Category Archives: SaaS

Pool4Tool: Bringing The Direct Procurement Platform — And Message — To the Masses! Part III

In Part I, we began our discussion of the Pool4Tool platform by focussing on its Sourcing capability. Then, in Part II, we discussed their Procurement and SRM capabilities, and specifically, the catalog management capability, procurement requisitions, service management, the SRM portal, and the overall procurement workflow capability. In this third and final installment of our initial 3-part series on Pool4Tool, we are going to discuss the supply chain management capabilities, which is where many of the capabilities not found in traditional source-to-pay (or procure-to-pay) platforms designed with indirect in mind fall short for direct materials management.

The Pool4Tool platform contains a number of unique supply chain management capabilities, including deep ERP integration, document approval, VMI, automated order dispatch and order acknowledgement, Kanban, and quality control.

Let’s start with ERP integration. Pool4Tool supports extremely deep ERP integration and the integration to SAP is so strong, and the interfaces so useable, that it’s actually deeper than Ariba and more useable by its clients for SCM than SAP’s own interfaces in some cases.

It’s EDI integration with third party content is extensive as well. Third party feeds that have already been integrated include, but are not limited to, D&B, Ecovadis, and about a dozen other providers. This data can be viewed side by side with all internal system and supplier data to provide a true 360 degree view of a supplier that extends beyond the enterprise to the market as a whole.

One of the true strengths of the platform is the integrated VMI capability. Not only does the portal allow a supplier to self manage all of their data, see all of their purchase orders, get real-time visibility into their invoice status, and collaborate with the buyer, but it allows the supplier to manage inventory levels on behalf of the buyer. The supplier can keep track of stock levels in real time, manage deliveries to make sure stock levels do not fall below minimums or exceed maximums, and insure the buyer can run their operations smoothly at all times. This can take MRO to a new level and allow both parties to be more efficient.

And, last but not least, the bill of material support and integrated lifecycle costing with integrated budget management extends into supply chain management capabilities as well. The cost of a product is more than just the production cost, or acquisition cost, or sales cost — it’s the cost of distribution, the cost of maintenance, the cost of return, and the cost of raw material reclamation. The lifecycle cost can be many times more than what it costs to make a product, and the POOL4TOOL platform not only contains models to accurately compute that cost, but also to manage the acquisition, distribution, and support against a budget and track the costs across the lifecycle.

In other words, the capabilities of the Pool4Tool platform, while only briefly discussed in this series, go well beyond the average Source to Pay platform designed with indirect in mind and is, thus, a platform that should definitely be evaluated by any sourcing organization that does a lot of direct (material) sourcing.

For more information on why indirect platforms cannot support complex direct sourcing needs, see Sourcing Innovation’s recent white paper on The Direct Procurement Challenge. For more information on complex direct sourcing needs and the importance of efficiency and effectiveness in general, see the doctor‘s recent paper on The Procurement Value Engine, co-authored with the procurement dynamo. And check out the Pool4Tool platform.

For a deeper dive into Pool4Tool and their platform, see the recent 3-part series over on Spend Matters Pro [membership required] that does a very deep analysis of Pool4Tool and their capabilities. (Part I, Part II, and Part III.)

Pool4Tool: Bringing The Direct Procurement Platform — And Message — To the Masses! Part II

In Part I we began our discussion of the Pool4Tool platform, focussed on its Sourcing capability. Specifically, we discussed the RFX and e-Auction capability, the Contract Management capability, and the Catalog capability which can be used to kick-off Sourcing events or procure much needed products and services. Today, we are going to discuss the Pool4Tool platform’s Procurement and SRM capabilities.

It’s important to understand what the Pool4Tool platform does, and how it is different because, as we have been saying (in the Direct Procurement Challenge), indirect platforms cannot support complex direct sourcing needs and the Pool4Tool platform is one of the few platforms that can. (For more information on complex direct sourcing needs, see our recent paper on The Direct Procurement Challenge, sponsored by Pool4Tool, and for more details on the importance of efficiency and effectiveness, see the doctor‘s recent paper on The Procurement Value Engine, co-authored with the procurement dynamo.)

