Course Description

Strategic sourcing relates to getting the best products and services at the best value. It is designed to segment external spend and ensure that procurement resources are focused on the most important categories. What sets strategic sourcing apart is its continuous attention to improving and re-evaluating the purchasing activities of a company, thus enabling organisations to adapt to changing market forces.

Strategic sourcing is a core activity in purchasing and supply management which can be defined as satisfying the organization’s needs via planned analysis of supply markets and the selection of suppliers, with the objective of delivering solutions to meet agreed organizational requirements.

Strategic sourcing has become a best practice in procurement management and makes good business sense for meeting bottom line targets. Into Module’s business environment, managers need to have a firm grasp on the potential impact of how they manage their purchasing spend within their organisation.

This course takes you through a variety of tools and techniques in how a category or spending plan should be viewed from a strategic perspective. It is aimed at providing a framework for supply management activities. You are also provided information on how to manage a sourcing project. The objective will be to explain the tie between the commodity strategy and supply management activities, and provide an overall perspective of the organization’s objectives.

Course Objective

In robust, interactive classroom sessions, participants learn practical, "how to” techniques for:

·         Creating effective sourcing teams

·         Gaining stakeholder involvement and buy-in

·         Comprehensively understanding both internal needs and the external supply market

·         Understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

·         Building effective RFIs and RFPs

·         Developing the right sourcing strategy

·         Establishing negotiations objectives and strategy

·         Conducting effective negotiations and developing a good contract

·         "Speaking with one voice” to suppliers

·         Developing and maintaining long-term supplier relationships

Course Methodology
This course will include a mix of activities including presentations, group discussions, case studies and syndicate exercises to ensure an understanding of the concepts and theories and to encourage you to consider how these may be practically employed in your organisation.

Who Should attend?

·         Supply Chain Managers

·         Purchasing Directors

·         Heads of Procurement

·         Heads of Planning

·         Heads of Supply Support

·         Contracts Managers

·         Contracts Procurement Managers

·         Inventory Managers

·         Logistics Managers

·         Heads of Stock Control

·         Heads of Materials Management

·         Warehousing Managers

·         Managers involved in day-to-day procurement operations and activities

Course Outline

Module One
Aligning the Sourcing Strategy 
this session will look at the challenges facing organisations in ensuring that their sourcing strategy supports the overall strategy of the organisation.

Module Two
this session will look at the steps involved in a strategic sourcing process. You will discuss how to analyze sourced goods and services into categories or commodity groups. You will then consider how their characteristics can be used to build sourcing strategies, generate a supplier portfolio, and decide a selection route.

Module Three
this session covers the negotiation part of the strategic sourcing process. You will look at the process of negotiation and how you can gain success through effective management of that process.

Module Four
this session will look at the final stages of the strategic sourcing process, transition planning and performance monitoring. You will also discuss how to use financial data in the business cases used to support sourcing decisions.