Supply chain intelligence is essential to get a realistic and comprehensive understanding of the supply chain’s performance. And delivering operations in a cost-effective manner is a major challenge for every company into supply chain management. Until recently, several major organizations were hugely dependent on supply chain intelligence to gain better insights into the loopholes in their operation process. But at the same time, they do realize that changing market dynamics calls for inclusion of new elements in the supply chain analysis. Supplier-enabled innovation (SEI) seems to be the latest panacea for all  procurement woes.

Can suppliers drive in innovation?

While procurement teams are constantly looking for ways in which innovation can be brought into the work process; getting the right solution from in-house teams is not that easy. Therefore, experts in supply chain management believe that including innovative inputs from suppliers is sure to give an edge to supply chain planning.

Supplier-enabled innovation is “one of the largest opportunity” in supply chain management. The whole idea of adopting ideas from the supplier’s end, works on the basic premise that their expertise will not only bring in innovation but also provide a cost advantage to the organization. This is because the extent of R&D activities undertaken by the suppliers is quite vast and in-depth in nature. Thus, it is only practical for companies to switch to their suppliers and employ their data to enhance the operations of supply chains.

As simple as the concept of SEI may sound, the fact remains that it has emerged as a vital element in the strategic repositioning of any procurement process. In the recently concluded Procurement Leaders American Congress 2017 in Miami, experts from various procurement verticals have unanimously agreed to SEI being a major disruptor in the procurement industry. This proves that SEI is not just a fancy theory, but an idea which is here to stay.

SpendEdge’s take on SEI

As procurement leaders, we have always recognized the magic which innovation can breathe into the supply chain business. The fact that SEI has eventually caught the much-needed attention of major players throughout the globe speaks volumes about the potential it holds. It is time that category managers and procurement teams adopt SEI in their supply chain strategy to meet the growing demands of the market and bring down the TCO.

For a detailed understanding of the dynamics of supply chain management