Gartner Recognises Aerchain for Autonomous Sourcing

In this day and age, enterprises are looking at all opportunities to optimize their costs and contribute to their bottom line. Sourcing is seen as one such cumbersome process that has immense potential for cost savings. With data and technology available at our fingertips, sourcing has evolved into e-sourcing in which the entire process is carried out in a digital format. As more and more enterprises realize the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and the need to digitize their processes, firms are building e-sourcing platforms to cater to these requirements.

E-sourcing can be defined as the collective process of performing sourcing activities using a set of digital platforms/ tools that work in tandem with each other. E-sourcing can be used to procure both direct as well as indirect materials.

E-sourcing platforms are usually offered as modules or as part of a larger source-to-pay package. While selecting an e-sourcing solution, one must be cognizant of the features it offers, its ability to integrate, and the extent to which it can simplify your sourcing.

To identify the right e-sourcing solution, decision-makers in enterprises can take the following steps:

       1. Analyze your enterprise’s sourcing spend. This helps in understanding the total            spend and the category-wise purchases that your organization makes along            with their timelines.

       2. Begin gathering past purchase data and vendor data. Find out about existing             rate contracts and incumbent vendors. Usually, data from the last 2-3 years             would be ideal for this analysis.

       3. Understand the bandwidth of your sourcing team and identify their abilities.             This helps to choose a product that can be adopted in accordance with your             team’s abilities.

        4. Get buy-in from stakeholders to transform your sourcing process.

        5. Identify the features that your organization is looking for in the sourcing             solution. Understand the KPIs to be measured to define the success of the e-             sourcing platform.

Enterprises all over the world are re-looking at the way sourcing is being done and this has led to an increase in the number of sourcing solutions in the market. Aerchain is one such solution that was built in 2019 and is the next-generation autonomous sourcing solution that helps enterprises simplify, optimize, and automate the entire sourcing process.

Aerchain has been recognized as an Autonomous sourcing vendor in the Gartner 2022 ‘Market Guide for E-Sourcing Applications’. The list which consists of a total of 39 e-sourcing vendors has categorized products into Basic RFQ, Standard e-sourcing, Advanced sourcing optimization, and Autonomous Sourcing. It has further mentioned if the solution is a suite vendor or a point solution to help decision-makers with their e-sourcing solution purchases.

Enterprise leaders can benefit from e-sourcing solutions by setting appropriate policies, getting a buy-in from stakeholders, and ensuring internal stakeholder and vendor adoption. In addition to the benefits provided by the solution itself, we need to evaluate the integration capabilities, the user-friendliness, and the ease of adoption before selecting a solution.

Gartner’s study has measured an annual spend on e-sourcing applications of $330 million with a growth of nearly 15% over the previous year.

With autonomous sourcing gaining ground over manual sourcing, enterprises are able to focus on high-value tasks and can achieve other goals such as sustainable sourcing, vendor enablement, etc.. This can ensure that they are protected in the event of another global pandemic. By choosing the right KPIs, it becomes easier for organizations to measure the ROI and the impact of implementing such intelligent solutions.

Sourcing teams are also experiencing better results in terms of cost savings, productivity, and vendor reliability. With Covid-19 affecting global supply chains, sourcing and procurement teams have come under intense scrutiny to cut costs and develop supply chain resilience. The pressure is now on decision-makers to choose the right sourcing solution provider from the numerous vendors available in the market by carefully weighing the benefits.

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