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Achieving Greater NPI Sourcing Success Through Technology

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Innovation and advanced technology continue to transform our world. Manufacturers are reimagining the most basic items and applying low cost technologies to improve the safety, performance and data utilization of products we use every day. And look no further than Google, Apple, Uber, SpaceX, and Tesla to see how disruptive (and lucrative) big ideas powered by innovative technology can be.

So how does this concept of leveraging technology apply to NPI sourcing? Because of today’s faster pace of innovation, manufacturers across all industries are increasing their new product introductions. This means more activity for NPI sourcing teams. Progressive manufacturers are turning to technology to help them accomplish their NPI sourcing work so they can launch more products on time and at target cost. Here’s how these companies are using advanced sourcing and supplier management technology to gain a competitive advantage and achieve greater new product success.

Achieving Greater NPI Sourcing Success Through Technology

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There are lots of stakeholders involved in the NPI process: marketing, product management, design, engineering, and sourcing all play a part. Keeping everyone on the same page can be challenging and adding suppliers to the process further increases complexity. Establishing a web-based workspace provides a single location to manage the people, parts, technical data, activities, communications, and analytics involved in the sourcing process. Stakeholders are provided with real-time visibility into progress on supplier selection and the achievement of target costs.

The selection of suppliers for new products starts with matching product requirements with supplier capabilities. It is also important to understand the historic performance (e.g. quality, delivery) of supply partners, their cost competitiveness, technical prowess, contributions to innovation, approval status, production capacities, plant locations, compliance scores, risk factors, etc. Using a single repository to maintain and access this useful supplier information across your enterprise enables NPI sourcing teams to quickly identify and qualify a roster of suppliers to be considered for new product sourcing.

For manufacturers, a bill-of-material (BOM) defines the product components and from the BOM a determination is made as to which parts will be sourced from suppliers. These parts are defined by technical specifications, engineering drawings, and 3D models that are typically maintained in a product lifecycle management (PLM) system managed by engineering. These technical specifications must be shared with suppliers so they can understand the designs in detail and ultimately provide quotes. Having the capability to share any technical documents in a rich, web-based viewing environment within the sourcing process enables suppliers to have greater clarity on requirements. Suppliers are also provided with the capability to mark-up these technical documents, submit questions, and engage in collaborative efforts to improve the cost and quality of the product.

Providing a common workspace and team-wide visibility into progress:

Empowering deeper supplier insight:

Enabling advanced technical data sharing and supplier collaboration:

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To learn more Call 724.933.1180 or Visit www.directworks.com

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About Directworks

Directworks provides a cloud-based sourcing and supplier management platform that is purpose-built for manufacturers. Leading product manufacturers use Directworks to select the best suppliers and maintain a high quality, cost competitive, and reliable supply chain that enables them to grow revenues and increase profitability. See the Directworks difference at www.directworks.com.

Ultimately, the NPI sourcing team must select a group of qualified suppliers to provide the parts at or below a target cost for the BOM. Advanced sourcing technology enables comprehensive total cost quoting that incorporate both direct and indirect cost factors, as well as other non-cost supplier selection criteria. This capability enables NPI sourcing teams to achieve better visibility into cost drivers, negotiate more effectively, understand trade-offs, and make data-driven supplier decisions.

The productivity of NPI sourcing teams has a direct impact on speed to market. Suppliers must be identified, engaged, selected, and ramped into production within specific timelines to achieve target product launch dates. By automating manual, non-value-adding activities, advanced sourcing technology greatly improves the productivity of NPI sourcing teams and leads to faster supplier qualification and selection.

History has proven that the smart application of advanced technology can enable game-changing results in business. If you are interested in improving your NPI sourcing results, consider how much more successful you could be if you had the right technology to power your processes.

Achieving target landed cost:

Increasing speed to market with automation: