Ubiquitous Sourcing

For most purchasing pros the term strategic sourcing means identifying and qualifying those providers of good and services that we need to run our businesses. Those of us with some gray hair remember those large green Thomas Register books or the smaller Macrae’s Blue Book, or even the Yellow Pages, sitting on top of file cabinets in our offices. A kaleidoscope of sourcing opportunities!

Yet to many new to the profession, strategic sourcing is a web-based or software play, often a module on a buy side procurement application. Whatever the method, it is all about finding competent suppliers who can meet our cost, quality, and delivery criteria.

But these days, it seems that the term strategic sourcing has entered the mainstream. Enter Kronos, the Chelmsford, Mass.-based payroll company offering a new workforce management tool. They have introduced a Strategic Sourcing Service that searches for job applicants in specific locations with recruitment challenges. According to their press release, this strategic sourcing product will allow corporate HR departments to have the information they need to develop targeted local hiring campaigns to maintain the necessary flow of labor for their businesses.

As the workplace changes, so do the tools and terms. While Kronos’s use of the term may have a different ring to it, it does underscore the importance of maintaining the right flow of human resources, a sourcing issue for sure. 

A purchasing term goes mainstream. Just maybe companies are paying real attention to what we do.