Time management; outsourcing technologies; communications and procedures; Integrated outsourcing platform software; etc...
The evaluation of an application model for outsourcing cannot ignore the extent to which information technologies are known and used, let alone the availability of tools based on them and suggestions provided by the outsourcing provider.
Time management
In countries with high economic performance, it is becoming increasingly necessary to deal with the valuable factor of time. It is now generally accepted that optimal definition and adherence to working time windows is no longer sufficient; This is of fundamental importance because it is about what is specifically achieved during such periods - the result of activities, their prerequisites and the human and technological resources used, be they internal or external. To carry out effective controlling and management activities Management tools and constantly new measures based on innovative technologies are required. The availability of such tools plays a decisive role in defining new organizational models aimed at reducing costs, consolidating market position and achieving greater competitiveness and efficiency. In an attempt to solve the “time problem” in the area of materials management and procurement, companies are increasingly finding themselves in the position of demanding from their own suppliers the ability to take an active partner role in defining and developing business strategies and in achieving ever better economic objectives; In this way, an increasingly complete and fruitful integration is achieved with those organizational units capable of offering such services.
Communication and procedures
The number of procedures in a procurement process increases over time in proportion to the number of orders required, especially in the area of mutual relationships for systems. This increase in the number of orders has its origins in the actual reduction in the value locked in inventory that large companies are working towards.
The documentation and the amount of information generated for each procedure of the procurement process and its management at the different process stages make the time spent the main protagonist of such activities. Time turns out to be a factor whose degree of impact proves to be immeasurable and apparently unmeasurable; the possibility cannot be ignored of reducing the time spent by supporting targeted IT solutions capable of carrying out communication, verification, controlling and tracking activities; In fact, the costs of such activities often far exceed the value of the procurement item (procurement procedures are between fifty and sixty, agencies involved are around ten, people involved are between ten and twenty).
Integrated outsourcing platform software
The new technologies and communication methods enable the implementation and use of more effective solutions at reduced costs. Their validity must be found less in the performance of the hardware used and more in the high response speed. The costs of installation, diagnosis, maintenance and modernization of the applications prove to be extremely low when compared to the possibility of working from anywhere in the world.
The introduction of the dedicated platform software, realized according to the workflow principle, allows online feedback, automatically available each time a procedure is carried out by the external structure, and the possibility of working interactively between its own structure and that of the outsourcing provider. It is possible, for example, to access a personalized database provided by the outsourcing provider: in other words, each resource/entity involved in the procurement process (outsourcer) can, at any point in the process, control the progress of a requested procurement, as well as control lists, orders sent, their progress and the corresponding delivery dates, invoices and delivery notes, “control of the outsourcing activity” (GI – level of integration).
The ability to access such areas is ensured through the easy use of an Information Oriented type information management system.
As already mentioned, the factor that primarily leads to the increase in the number of orders is the need to reduce inventories; In proportion to this increase, the control and support activities of the suppliers involved must multiply. A tremendous help in managing such situations comes from creating synergies with other materials management agencies within the group (at national and foreign levels), if not with other entities with common policies.
The use of the Integrated Outsourcing Platform software is positioned within the strategic innovation planning between the outsourcer and the activities of the outsourcing provider, without creating negative effects on existing structures and regulations. All of this can also be seen as laying the foundations for a gradual development towards international outsourcing. (vd. Virtual Warehouse, which makes it possible to keep the inventory value reduced, but to have a larger quantity than the minimum inventory).