Welcoming BravoSolution to Commodity EDGE: Sourcing (Real) Smarts + Technology

MetalMiner is pleased to welcome Spend Matters Editor Jason Busch.

We’re excited this week to welcome BravoSolution as a Bronze sponsor of Commodity EDGE. Lisa and I have worked with some of the BravoSolution team members going back over a decade and are thrilled they’ll be working with us to pull off a sourcing and procurement event that’s quite different from what others have attempted in the past.

From a technology perspective, BravoSolution is an ideal collaboration partner for us, given the flexibility of their underlying solution models. They’re one of the global leaders in spend analysis, sourcing, supplier performance management and related procurement technology areas.

For example, at Commodity EDGE, with the BravoSolution team, we’ll collectively walk through a demonstration showing how to pragmatically use commodity pricing index information as part of a spend analysis program covering direct materials spend. What are the benefits of such an approach? Why should the data be consumed and monitored in a spend analysis tool? How can you make it happen? What does it look like in practice? What other technologies (e.g., contract execution, AP, etc.) should an index technology enablement approach such as this integrate with (ideally)? We’ll try and answer all these questions.

We’ll also be working closely with BravoSolution to demonstrate a use-case scenario of how to apply what we often describe on our sister site, Spend Matters, as a “sourcing optimization” approach to solicit different types of bids from suppliers. Under this approach, procurement organizations might ask suppliers to “bid” different options and variables, soliciting information to understand volume breaks, willingness to hold pricing for longer time periods (and at what total cost), how suppliers are costing out commodity price volatility based on contract duration, geography, etc. Manufacturers can even use an optimization-driven sourcing approach to understand what suppliers within a multi-tier supply chain should orchestrate or conduct specific activities (e.g., buying material from sub-tier suppliers, purchasing/owning tooling, etc.)

Then, once this information is collected, using an optimization tool, companies can run award scenarios against the collected information based on a set of potential constraints (or lack of constraints). For example, a company may wish to look at an absolute-lowest-total-cost scenario or, they might opt to look at a constraint such as awarding “no more than 50 percent” of business to suppliers with less than a 6-month commitment to hold raw material pricing firm.”

BravoSolution is going to help us bring optimization alive on stage in a commodity buying context — and for spend where commodity inputs are an important component of total cost. Together we want to show attendees what’s possible when it comes to using the latest technology and expertise to understand how to deploy the latest in spend analysis and sourcing technology advances to drive better results across a range of spend categories — from base metals to packaging.

Please join us at Commodity EDGE and — pardon the pun — give BravoSolution a virtual round of applause for their sponsorship and contribution.

–Jason Busch