Although putting critical spend categories under the microscope to ensure best value sourcing is commonplace in organisations, the sheer breadth of spend categories to cover is likely to mean attention is restricted to the highest value direct commodities that are critical to the business operation. This is a sound strategy in dealing the main body of sourcing efficiency. However it does leave an extremely long and inefficient tail of smaller spending, on myriad indirect categories where potential savings generally remain untapped.

For this reason, organisations are increasingly choosing to outsource part or all of sourcing itself. Beyond the traditional popularity of expensive management consultants brought in to reengineer how major products and services are sourced, the tactical skills of specialist sourcing consultants have become highly sought. These experts have the luxury of running dozens of events annually across the top 20 or so indirect spend categories common to every organisation. Thus their well honed approaches have gained traction as an outsourced service.

Repeated exposure to the same contract types and supplier communities gives sourcing consultants the edge in terms of being able to answer all the fundamental questions needed to drive savings. This knowledge can range from choosing the right categories for strong savings opportunities, to selection of the tactics required for the best outcome. Knowing the best frequency for sourcing activity per category and scope for bargaining are also critical.

One such active Sourcing Consultant is Alun Morris of Wax Digital. Alun spends his time helping clients through the process of well constructed eTenders and eAuctions designed to find cost savings in every corner of spend. Over the next few weeks Sourcing Focus will feature blogs from Alun, each providing insights into specific indirect spend categories where certain nuances must be applied for the best possible results. Watch this space for the first in the series focusing on IT Consumables.