Real-Time Sourcing Auctions with GEP Smart

An auction can be a highly effective sourcing tool, if used right. Either as part of a sourcing cycle or simply as a standalone cost-reduction exercise, an auction, when executed effectively, can help bring greater value and transparency to the sourcing process.

With GEP SMART, an auction is just another sourcing event, but with a real-time bidding strategy at its heart. There is no separate auction tool to log into. Just create an auction in the same way you would create an RFP and enable real-time bidding to organize an auction. Support for lotting strategies, extension rules, safety nets, and numerous advanced features give you complete control over your auctions to help you drive best-value sourcing, always.

And because GEP SMART is a unified source-to-pay platform, auction preparation and monitoring is a breeze. For example, you can pre-qualify your suppliers with a qualification questionnaire, using GEP SMART’s Supplier Information Management function. Then automatically select qualified suppliers to initiate a Request for Information (RFI). Suppliers who meet your criteria for participation in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage can be automatically downselected to the RFP stage. Shortlisted suppliers can then be invited to the final auction stage for real-time competitive bidding.

All your sourcing events in the cycle can be linked together, giving you the flexibility to decide the best sourcing strategy for achieving the results you need.