Best-of-Breed Procurement Software Solutions

Does my company need a best-of-breed procurement solution?

Before making that decision, users should understand what a best-of-breed solution is and what benefits one can expect. Simply put, best-of-breed applications are tailor-made. They have a core function, are designed to solve one problem or niche issue, and are limited by their specialty area. More importantly, best-of-breed software is agile and can adapt quickly to changing conditions.

Best-of-breed software are singular solutions; consequently, companies have multiple options. The goal is to implement a technology that assists your team in resolving one specific problem efficiently.

When considering a best-of-breed solution, here are several key advantages to investigate:

Rapid ROI. Best-of-breed software is directed to a select user group. Accordingly, implementing such an application requires fewer training and support resources than a company-wide technology rollout. Impact: Less time is needed to deploy the software. As users become more productive, the software pays for itself.

Greater end-user technology. Best-of-breed software has a narrow application. Consequently, the solution is customized to meet the user group’s needs. In addition, user-friendly interfaces ensure quick acceptance, and user buy-in is higher.

Expert solution. There is no “fluff” in a best-of-breed solution, and it is the best available technology to solve a specific problem or perform a niche task.

Rapid innovation. Due to the extremely narrow focus of best-of-breed software, updates and changes are incorporated quickly, reducing risks or exposure for the company. Such agility is critical, especially in inventory and supply chain management.

Smooth integration. The flexibility of best-of-breed software supports integration with other best-of-breed solutions and enables the connection of multiple systems. Users are not locked to a single-vendor condition.

Enterprise Cloud Platform is the best-of-breed to transform supply chains digitally

The efficiency of the Requis platform allows users to be more efficient and productive. The Enterprise Cloud Platform streamlines the entire RFQ process, thus providing 40% savings on procurement hours. With the Requis analytics, users have more insights through visibility of internal processes and the whole entire marketplace. The software platform enhances the users’ ability to track capital assets and analyze when to dispose of them, thus minimizing total cost.

“We are the best because we have one platform for procurement and suppliers. We offer a unique collaboration of all procurement stakeholders in one forum, unique supplier crowdsourcing, and a centralized location. All are in a procurement best-of-breed versus ERP or finance solutions that are not a fit for the procurement ecosystem to succeed or collaborate,” Loic Coyot, Business Operations Director of Requis.

Case Study 1: MRA optimization

Challenge. The strategic procurement team needed to solicit bids for a master rental agreement (MRA) for 2,828 line items of small tools and equipment from three suppliers, utilizing two different price rates in a short time frame.

Solution. The team put together the spending analytics, prioritized strategic cost savings initiatives, and used Requis to streamline the RFQ process.

Part of how Requis does is this through normalizing the baseline pricing sheet. During most bid processes, suppliers may alter the original data sent to them in Excel or send the bid in their own format. Normally, this would increase the amount of time spent by procurement professionals on comparing the differences and normalizing the base data.

On the Requis platform, all suppliers must bid against the normalized pricing sheet and upload the alternative quotes/offerings separately. This makes the buyer’s job easier and streamlines the overall RFQ process flow for both the supplier and buyer.

Requis platform’s bid evaluation feature can instantly do high-level line-by-line comparisons for the buyer with a click of a button. This feature saved countless hours of copying and pasting items from different spreadsheets (and formats!) into one document.

Impact. Aside from completing the project in under two months and saving 100 person-hours on the project, the new master services agreement (MSA) will drive cost expenditure efficiencies and create better predictability for future lump-sum projects. This is a significant competitive advantage for the firm and its clients. This pricing predictability will help the firm successfully secure new lump-sum

Follow-up project. The client is now using the Requis for its new PPE procurement overhaul. The goal is to standardize and reduce the thousands of SKUs down to a handful of items and to streamline their supplier list from 19 down to a handful of strategic suppliers, in order to lower the overall cost of supporting the projects.

CASE STUDY 2:  Worley Procurement optimizes RFQs

Worley is one of the world’s premiere engineering project management and consulting firms, serving the energy, chemicals, and resources sectors with both EPC and EPCM models.

When Worley moved its procurement activities to the Requis platform, its procurement teams noticed the time savings within two months.

Results:

• 81% savings on time needed to create major equipment packages (actual average hours needed to create a full package dropped from 16 hours to 3 hours)
• Onboarding time required: 2 hours
  (versus weeks equivalent to 80-160 hours of training required by ERP systems)
• 1,000+ RFQs issued within months
  (proving teams were actually using Requis, instead of finding workarounds)

With over 1,500 energy, resources, and chemical sector suppliers on the platform, Worley’s procurement managers and buyers now have an easy way to source everything they need for new projects. Because it’s free to sign on to Requis, it’s a low barrier to entry experience for suppliers and enterprises alike.

Schedule your procurement software demo today

Selecting the right digital solution improves the performance of the buyers and suppliers through clearer visibility and communication.

Ask for a demo to see how Requis provides an intuitive procurement solution for the supply chain ecosystem.

Request a Demo here.