly, and then determine as to whether they meet the specific requirements and can keep up with future demand.
Conclusion
To recap, corporate sourcing refers to the sourcing approach that focuses on an entire corporation as opposed to sourcing for one specific business alone. There are a number of benefits that come from this approach – namely having a broader overview and understanding of what each individual cog in the corporation needs, and indeed saving money on supplies! We hope that you have found this article insightful. If corporate sourcing is something that you would like to explore further, please do not hesitate to contact us today. At UCT (Asia), corporate sourcing and global procurement is our bread and butter.
