Do you have problems finding suitable suppliers or also retaining existing ones? Many companies find themselves in the difficult position of having to locate suppliers, which can be tedious and time-consuming. In the following chapter we would like to explain to you what options small and medium-sized companies have to organize the search for suppliers and to what extent unconventional solution options can be popular.
Can you not find a suitable supplier? As a procurement agency, Paul Sourcing can support you in your project! You can find more about this in our service segment.
The most important information at a glance:
- The conventional way of looking for suppliers is by tendering or searching via industry platforms
- In the future, new possibilities such as AI can be used, but these are not yet fully developed
These and many other points will be picked up in the course of this block!
Find a supplier
In the following section we assume that fundamental preparatory work such as the inventory analysis has already been carried out. In the next section, the task should therefore be to find suppliers for parts that have already been defined. It is now important to note that, depending on the individual situation, different approaches lead to the goal.
The classic tender
Many companies use traditional tenders to meet their needs. The big advantage here is that the supplier pool can be addressed depending on the size of the email portfolio. In addition, in rare cases, calls for tenders can be made in representative industry magazines, online registers or forums. The disadvantage here would be that such a tender can probably only address suppliers who are already known, new ones cannot necessarily be found easily, and language barriers can also make communication difficult, especially when it comes to details. Please also keep in mind that according to the regulations of the EU Anti-Discrimination Act, depending on the size of the advertisement, it may be important to
Business directories
Business directories are one of the most popular tools for finding and researching suppliers. A distinction can be made between general business directories and industry-specific company registers. Various selection criteria such as geography or size can also be taken into account here. Such company entries are sometimes quite extensive, but niche suppliers cannot always be found, which means that specific products may not be found. Furthermore, industry entries can usually only be used up to the European area, which means that significant markets such as America or China are often left out.
Online marketplaces
As we explained in our blog about online marketplaces, there are various providers of goods on the net. Online markets stand out from the business directories in that they are mostly tailored to the B2C market. When looking for a supplier, companies have particularly good cards if they only need standard parts, the manufacturing effort of which is minimal. This means that costs can be saved and many supplier criteria can be compared.
New ways: the AI
Very few companies sometimes use AI solutions because trust is lacking due to a lack of transparency, but it could be worthwhile to invest in such software in the long term. Basically, it can be said that such a solution can partially cover the points mentioned above, even if it is expected to be used for predominantly operational processes in the future. With regard to the search for a supplier, however, there could be counter-arguments. On the one hand, the pricing structures are usually too costly to manage a search for suppliers that is relatively rare. On the other hand, such solutions can only locate a small part of the supplier pool.
Didn’t find a suitable supplier? We can help you!
Unfortunately, it is ubiquitous that the search for a supplier can be tedious. A procurement agency can help you find a suitable manufacturer without the hassle and headache.