3 Skills a Sourcing Hero Can Gain by Joining a GPO
By Hugo Britt | May 5, 2022
In most superhero stories, something amazing happens to an ordinary person that grants them incredible abilities. Spiderman, for example, was bitten by an irradiated spider, the Hulk was exposed to a gamma radiation bomb, and Jessica Jones was doused in radioactive chemicals.
These days, the definition of a superhero has grown to encompass everyday heroes who walk among us – first responders, essential workers, volunteers, and others who work to make our communities better.
Procurement professionals, who we’ve lovingly dubbed “sourcing heroes,” have their own super-achievements worth noting as they work tirelessly to protect and better their own organizations.
3 Super-skills a sourcing hero can gain by joining a group purchasing organization
Luckily, there’s a way for procurement professionals to transform into sourcing heroes without the need for anything quite so dramatic as the characters in a comic book. The process of unlocking these coveted super-skills starts by joining a group purchasing organization.
Below, we explore the three skills you will gain by becoming an Una member.
1. Super-strength (in numbers)
If you belong to a small or medium-sized business, it’s safe to say you won’t have much in the way of purchasing muscle. This means you’re paying too much for everyday purchases because you’re simply unable to leverage volume or “bulk” discounts.
But never fear. Una’s free-to-join GPO model gives you a level of buying power you could never obtain by yourself. The incredible power of volume purchasing provides you with access to contracts and unprecedented savings, and drastically increases your organization’s purchasing power.
Super-strength leads to super savings. Una’s $100 billion in buying power means members can access massive discounts including savings on corporate hotels and other travel categories, up to 80% off Office Depot products, up to 20% or more off small parcel and international shipping, up to 40% off rental cars, and up to 45% off MRO supplies.
Across all categories, Una members see an average savings of 18-22%.
2. Super speed
Joining a GPO isn’t just about cost savings. It also saves huge amounts of time. Members gain the power of super speed by bypassing the most time-consuming parts of the purchasing process: RFPs and supplier negotiations. This means you’re connected to suppliers and savings within days or weeks, not months.
Una has over 2,000 pre-negotiated supplier contracts ready to go, dramatically increasing your speed-to-savings. That’s one of the reasons we like to think of ourselves as a sourcing accelerator.
Other ways to improve your speed-to-savings include identifying and addressing inefficient processes, consolidating your supplier lists, standardizing your procurement processes, and accelerating your P2P cycle time with an automated system.
3. Super flexibility
Overcoming supply chain disruption requires serious levels of flexibility. Disruption can come in many forms, from a global pandemic to natural disasters, sudden commodity price increases, cyberattacks, hyperinflation, geopolitical events, and regulatory changes.
Organizations with rigid, hard-to-alter purchasing processes inevitably struggle to adapt to rapid change. Some supply chain disruptions are just too big to attempt to tackle alone. Joining a GPO will not only increase your buying power but will outsource the headache of supplier management, and improve continuity of supply in times of scarcity.
Being part of a trusted network will also give you access to the most valuable resource of all: advice from sourcing experts.
Sourcing heroes can literally save the world
Remember, it’s not just about being a hero for your own organization. Whether it’s saving forests from destruction, stopping the scourge of modern slavery, or slashing dangerous carbon emissions, procurement professionals are in the unique and privileged position to be able to drive these changes.
Sourcing heroes all over the world are re-evaluating their supply chains, improving transparency, and ensuring ethical and sustainable procurement is at the heart of everything they do.
If you’re looking to become a sourcing hero and enhance your procurement skills, joining a GPO is the solution for you. Contact Una to learn more.
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Do you have questions about group purchasing? Wondering how a group purchasing organization works to save you money, time, and effort?
Una’s team of Sourcing Advisors is here to help. Contact us to learn more.