Gary Bradley
Country Manager, RS Ireland
Gary Bradley, Country Manager at RS Ireland, discusses why companies are taking a more strategic and technology-enabled approach to procurement amid increasing cost pressures, complexity and supply chain disruptions
Companies have long sought to streamline procurement using automated approval workflows and continuous improvement practices. However, geopolitical events, tariffs, shifting demand, sustainability expectations, cybersecurity and supply chain disruptions have transformed procurement into a more complex function. This exposes organisations to significant risk and escalating costs if not addressed with a strategic, value-driven approach.
Benefits of consolidating suppliers
“These challenges require organisations to take a more strategic approach to procurement, which includes consolidating partner suppliers. This can generate significant savings,” explains Gary. “To facilitate companies on this journey, RS Ireland can support its customers with a wide breadth of product categories and service solutions to customers in the Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) markets.”
Supplier consolidation can simplify the supply chain and improve cost efficiency in the procure-to-pay process. “Overseeing a multitude of suppliers can be complex and lead to challenges, which drive process costs with increased multiple purchase orders and invoices.
“Managing a team generating purchase orders of low value can be expensive and outweigh any cost-savings made on the products they’re purchasing,” says Gary.
With a strategic partner, savings can be achieved by consolidating purchase orders, leading to a lower volume of deliveries to manage and a consolidation of invoices.
Supplier consolidation can simplify the supply chain and improve cost efficiency in the procure-to-pay process.
How consolidation improves relationships
Instead of placing 10 orders with 10 different suppliers, consolidating purchase orders through fewer suppliers dramatically reduces process costs. Beyond efficiency, consolidation fosters a stronger relationship between customer and supplier, strengthening supply chain resilience and reducing the need for excess inventory. This approach enables organisations to partner with trusted distributors that offer broad product categories, robust inventory levels, reliable delivery and an exceptional customer service proposition.
Naturally, there are pitfalls when streamlining your supplier base. While consolidation can improve efficiency and reduce risk, over-consolidation may limit supply chain flexibility and increase risk. To mitigate this, many organisations adopt a tiered supplier model anchored by strong strategic partners supported by a smaller network of specialists or backups. This balanced approach ensures resilience, agility, less risk and captures the benefits of consolidation.
The role of technology
Technological enhancements have enabled larger organisations with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to adopt a more strategic approach to procurement with the introduction of eProcurement platforms. Digitalisation, automation and data analytics can transform procurement functions and decision-making by improving visibility, agility and control.
“Some of our larger customers with an eProcurement platform have a direct digital connection with our online channel and can create and place orders seamlessly,” says Gary. Additionally, the introduction of e-invoicing allows for a fully digital end-to-end purchasing process. eProcurement platforms can also provide clear spending pattern data to help procurement teams identify cost-savings, efficiency opportunities and better manage risk. “That’s the power of this technology. It provides our customers with the rich data that supports their procurement strategy,” adds Gary.
Strategic procurement: unlocking the benefit
Larger organisations have been on a digital procurement journey for the last decade or so. However, with advances such as cloud computing, procurement technology has become affordable for, and ultra-accessible to, small and medium-sized businesses as well.
According to a 2024 report by RS and Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), around 25% of organisations surveyed are actively streamlining their supplier base. Those who leverage digital tools reported significant gains in speed, spend transparency, compliance and reducing the end-to-end process cost of procurement.
Gary sees more businesses taking a more strategic approach to procurement in future. Going forward, the biggest opportunities lie in using AI and data to anticipate demand, strengthen supplier performance and free up time for more strategic work. “All companies are looking to reduce their operating costs and increase their profitability. And the enabling technology is available to help them do it.”