As per our last post, one of the capabilities of the Pool4Tool platform is a powerful catalog management platform that can be used to manage not only multiple supplier catalogs, internal and external through punch-outs, but also multiple requisition types and templates that can be reused as needed across sourcing and procurement projects. These catalogs can be managed by the buyer or by the suppliers themselves, and fully supports UNSPSC. The catalog is fully integrated into the e-Procurement platform and supports approval workflow by employee, cost center, or organizational unit. Requisitions can be approved in full or in part and (partially) approved requisitions can be automatically pushed into the ERP as soon as an approval is made. This can also kick off an automatic purchase order to the relevant suppliers (as requisitions can contain requests for products and services to multiple suppliers) and can do so in their own currencies (as not only does it support multi-currency, but even multi-currency within a single order).

The entire process can be kicked off by a Procurement Requisition from somewhere in the organization that can be made through the platform, be automatically routed to the right buyer, and kick off the right sourcing or (catalog) procurement process. This allows for all requests to be captured and managed in a central fashion. This is more important than you think as this allows all spend to be captured, tracked, analyzed, and brought under management.

In addition, service orders are deeply embedded in the e-Procurement platform and can be kicked off like procurement requisitions and tracked and managed through the entire process outside of the catalog or the standard PREQ if need be. Each type of service order can have its own workflow and approval process, can be tracked, invoiced against, and paid only when services have been rendered.

From an supplier point of view, the Pool4Tool Supplier portal is quite extensive. Suppliers can (self) register and create, and maintain extensive profiles. They can also manage their certifications, qualifications, insurance policies, and other documentation that is required by the buyer. They can access all their RFXs, auctions, communications, orders, invoices, and have a 360 degree view of their activities with the buyer.

Flipping back to the buyer view, the buyer can also use the portal to manage and develop their suppliers using the supplier development and (corrective) action management capabilities of the platform. And, like the buyer, they can get a full 360-degree view of all activities associated with the supplier. Past and present RFX and auctions, contracts, current orders and commitments, innovation initiatives, development activities, issues and corrective action plans, and overall supplier scorecards are all centralized. It’s a central point to get a comprehensive view of supplier capabilities, commitments, engagements, and possibilities.

In Part III, we are going to discuss the SCM capabilities of the Pool4Tool platform.

Pool4Tool: Bringing The Direct Procurement Platform — And Message — To the Masses! Part I

Hopefully you caught the recent webinar on The Direct Procurement Challenge or at least downloaded Sourcing Innovation’s recent paper on The Direct Procurement Challenge and realize that not all platforms are cut out for direct procurement. The majority of Procurement platforms were custom designed for indirect procurement and only handle those categories well.

The core issue is that direct procurement is typically much more complex than indirect procurement and requires capabilities that are not typically found in indirect platforms. As per our recent post on 5 Reasons Why You Need to Take the Direct Procurement Challenge, there are (at least) fifteen (15) capability requirements that a direct sourcing professional requires to efficiently and effectively source direct categories, and none of these are completely satisfied by indirect procurement platforms. To be more precise, nine are only partially satisfied and six are not satisfied at all.

That’s why you need the right platform, with the right capability, and an understanding of what that capability is and how to use it. Pool4Tool has been heavily focussed on educating you on the why (with the aforementioned white-paper, a two-part white-paper on The Procurement Value Engine Part I, and upcoming papers on Value-Based Sourcing and Virtual Procurement Centers of Excellence), and core capabilities to look for, so in these posts we are going to discuss the Pool4Tool platform and some key capabilities it has to support your direct procurement.

Pool4Tool has a very extensive platform with capabilities that not only span the traditional Source to Pay process, but also what we’re going to call the Procure to Produce process, as it can also manage inventory and production processes as part of its PLM capabilities. And all of this, as anyone who read the paper or attended the podcast would infer, allows everything to be done in a very supplier centric manner so that all of the needs — material composition, quality, delivery, etc. — can be evaluated in a balanced fashion against each and every supplier.

Pool4Tool capabilities can be divided into 4 (four) major buckets: Sourcing, Procurement, SRM, and SCM. Today we’re going to tackle the sourcing bucket.

Pool4Tool sourcing capability consists of standard RFX and auction capability, which is found in any e-Sourcing platform, but also includes sophisticated cost breakdown analysis and bill of materials support. A key requirement for any direct platform is bill of materials (BoM) support, and the need for BoM support is a key differentiator between indirect — where you are buying finished products for use or distribution — and direct — where you are buying dozens, if not hundreds, of raw materials and components to complete a product. Furthermore, these cannot be purchased separately or put out in separate lots as they all have to be compatible and meet rigid, interlocking, specifications in order for the product to be properly assembled and meet the quality requirements. In the Pool4Tool product, the Bill of Materials can have as many components as needed, and can be included in the cost breakdown analysis which can also include energy costs, labour, and overhead costs. This analysis can be done by product by supplier and insures that only useable bids are considered.

In addition to RFX and auction capabilities, designed for direct, it also has contract management capability. The contract management module, while not a best of breed enterprise contract management solution with deep authoring support, is just as good as the contract management capability found in the majority of sourcing platforms, and includes the capability to store and index all necessary documents required by the sourcing process, as well as search the (meta) data associated with those contracts. Finally, it also has deep catalog management capability that can store all direct, indirect, and even standard service requirements required by the company that can be used to either (insta-)buy products and services as needed or kick-off sourcing projects by populating requirements in RFX or auctions.

In Part II, we will discuss the e-Procurement and SRM capability of the Pool4Tool platform.

Synertrade – Another European P2P Vendor Expanding Westward

While this vendor was effectively unknown in North America even a year ago, Synertrade has one of the broadest, and deepest, footprints in the S2P (Source to Pay) marketplace. And it has additional functionality, like innovation management, portfolio strategy, quality management, and a centralized supplier portal not generally found in most S2P platforms.

So while you might already have a dozen vendors on your P2P evaluation list, if your organization needs a solution that goes beyond the basics, this is one that should definitely be on your short list. Why?

As discussed by the doctor and the prophet over on the recent 3-part series that appeared on Spend Matters Pro (Part I, Part II, and Part III) [membership required], it has a number of strengths, including, but not limited to:

  • ease of use
  • role orientation
  • innovation management
  • risk intelligence
  • quick data integration

In addition, Synertrade is a well established with:

  • 16 years of P2P solution history
  • over 500 global customers
  • 15 global offices on 4 continents to support an international clint base
  • strong partner support

The Synertrade platform is a set of applications integrated across business processes to support an average enterprise in the full breadth of its Source to Pay activities. The 27 modules that are currently available (with another 6 coming by year end) can not only be configured as needed to support client requirements, but can be enabled or disabled as necessary, and the workflow adjusted accordingly, to customize the experience for each client, and each employee of each client.

The Source to Contract application contains RFX, auctions, and contract management capabilities with event (tender) management. The Procure to Pay application contains catalogue management capability (which supports the webshop), basic procure to pay, as well as order tracking and inventory management. In addition, the WebShop is comparable to any other web-based catalog purchasing solution with integrated EDI catalogs, custom catalogs, and free-form requisitions and checkouts. The Supplier Management application is built around a supplier database and supports supplier self-registration, qualification and assessment, certificate and document management, quality management, and development measures. The Purchasing Intelligence application, built around a harmonized data store that integrates all data from the platform and any relevant external applications (and pre-defined spend cubes), supports standard spend analysis, performance analysis, supplier scorecard analysis, and risk analysis.

There are a number of strengths to the platform, and major strengths include:

SynerConnect

The SynerConnect tool allows them to quickly map a client’s data to a common schema that has been developed using fifteen plus years of best practice data mapping and integration. With this tool, Synertrade can integrate just about any existing system or (real-time) (market) data feed that the organization wants to integrate in a manner of hours. Even obscure ERPs, custom-built supply management systems, and discontinued database products can be integrated quickly.

Risk Intelligence

The risk intelligence piece is quite powerful as it integrates supplier scorecards with Risk Methods and Ecovadis data and allows an organization, and a buyer, to evaluate supplier risk from multiple angles — financial, geographic, product/material availability, social responsibility, etc. The standard measurements and ratings can be overridden by the clients and the reports can be customized as needed. Plus, it is built on their analytics platform, which is built on Qlikview and extensive data cubes built up over years of platform extension (and cube definition).

Material Category / Supplier Portfolio Strategy

It’s great to know how much you are spending on a category, supplier, product, service, etc. and to be able to break it down across all of these dimensions, but if you do not know what to do with this data, that’s not that helpful. The Synertrade product helps buying teams and organizations overcome this by integrating the knowledge captured in the classic Kraljic matrix and the more modern AT Kearney Procurement chessboard and based upon this and extracted measures can recommended levers and strategies for categories, suppliers, and their intersection. This is extremely useful for organizations looking for a starting point in their strategic sourcing and procurement efforts.

For a deeper dive into Synertrade strengths, a full corporate SWOT analysis, a product selection guide, and an analyst commentary, see the in-depth three part series by the doctor and the prophet over on Spend Matters Pro (Part I, Part II, and Part III) [membership required].

