An electronics purchasing manager always focuses on the newest and most innovative technologies to help solve problems. Thanks to the new digital age, there’s an online solution for everything in digital procurement, from inventory tracking to supplier sourcing.
Technological solutions give companies greater spending control and reduce cycle times and costs. They also simplify collecting and monitoring meaningful data within the e-procurement process, promoting better decision-making overall.
In addition, most of today’s online systems are relatively inexpensive and straightforward. As a result, the digitalized world is fundamentally changing how digital procurement occurs in businesses worldwide. As new technology unfolds, more innovative trends and patterns emerge, showing how things will be decades from now.
In this article, we will point out ten electronics innovations that alter the future of procurement and the role of e-purchasing managers.
Online Marketplaces
Over the last few years, e-commerce sales have been on the rise, and concerns about the quality and reliability of online purchasing ceased to cloud customers’ minds, especially when the benefits of buying online became more prominent.
Furthermore, as e-purchasing flourishes, so does the use of online marketplaces that bring electronics purchasing managers and suppliers together in which various criteria using an online form are entered, such as location, items required, quality metrics, etc. The marketplace, in this way, presents appropriate suppliers as they are uniquely positioned to help electronics purchasing managers make urgent purchases in cases where a primary supplier may not be able to meet their needs.
Diversifying the Supply Chain
In 2020, businesses became heavily dependent on single sourcing from suppliers due to the pandemic. For instance, many companies could not meet purchase demands since suppliers completely shut down or significantly reduced staff and throughput.
This forced businesses, especially electronics purchasing managers, to look closely at their current suppliers and reevaluate their choices. An electronics purchasing manager implementing more robust diversification programs would ensure that product delivery runs smoothly.
The new role of an electronics purchasing manager would be to build and maintain a solid and robust supply chain in which they can open the door to many suppliers, including companies of all sizes, local vendors, or organizations.
Such diversification will inevitably benefit the future of procurement by offering greater flexibility and opportunities for innovation and, thus, economic benefits.
Fully Integrating the Blockchain Into Digital Procurement
Blockchain has been increasingly used in digital procurement for some time; however, it has yet to be fully realized. Although blockchain might be costly to develop and deploy, an electronics purchasing manager can use it in scenarios where there’s a need to track and trace for counteracting counterfeiting or for operational integrity.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic process automation (RPA) has become a crucial part of the digital transformation in procurement solutions. E-procurement functions will eliminate manual intervention on large-scale, high-volume, and repeatable tasks associated with direct spending, assisting with the role of electronics purchasing managers. Manual reporting will also be eliminated, helping the electronics purchasing manager’s role become less laborious and helping them focus on more critical tasks.
Focusing On Driving Competitive Advantage
E-procurement functions will become crucial to large organizations and influence the overall business strategy, growth, and competitive advantage. As a result, those in leadership positions in their respective procurement teams, such as electronics purchasing managers, will emphasize facilitating innovation and increasing supplies rather than cost control.
Digitally Tracking Data To Make Out Patterns
The internet of things (IoT) helps the electronics purchasing manager track outcomes in real-time, including items in transit throughout the supply chain, assisting electronics industries in linking data across the company to suppliers. This way, stock levels are monitored and acted upon automatically, stimulating touchless procurement.
Ultimately, this process will enable an enhanced data platform to inform decision-making around spending and purchasing patterns, supplier portfolios, and contract fulfillment.
Eco-friendly & Sustainable Procurement Systems
A significant number of companies in the electronics industries have become eco-conscious, becoming increasingly sensitive to their carbon footprints and impact on climate change, thereby developing specific requirements for their suppliers to ensure ongoing sustainable procurement.
Unlike regular procurement, e-procurement will help promote business growth with more stringent requirements for local sourcing, recycled materials, and fair employment, creating a much more sustainably aware and unbiased role for the electronics purchasing manager.
Social Responsibility
As inequalities in the world have become much more pronounced and portrayed across the media thanks to ongoing movements, the concept of social responsibility has also been carried to the workplaces, where an electronics purchasing manager needs to be much more concerned and aware of any unconscious biases they may have towards potential or current staff.
As a result, more and more electronics purchasing managers are focusing on choosing suppliers and vendors that are aware and mindful of their impact on society. And thanks to the digital transformation in procurement, electronics purchasing managers can easily find like-minded suppliers that will meet their needs.
Partnering Directly With Other Departments
The future of procurement might become a minor function with only a handful of specific people doing buying-related tasks in particular departments, with e-procurement taking advantage of remote working and, thus, allowing better collaboration across the entire company.
Moreover, electronics purchasing managers might build a network of economy workers to satisfy operational needs and requirements.
Using Internal and External Data Sources To Analyze Supplier Risk
Internal and external data sources lead to digital transformation in procurement, offering the electronics purchasing manager the opportunity to understand their suppliers better.
Internal data compiled by the electronics purchasing manager, including supplier information, market data, and analyst data on supplier performance, will be completed to portray supplier performance accurately. This will help the electronics purchasing manager build supplier risk profiles and help them with the tools necessary to predict any potentially risky events.