Remaining competitive in challenging times
29 Oct 2019
3 min read
A recent report from the World Trade Organization highlighted that the global market in merchandise is expected to grow by only 1.2% this year, the weakest performance since 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Trade conflicts remain the biggest risk in global markets, hampering growth forecasts, prolonging investment decisions and delaying job creation. In times like these, corporations rely more than ever on functions like procurement to remain competitive.
The changing role of procurement in a globalized market
The role of procurement in enterprises is evolving. Seen by sellers for so long as a blocker in the sales cycle, or at best a hurdle to be surmounted as part of the negotiation process, now procurement has assumed a strategic role in business. Procurement has transformed to becoming a force for cost management and supply chain optimization in organizations, in response to the increasing complexity of purchasing across a truly global marketplace as well as to fluctuating market conditions.
Procurement also has a role to play in enhancing the agility of modern enterprises, assisting in the transformation process in organizations to become more efficient, flexible and service-oriented. Part of this progression lies in improving the efficiency of the content creation, translation and management process.
For instance…
- If you could easily reuse and repurpose fragmented content from across disparate parts of the business, how much more efficient could the process for creating proposals be?
- How might resource allocation for complex, technical or multi-faceted purchase cycles be simplified by doing this?
- Could you reduce the risk of errors and omissions from better management of source content?
- If you were able to translate RFPs and procurement bid documentation into multiple languages, how many more geographical markets might that open for you?
- And how much cost might you save by increasing competition for your business outside of your local market?
- Could you realize greater economies by buying for your organization at global scale?
- If you could translate bid responses more rapidly, how much quicker could your procurement process be?
- Might that enable you to benefit from improved pricing by being easier to do business with?
- Could greater use of digital processes streamline your workflows and improve productivity?
Speaking the language of procurement
SDL works with procurement departments across a range of industries, including financial services, life sciences, aerospace, defense, retail, manufacturing and travel. We are streamlining the content processes on which procurement depends, working to understand the nuances of each customer’s way of working and identifying both the tools and methods that improve their effectiveness.
For example, we are working with a major China-based retailer for whom quality and on-time delivery are intrinsically linked to the availability of their translation management system (TMS). We are also engaged with another customer in Asia for whom centralizing the buying process is critical to their goal of simplifying procurement—working with a global service provider like SDL is seen as instrumental to achieving this.
We are an Exhibition Sponsor at the 7th Annual Procurement Success Summit Asia in Shanghai where the theme is “Growing in the Age of Risk and Leading with Digital Transformation.” Why not come and see us at Booth 2 to find out how we might be able to both reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of your procurement content translation and management?
David Hetling
All from David HetlingRelated Articles
