Procurement Trends: Navigating the Used Asset Market

Life for procurement pros is very different these days from what it was around 15 years ago. A procurement official is now much more than a negotiator in search of the best deal. Businesses face daily challenges to accomplish more with less. Procurement types have growing responsibilities, such as ensuring supply security and driving their company’s competitive edge. This can be particularly difficult when procuring used assets.
 

The Trends

What exactly drives a company’s determination of what a procurement department is contributing to business? Start with these:

• Pressure on profits
• Urgent need for innovation and becoming more sustainable
• Material price volatility
• Expanding risk profiles in global markets

Today’s acquisition departments are expected to do a lot more than generate cash by cutting costs. Expectations include making product and service innovations that enhance productivity and shorten delivery time.
 

CEOs look at the acquisition process in light of leapfrogging competitors and reducing supply chain risk. Over the past 20 years, this corporate department has shed its paper-pushing image. Chief procurement officers now often have the ear of the company CEO as well as that of the board.
 

Why? A constant corporate focus on cost savings has petered out. There are only limited ways to save. An even more important reason is the presence of greater competition, which requires a procurement process that’s responsible for managing supplier relationships. Since considerable innovation can come from a company’s supply base, procurement departments are often responsible for managing supplier relationships.
 

Boosting Company Procurement

These trends mean big challenges for procurement officials. There are a number of sometimes-complex steps that can boost organizational procurement. Here are some of them:

• Hire top pros with experience in the business line they’ll support
• Include procurement as part of the top team of major business units
• Make suppliers partners to foster innovation when searching for answers
• Ensure that procurement focuses on supply chain risk management
• Place procurement officials strategically across the globe
• Review the corporate procurement model for governance issues and structure
• Aim for procurement that helps the company achieve sustainability goals
• Treat suppliers like customers.

This list can be a daunting one. How can a company most easily and successfully manage surplus assets or acquire them? The most practical answer is by using an experienced surplus asset management professional. When it comes to procuring used assets, EquipNet’s acquisition program helps companies realize a savings of 25 to 75 percent off new equipment cost.
 

EquipNet, with 15+ years’ experience helping brand-name corporations, is an industry leader and an expert in asset management, including asset tracking, sales and equipment redeployment. Thanks to recent lean manufacturing practices, rapid shifts in technology and supply chain restructure, an abundance of premium-quality pre-owned equipment is available. EquipNet procurement services allow businesses to minimize the time, risk and effort normally devoted to navigating the used equipment market.
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit our Procurement Service homepage here or contact a sales representative at [email protected] or 781-821-3482.
 

Sources

http://www.equipnet.com/services/procurement/

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/view/issue-16/strategic-procurement.jhtml

Categorias: Services

Tags: asset management equipment procurement procurement services,