In the first two posts in this series (Part 1 and Part 2), I provided background and context behind using software demonstrations in evaluating technology solutions, courtesy of my own opinion and experience as well as those of Debbie Wilson and Brian Sommer. In this third and final post — at least for now, unless Spend Matters readers would like us to regularly list out potential demonstration scenario examples in different Spend Management technology areas — I’ll offer up a sample scenario in the e-sourcing area using the Brian Sommer school of scenario request authoring. It’s important to remember that all scenarios work best when used in tandem with half a dozen or more others to create a combined rating (i.e., don’t have a vendor demonstrate a single scenario; pick at least half a dozen or more for them to present). Here goes with an example, meant as part of a broader e-sourcing suite:
Scenario 1 Title — Manufacturing Make/Buy Decision Analysis and Collaborative/Advanced Sourcing
Role — VP Procurement/CPO, Category Manager, VP/Director Supply Chain, Functional P&L Owner
Scenario Description — Our firm has a number of decisions to make in the next twenty-four months regarding make/buy analysis in key direct materials component areas. We plan, among other analyses, to consider whether or not to have suppliers provide integrated components vs. piece parts, whether there are tax/transfer pricing advantages for locating facilities in certain regions (or having supplier owned facilities that produce and hold inventory), and whether there are other benefits (e.g., working capital) of different supply scenarios based on ownership of production and inventory.
The Business Problem — Please demonstrate:
- A solution that addresses our requirements from a make/buy perspective by allowing the solicitation and gathering of different supplier requirements and proposals based on different criteria (or multiple criteria in the case of multiple proposals)
- A way of analyzing the provided responses based on different award scenarios and constraints (e.g., pushing 100% of production out to suppliers vs. keeping a level of manufacturing capacity in-house or a blend of both)
- The ability to drive competition amongst suppliers in this type of negotiation environment (show market feedback mechanisms)
- An ability to enable a business user to configure such a system based on relatively minimal training
- Integration into a broader sourcing/procurement process
Please Demonstrate/Discuss:
