Speaking at SMi’s eBusiness in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industry, Mr Green, Business Development Manager, highlighted trends in online procurement. eCommerce has got all the hype, he said, and companies need to demonstrate their participation in this area, but failure to achieve in eCommerce can have an opposite effect.
Mr Green predicts that marketplaces for eProcurement will txplode over the next six months, driven particularly by banks. The banks will develop and support eMarketplaces and build up a marketplace of suppliers that other companies can access.
Alternatively, companies, perhaps those in the pharma industry, that have a number of long-term, preferential or specialized suppliers may look to develop an eHub of suppliers. A third party handles integrates a company’s suppliers into an eProcurement platform which the company can access. A company will then make all its purchases through this platform, allowing better control and eliminating rogue and maverick purchasing. By using a company’s recognized suppliers such systems offer substantial savings to large corporations.
