CASE CORONAVIRUS: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Coronavirus is currently the most popular word on the planet. It has paralyzed the lives of billions of people, causing enormous damage to economies around the world. It seems unstoppable.
In business organizations, procurement was one of the first departments that was hit. The new situation brought nervousness, instability and uncertainty. The Coronavirus stopped deliveries, shut down factory facilities, closed borders. For now, things are still working, but what if we don’t stop the Coronavirus soon and supplies run out…
Procurement Professionals Recommendations
We asked our clients what activities they had taken to provide required goods and services to their companies during the crisis. In this article, we provide tips how best to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. It’s still not too late, you can take them too!
- Get rid of the pressure from unnecessary small activities that burden you daily! Find time to solve crucial problems. Thanks to Ensolva, our customers have reduced the time wasted and got the time they need to create a strategy.
- Create Plan B! You must already have it somewhere in your mind. Put it on paper and start realizing it immediately. When an epidemic erupted in China, experienced purchasing professionals knew they needed to act preventively. They started exploring other options and even then they made a Plan B.
- Find and contact alternative suppliers as soon as possible! It would be great if you could find suppliers in coronavirus-free territories. One of our clients found several suppliers in different parts of the world to make sure they will get the goods they need at the right time.
- Don’t neglect existing suppliers! Get in touch with them as soon as possible and identify potential risks together. Find out if suppliers are ready to deliver goods in these new circumstances. Based to this information, you are ready to look for alternative suppliers. Ensolva customers communicate with multiple vendors through the system at same time. They have significantly accelerated information sharing.
- Get the information and offers you need as soon as possible! Repeat tenders! Be quick! – Our users create new tenders based on previous tenders with one click. They communicate with suppliers through the procurement portal. They send out an RFI to collect key information and analyze the answers. In few seconds they create new RFx rounds and gather bids.
- If you have not yet purchased protective equipment (gloves and masks), this is the right time! A quality supplier network offers the ability to quickly search all suppliers around the world. You can quickly send an RFI through the system to collect info about protective equipment. The Chinese and South Korean markets are recovering and they have begun to produce the necessary equipment.
- Be responsible and careful! Health comes first! If you have the ability and the right type of business, make sure that your employees can work from home.
- Don’t delay meetings, use modern technology!
Time is crucial
The worldwide spread of the virus has been apparent since the end of January. People didn’t have much time to prepare, so they had to act quickly. Our customers emphasized that the most important thing was to take the necessary activities on time. Thanks to Ensolva, they had the time to create a strategy and to make it operational very quickly through the procurement system.
