Slingshot Announces Strategic Sourcing Initiative

Slingshot announced the development of a new “eSource” module for strategic sourcing.  eSource automates the process of identifying, importing, qualifying and evaluating potential suppliers.  Suppliers can be pasted into the application from a spreadsheet or imported from a web source or marketplace.

Multiple qualification criteria can be defined such as Sales Volume, Profit and Debt ratios, Duns rating, insurance coverage, bank and trade references.  The qualification requirements can be specific to a company organizational unit (e.g. entity or division) or a supplier class.  Qualification status is computed automatically.  Processes (e.g. RFx distribution, purchase order entry) can be restricted by qualification status.
eSource also contains an RFx builder.  A RFx document can container a description, a survey, pricing details and required terms and conditions.  The RFx document can be automatically emailed to one or more supplier lists.  Suppliers link from the email back to the supplier portal to create a response.  Responses can be amended up until the RFx cutoff date.  A “reverse auction” feature notifies participants when a lower bid is received from another supplier and allows the supplier to reduce its bid.

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RFx documents are scored automatically based on user supplied weighting factors.  The winning bid can be automatically converted to a purchase order (blanket or spot purchase) or contract (pricing agreement).  Losing bidders are notified automatically and encouraged to participate in future RFx initiatives.

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eSource is available as a standalone application or can be licensed with Slingshot’s “eRequest” (requisition entry and approval) and “eBuy” (purchasing) procurement applications.  For more information, or to request a demonstration, contact sales@slingshotsoftware.com.