System and method for facilitating strategic sourcing and vendor management

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating consistent management of a repeatable procurement process within an organization is disclosed. The system enables various members of the organization to follow a set of defined core processes to engage stakeholders by understanding the stakeholder's business and building a trusted advisor relationship. Further, the core processes define an analysis stage that includes an opportunity assessment, development of a strategic plan, development of a commodity profile, and finalizing a sourcing plan. Sourcing includes obtaining sponsorship, assembling a sourcing team, selecting suppliers for an RFP, and selecting a supplier based on a proposal. The core process for performing negotiations and contracting includes developing a negotiation strategy, performing the negotiation, selecting suppliers, and obtaining funding.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 performing, by a procurement computer based system, a commodity analysis using an opportunity assessment and a commodity strategy to achieve a supplier list; and   developing, by the computer based system, a sourcing strategy by creating a supplier list,   wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises obtaining a sponsorship,   wherein the obtaining the sponsorship includes receiving approval of a project plan by a designated approver, and   wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises performing an interview with key stakeholders of an organization associated with the strategic sourcing.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supplier list is created based on at least one of supplier preferencing, elimination of unattractive characteristics for a relationship, ensuring that the supplier list is compliant with a relationship manager and ensuring that the supplier list is compliant with procurement rules of engagement. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises selecting potential suppliers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising conducting enablement activities for the supplier. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the opportunity assessment includes at least one of: receiving input from a procurement business unit, developing an existing commodity strategy, assessing procurement resource requirements, and obtaining approval from a customer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing the commodity analysis further comprises using a commodity plan, wherein the commodity plan includes at least one of: a user requirement, a specification, a populated template, a requirements document, and a budget estimate. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing the commodity analysis further comprises using a commodity profile, wherein the commodity profile includes at least one of: current spend, future spend, an acquisition cost model, a market analysis, a supplier profile, a supplier cost driver, and a supplier performance driver. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the commodity strategy includes at least one of: a commodity strategic driver, a commodity imperative, a position segment, a relationship analysis, a contracting strategy, and a business best practice. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the obtaining sponsorship further comprises at least one of: analyzing the sourcing strategy, confirming resource availability, confirming budget availability, and refining a project plan. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises identifying a sourcing team, wherein the identifying the sourcing team includes at least one of: identifying team members and securing commitments from the team members. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises planning a sourcing event, wherein the planning the sourcing event includes at least one of: developing a project plan, conducting process training, determining resource allocation for each project task, and analyzing requirements criteria. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises determining a sourcing approach, wherein the determining the sourcing approach includes at least one of: defining when sourcing tools should be implemented, identifying optimal sourcing tools, and performing scheduling. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises developing evaluation criteria for a request for transaction, wherein the developing evaluation criteria for the request for transaction includes at least one of: reviewing existing request for transaction templates, identifying request for transaction criteria, modifying new sourcing strategy, and confirming the evaluation criteria with stakeholders. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises developing a request for transaction, wherein the developing the request for transaction includes at least one of: selecting a request for transaction template, creating the request for transaction, incorporate additional requirements into the request for transaction, ensuring compliance with evaluation criteria, ensuring compliance with review requirements, confirming the request for transaction with stakeholders, and obtaining legal approval. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises developing a recipient list for the request for transaction, wherein the developing the recipient list for the request for transaction includes at least one of: reviewing a qualified supplier, aligning the recipient list with a relationship manager, coordinating with the relationship manager, finalizing the recipient list, and confirming the recipient list with stakeholders. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises releasing the request for transaction, wherein the releasing the request for transaction includes at least one of: inviting suppliers to a sourcing event, confirming sourcing event participants, releasing the request for transaction, facilitating a support conference, managing support activity, and receiving responses from the suppliers. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the conducting the enablement activities for the supplier includes at least one of: facilitating a change management communication, finalizing a supplier analysis, assigning an identification number to the contract, determining payment viability, compile a payment history, analyzing the payment history, establishing a supplier network account, confirming a supplier account in an account database, facilitating execution of the contract, and measuring performance based on the contract. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the commodity strategy further comprises a commodity positioning matrix, wherein the commodity positioning matrix includes a vertical axis for charting business impact and a horizontal axis for charting supply market complexity, wherein the matrix is divided into four quadrants representing leverage, routine, strategic, and bottleneck. 
     
     
         19 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a procurement computer-based system, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising:
 performing, by the computer based system, a commodity analysis using an opportunity assessment and a commodity strategy to achieve a supplier list; and   developing, by the computer based system, a sourcing strategy by creating a supplier list,   wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises obtaining a sponsorship,   wherein the obtaining the sponsorship includes receiving approval of a project plan by a designated approver, and   wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises performing an interview with key stakeholders of an organization associated with the strategic sourcing.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 a procurement processor,   a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations;
 a performance module in communication with the processor and configured to perform a commodity analysis using an opportunity assessment and a commodity strategy to achieve a supplier list; and 
 a developing module in communication with the processor and configured to develop a sourcing strategy by creating a supplier list, 
 wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises obtaining a sponsorship, 
 wherein the obtaining the sponsorship includes receiving approval of a project plan by a designated approver, and 
 wherein the developing the sourcing strategy further comprises performing an interview with key stakeholders of an organization associated with the strategic sourcing.