In today’s hyper competitive business environment, only those with the competitive edge can fast track their business success. And supply chain solution is the one that can give companies the much-needed edge over their competitors.

1. Improve Supply Chain Performance with Supply Base Management
In today’s hyper competitive business environment, only those with the competitive edge can fast track their business
success. And supply chain is the one that can give companies the much-needed edge over their competitors. Because of
this, supply chain management has attained enormous importance. Supply chain management is the “design, planning,
execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a
competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring
performance globally.”
Until recently, companies were focusing their attention on improving their supply chain performance. However, it
remained a distant dream in most cases thanks to the issues associated with the supply base. The lack of continuity of
supply and increasing costs prevented companies from attaining near perfect supply chains. It led to a new approach
termed as supply base management. Hence, today supply chain management also involves management of those areas
where competitive benefits can be derived.
Supply base management refers to the process of managing the procurement department and maintaining
communication with the suppliers. Companies are in constant need of supplies, which can be for internal use (indirect
goods and services), for use during the manufacturing process or for inventory so that the purchased goods can be
resold as products in the distribution and retail phase.
According to Gartner, “A dynamic supply base management applications market is developing in response to increased
interest in the systematic management of supplier information, performance tracking, and risk assessment processes.”
Increased focus on supply base management adds sense since today like the business environment it is increasingly
complex and volatile. Hence, anything can happen at any time. Companies can face issues at the last moment for
instance, sudden departure of suppliers due to any number of factors such as bankruptcy, acquisition, or changes in
company’s strategies or policies or it can be non-availability of quality goods and services at the required time. This can
hurt company reputation very badly.
Companies therefore must seek the help of industry experts who are adept in providing supply chain solutions. Their
experience in working within a wide range of material models coupled with their understanding of market changes help
them to provide new options very rapidly. Hence, they can do everything with respect to supply base management i.e.,
from material planning and procurement, turnkey materials, consigned materials, domestic and offshore sourcing,
supplier qualification and certification, vendor managed inventory, kan/ban, lifecycle management, to web based
inquiry and reporting.
Also read about : global supply chain & retail distribution