What is spot procurement?
Spot procurement, or spot buying, is the purchase of goods or services on an ad-hoc or unplanned basis. Spot procurement occurs when there is an immediate requirement and a purchase has to be made on short notice.
When does spot buying occur?
Although organizations typically plan their purchases in advance, there are a number of cases in which spot buying takes place. This can be in the event of an emergency, but more often, spot procurement occurs in cases where the purchase is unique or one-off, or in cases where the transaction is not complex or is for an inexpensive item. Even in companies where there is rigorous procurement planning, it is estimated that as much as 40% of spend is conducted on the spot.
Should spot procurement be avoided?
Spot procurement is not intrinsically detrimental—there are numerous cases in which it is an efficient means of procurement. Spot buying can be necessary when end users in your company need something quickly and efficiently. Spot buying can also be economical if conducted with the right intent, good judgement and an effort to obtain a competitive price.
For most organizations, some level of spot procurement is unavoidable, and restricting it completely is counterproductive. However, it is important to manage spot procurement to ensure that it remains compliant with overall procurement good practices and does not become "maverick buying."
How can I optimize my spot procurement?
Proqura helps your organization create a mechanism to manage spot procurement in a manner that is efficient and easy, but which also provides you with control and visibility into when and how spot purchasing happens.
Proqura's e-procurement tools help your buyers easily create a spot requisition for any item they need and source competitive offers from multiple suppliers. This process is simple and intuitive and helps maintain documentation, compliance, and a clear audit trail without requiring any additional effort from the buyer.
With Proqura you can ensure that even the smallest transaction follows a documented and structured process that allows you to get the most competitive price for whatever it is that you are purchasing.
How does the Proqura spot procurement process work?
Proqura helps your organization create a mechanism to manage spot procurement in a manner that is efficient and easy, but which also provides you with control and visibility into when and how spot purchasing happens.Spot procurement is short-cycle procurement and the spot procurement process is simple and straightforward to execute:
The end user, or buyer, who requires the purchase creates a Purchase Request listing the item or items she needs procured and specifies when they are required.
This request is sent to the procurement team for processing. You can also specify certain thresholds within which end users can directly manage the procurement process themselves.
The procurement team receives this request, and they can instantly convert it into a Request for Quotation, which is then floated to all the relevant suppliers. This RFQ process not only ensures that spot purchases are competitively sourced, but also reduces the time it takes to manually solicit and evaluate multiple supplier quotations.
Suppliers submit their offers or quotations directly into Proqura, and the procurement team can select and approve the most competitive offer and place the order by sending a Purchase Order to the supplier.
When the supplier delivers the item to the buyer, the buyer can receive the goods and mark a Goods Receiving Note to indicate receipt and acceptance of the goods. This allows the procurement team to mark the order fulfilled, and they can proceed with processing and paying the invoice.