The benefit of using the e-SPF and the strategic sourcing methodology will help the procuring institution meet its strategic objectives by ensuring a procurement system that is ‘fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective’.
- The successful implementation of strategic sourcing may enhance the understanding of government spending patterns, and so optimise the budgeting and planning process. In turn, this enables sourcing practitioners and decision makers to make better informed decisions. In addition, the deployment of strategic sourcing principles offers alternative methods to improve services and reduce administrative costs.
- Strategic sourcing is a collaborative, structured approach to analysing government’s spending; using the information from this analysis to acquire commodities and services effectively; and as a result, supporting government’s service delivery objectives.
- It helps supply chain managers to plan, manage, and develop the supply base in line with these objectives; and creates an understanding of the categories of goods and services in government’s spending portfolio, their intended use, and the sources of supply. This helps to identify the leverage points, develop appropriate sourcing strategies, reduce costs, and increase the benefits and value of the service or commodity to the government.
- Strategic sourcing involves understanding the impact of procurement decisions on society and therefore needs an alert and informed group of procurement professionals who can apply this flexible, market-aware methodology.
- Strategic Procurement is NOT the purchase of goods and services on a day-to-day, transactional basis. Instead, Strategic Procurement is the opposite: it is a long-term and all-encompassing means of achieving procurement and strategic business goals.
- It is also a process of understanding categories of goods and services, their intended use and their supply markets based on rigorous analysis. This aids in identifying leverage points and developing the appropriate sourcing strategy. This strategy should reduce the total cost to the government and/or increase the benefits/value of the service/commodity to the government.
