Despite the fact that the procurement and transportation sectors are slow adopters of technology, the rat race has already begun. Many companies are inquiring the platform provides full visibility all the different steps in the project and the timing associated.

Freight E-Sourcing – General functionality requirements 

• Attach documentation to projects
• RFI questionnaires can be customized according to the needs of the shipper
• Unlimited Request For Information  (RFI) rounds
• Unlimited Request For quotation (RFQ) rounds
• Unlimited amount of lanes can be uploaded by user
• Automation of Excel number crunching
• The tool should not oblige suppliers to give a quotation for all the lanes/lines
• Suppliers are able to submit several quotations on the same lane (i.e per the mode of transport or equipment type)
• Fully integrated communication workflow with hauliers, suppliers, colleagues. This means that all the communication related to the tender is managed through the platform, with the possibility to extend to external email boxes.
• Static feedback can be given to the suppliers via the platform for every round of tendering

Freight E-Sourcing – Analysis and reporting

• The system compares the quotations using the same metrics as the historical/incumbent setup
• Ability to provide suppliers with feedback on the lanes they quoted for (Incl. Target Pricing)
• Per round, a full recap report must be available on the fly. With customized summarizing option. Bottom line, export all the data gathered in a clean format to use eventually for other systems in the organization (TMS, SAP, finance systems, etc.)
• Full impact visibility of single tender project on multiple aspects of a global organization.  (budget owner, Product group, Country, Plant etc.) This is often not available but is crucial for internal reporting. E-sourcing tools should be able to break down the (cost) impact of different levels of the company.
• Unrestricted (the very best option for each lane).
• The platform should enable the user to build unrestricted power scenarios (the very best option for each lane).

E-sourcing for freight – What else is important?

Below here I have gathered some important questions to take into consideration when creating a scorecard for testing e-sourcing platforms for logistics professionals:

• Pricing.
• flexibility
• User experience. Is a tool easy to use, easy to roll out organization-wide without too much training (also affects the total user cost)
• Unlimited rounds per tender
• Unlimted reporting and scenario building
• 1 Platform providing access to all of your tender data, the quotations and responses of carriers

Freightender E-Sourcing for freight professionals

Some companies are scared that e-sourcing will lead to carriers declining to take part in freight tenders as communication to get very distant and unpersonal. This is actually not true. A good e-sourcing tool automates what can be automated and makes many processes more efficient leaving more room for communication and carrier management, items that remain key during tenders. Next to that carriers appreciate the standardization of processes and data as well.