EC Sourcing: Getting Ready to Take the Mid-Market by Storm

When we last checked in on EC Sourcing, they had recently released an updated version of their basic e-Negotiation suite, Flex RFP, and their Supplier Corrective Action Reporting (SCAR) solution. Their e-Negotiation suite had straight-forward RFX, auctions, and a basic contract repository that was the 80% solution at the time. It couldn’t compete in the big leagues, but that wasn’t the focus — the focus was the majority of the market that the big players were ignoring (by selling overkill solutions the market didn’t need at a price point the market couldn’t afford).

The platform also had basic project management built in to allow customers to define projects — which include suppliers, users, RFXs and/or Auctions; message with users and suppliers — through integrated message boxes and e-mails; and define notifications in addition to standard project management features — such as timelines, state tracking, and document management. It also supported 4 languages, multi-currency, and formulas in auction and RFX weighting, it was a solid solution, which is further evidenced that about 1/3 of their client base are actually Global 3000s that realized that they didn’t need an overkill solution at an absurd price point to meet their daily sourcing needs.

Since we last checked in a few years ago, they have been developing steadily — improving both the base solution and adding new modules and capabilities, including some not found in the majority of e-Sourcing platforms (even when the big guys are included). They have added supplier management and workflow management and improved everything across the board (including, but not limited to, their internationalization with support for a dozen languages so far). The three biggest changes are:

Supplier Management

Their new supplier management module contains everything you would expect, including, but not limited to, self-registration, deep supplier meta-data management and search, and out-of-the-box Big ERP Integration. The supplier management module supports self-registration. When a supplier self-identifies, it will be presented with the default questionnaire(s), and upon initial review, the buyer can select the supplier for on-boarding, generate a full profile, and request that the supplier complete it. The buyer can define as many fields (across questionnaires) as they want, and each field can be tagged, filtered, and searched. Plus, the module, like the rest of the platform, integrates with JDE, Oracle, and SAP out of the box.

Workflow and Configuration

EC Sourcing has moved well beyond basic project management and now includes procurement request functionality (which can kick off a workflow outside of Procurement), deep approval and routing capability, customizeable status information associated with each task, and custom workflow definitions that allow a user to define a complete workflow for any sourcing project, with direct links into the relevant parts of the platform. All of these workflows are 100% configurable by the user, who can create them as templates, copy them, and customize them as needed for each sourcing project. Very few sourcing platforms have this capability, and no other mid-market solution has Procurement project management at this level of configurability and completeness.

e-Sourcing Automation Capabilities

It might sound trivial, but EC Sourcing’s new capabilities that allow the platform to:

  • automatically identify and invite all approved suppliers for a product/category
  • automatically attach specifications to an RFX on a line-item basis
  • automatically calculate advanced weightings and scorings (when the event is created from a template using advanced lots)

is extremely powerful, especially for large events and junior buyers.

Some categories (like office suppliers, MRO, etc.) have hundreds of line items and, for national (and international operations) that are collectively provided by thousands of suppliers. Even if each product or service specification (document set) can be located, uploaded, and attached in 2 minutes, for 210 items, that’s 6 hours of manual labour. And if there are 5 potential suppliers for each item, and no supplier can supply more than 50, it’s easy to conceive that there may be 1,000 different, pre-approved, suppliers. The manual time it would take to identify those 1,000 suppliers and then identify the lots they are allowed to bid on and configure that could be days.

However, with EC Sourcing’s auto-identification and auto-association capability, all approved suppliers in the SIM database can be automatically identified and invited to just the portion of the RFX/e-Auction they have been qualified to bid on and, if the documents follow a naming convention, all of the specification documents can be uploaded in a single zip file and the system will automatically extract the documents and associated them with the line, lot, or event as appropriate. This, as we noted above, can save days of a buyer’s time.

With the recent acquisition of classic mid-market leaders like Iasta (by Selectica, now Determine) and MarketMaker4 (by Xchanging), there are few providers that have been around since the noughts, fewer still with as mature a platform, and even fewer still with almost 2 decades of strategic sourcing advisory and consulting (which is how EC Sourcing started out before it realized that an organization could be much more effective powered by a proper platform as opposed to just a crack sourcing team with limited bandwidth). As a result, EC Sourcing is poised to make a big splash in the mid-market, and with the recent release of its newly upgraded solution, is sure to make one in the years to come.