“2011, has been a momentous year economically and politically. Revolutions, bail-outs and natural disasters have all affected the global supply chain, underlining the importance of the cost savings and efficiencies that eSourcing can offer. Purchasing departments, faced with a lack of resources and pressure to deliver cost savings against price inflation, are looking for more from their eSourcing products. Throughout the year Trade Interchange has been developing its eSourcing suite to ensure its products deliver users the benefits they need,” comments Simon Brake, CEO of Trade Interchange.
Highlights of 2011 for the company include:
• The launch of SIM: Supplier Information Management module
In October Trade Interchange launched their SIM module, which is already delivering significant efficiency savings to a number of organisations. Trade Interchange is the first provider within the industry to offer SIM in a variety of service packages starting from a free trial, through to self-service and fully managed.
• Continual upgrades of the eAuction module
Throughout 2011 Trade Interchange has continued to drive eAuction technology through the delivery of on-going software upgrades including:
- The introduction of ‘percent from leading bid’ auction type, where suppliers only receive feedback if they are within a pre-determined percentage of the leading bid,
- Two way supplier/buyer messaging prior to eAuctions
- Pre-Auction bid submissions, where suppliers can pre-enter bids before the start of the eAuction and receive feedback on their position once the eAuction has started, based on their pre entered bids.
• The introduction of an eRFX wizard
In November Trade Interchange’s eRFX module was developed to include a unique and intuitive wizard, enabling users to set up and configure eRFX questionnaires within minutes. The technology has been credited with enhancing user experience and delivering significant time savings to the tending process.
• Development of Trade Interchange’s Workflow platform
The continual evolution of our Workflow platform has driven the development of Trade Interchange’s Sourcing Process Management (SPM) system and Contract Management modules. These help to enforce best purchasing practice within organisations.
• Trade Interchange platform integration
The Trade Interchange eSourcing suite has developed throughout the year as has the product integration. Data can be seamlessly migrated between modules ensuring all information is easily accessible in the cloud to current and future stakeholders.
“If procurement professionals thought 2011 has been tough, the signs are that there will be little respite in 2012, with more pressure from finance departments to deliver efficiencies, leading to greater emphasis on eSourcing products,” continued Brake.
“2012 looks to be another busy year for Trade Interchange. With many new projects in the pipeline we will continue to be at the forefront of delivering efficiency-driving software to procurement departments. We predict that although cost and time savings will remain a key factor to buying teams, we will see growing importance on issues such as vendor governance and spend visibility. We also think that eSourcing solutions, especially systems like our SIM module, will be adopted by a wider group of organisations, as more SME companies look to deliver greater efficiency through supplier management,” he concluded.