4 Top Sourcing Tips For Finding New Quality Suppliers In 2022
The pandemic sent shockwaves through global supply chains triggering a mad rush for businesses to find new suppliers. This means that business owners and managers took unparalleled risks to keep business moving. Unfortunately, rigorously managed procurement processes developed rough edges as many unimportant factors when finding suppliers. Many businesses are wondering how to find the right suppliers this year. If you fall within this category, here are four top tips to consider when finding new quality suppliers in 2022.
- Research
The pandemic’s new normal has forced many businesses to re-examine their supply chain and future procurement strategies. According to experts, COVID-19 has reiterated the need for new information. Today, instead of box-ticking activity, businesses are getting down to focus on the real data on supplier viability and whether they are outstretching themselves. Business-supplier relationships today require balancing speed and risks. However, focusing more on one element and ignoring the other can lead to problems.
- Find one tailored to suit your needs
The needs of your company would help you determine what kind of supply you would want and their mode of transportation. Research suggests that costs and shipping requirements can significantly differ per the location offered by a supplier. However, you can find a supplier ready to negotiate prices. Additionally, you can save money, time and resources in your routine supply chain strategies by ensuring that your supply chain is not compromised using expensive processes that may not be worthwhile.
- Think past cost
When looking for suppliers, businesses tend to focus on cost, with little thought given to other factors such as quality of service or reliability. This usually leads to frustrations and several disruptions in the supply chain. Therefore, it is important to find a supplier you can trust. Be sure to build relationships and establish a responsive supply chain from the start. You should consider implementing multi-sourcing. Multi-sourcing is the new trend reducing risks after single-sourcing businesses struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. As a result, many businesses are expanding their supplier network for more robust procurement strategies that mitigate risks.
However, this is not to say cost is not important — try not to give too much of a priority. For example, if you are looking for a supplier of industrial glues, you may want to find one that gives you a reasonable price, is reliable, and is trustworthy.
- Know supplier scalability
You want to determine a supplier’s flexibility in delivering on small and large order volumes. For a small business, you’ll likely focus on volume when searching for a modest number of prototypes, for starters. At the same time, your business can easily outgrow your earlier supplier choice, especially when you require significantly large shipments over time. So understanding your growth trend for the product you’re interested in can help you partner with the right supplier business to smoothly scale to meet your changing business requirements.
In conclusion, understanding your tactical and strategic sourcing is vital for appreciating the role of suppliers in your business supply chain. It can be helpful to find innovative, robust, and intuitive solutions to complement your sourcing efforts and campaign management.
