The evaluation of an Outsourcing application model cannot ignore the degree of knowledge and use of Information Technologies, not to mention the mastery of the Tools on which the proposals sent to you by the Outsourcing Service Provider are based
Time Management
In high-yield countries, we find ourselves more and more often faced with the need to rely on the precious time factor. It is now a widely held opinion that the simple optimal definition and respect of working time slots are no longer enough; which is of fundamental importance insofar as it is what is concretely achieved during such an arc of time, the result of activities, remote premises and human and technological resources, whether internal or external. To be able to carry out effective Control and Management activities, it is necessary to have managerial instruments and new approaches based on innovative technologies. The availability of such instruments plays a decisive role in defining new organizational models oriented towards cost reduction, consolidation of the commercial position in the market and towards greater competitiveness and efficiency. In the attempt to resolve the "time problem", within the framework of Supply Management and Management, companies will find themselves more and more often in the position of requiring from their own suppliers the ability to assume the role of active Partner in the definition and development of commercial strategies and in the achievement of ever better economic objectives; we will thus arrive at an ever more complete and fruitful integration with these organizational centers which are able to offer such services.
Communications and Procedures
The number of procedures in a procurement process increases over time in proportion to the number of orders that become necessary, particularly in the context of reciprocations for systems. This increase in the number of orders is due to the effective reduction in the value tied up in warehouses towards which large companies are moving.
The documentation and amount of information generated for each procedure of the procurement process and its relative management in the various stages of the process, make the time involved the main protagonist of such activities. Time turns out to be a factor whose degree of impact turns out to be unpredictable and apparently unmeasurable; the possibility cannot be overlooked of reducing the amount of time used thanks to the support of targeted IT solutions, able to carry out communication, verification, control and monitoring activities; the costs of such activities in fact greatly exceed the value of the object of the supply (the procurement procedures number fifty to sixty, with approximately ten agencies involved, and ten to twenty people engaged).
Integrated Outsourcing Platform Software
New technologies and modes of communication enable the creation and use of more effective solutions at reduced costs. Their validity must be found in the high speed of response rather than in the power of the hardware used. The implementation costs of installation, diagnosis, maintenance and modernization of applications turn out to be extremely reduced if compared to the possibility of operating from any part of the world.
The introduction of the dedicated software platform, and carried out with a view to Work Flow, allows Online Feedback, automatically available whenever a procedure is completed by the external structure and the possibility of operating interactively by placing between your structure and that of the Outsourcing Service Provider. It is possible, for example, to consult a personalized database made available to you by the Outsourcing Service Provider: in other words, each resource/entity (Outsourcer) involved in the procurement process can control the progress of a supply request at any point in the flow, in addition to being able to consult the lists, the orders sent, the progress of the same and the related delivery times, invoices and vouchers, the "control of Outsourcing activity” (GI – Degree of Integration).
The possibility of accessing such tools is assured to you by the simple use of an Information Oriented type information management system.
As said previously, the factor that primarily generates the increase in the number of orders is the need to reduce warehouse stocks; proportional to this increase, the control and support activities of the suppliers involved must increase. Huge help in managing this type of situation comes from achieving synergies with other materials management agencies within the Group (on national and foreign territory), if not with other entities with common guidelines.
The use of the Integrated Outsourcing Platform Software is placed, as part of the strategic design of innovation, between the Outsourcer and the activities of the Outsourcing Service Provider, without generating negative impacts on existing structures and requirements. All this can further be seen as creating the basis for a gradual evolution towards International Outsourcing. (see Virtual Warehouse which allows you to keep the value of stocks reduced, but to have an available quantity greater than the minimum quantity actually on deposit in the warehouse).