Section 3: The 6 core tasks of strategic sourcing

Strategic purchasing has six core tasks. These are the
requirements analysis and management, the creation of service descriptions, procurement market analysis and the management of supplier relationships.

The purchasing department:

• knows what is needed where, when and in what quality (demand analysis and control).
• formulates the tender together with the doctors and nurses.
• knows the procurement market and how to stimulate real competition.
• manages supplier relations.
• controls the needed quantities and ensures the best prices.
• implements a controlling system to monitor internal and external developments.

The biggest challenge with so many suppliers and products: How do I set priorities?

In our view, the portfolio management system
has proven its worth here. With a portfolio strategy, you ensure that you do not lose sight of any supplier and you structure your negotiation strategy in such a way that it is easy for doctors and nursing staff to understand
. This facilitates cooperation.

Learn more about the different pricing strategies for different products. The deeper your understanding of pricing strategies ist, the more succesful your price negotiations will be. We give you numerous practical examples.

The chapter closes with a detailed practical example from the University Hospital in Bonn. We explain how we implemented a standardization project for the Heart Center and set up a project reporting system at
.