Falling oil and commodities prices have prompted many energy businesses - particularly in Oil, Gas and Mining - to seek out new business opportunities in emerging markets. This has made the cost of doing business in these new markets rise considerably

Energy companies have responded to the escalating cost of doing business by looking for savings in their supply chain.

Unfortunately, cutting costs can defeat efforts to develop a more efficient supply chain that meets changing marketplace requirements.

As a result, companies are struggling to achieve performance goals, improve productivity, and make sound business decisions, this is often due to a lack of robust and timely information.

Collecting and maintaining accurate, complete, up-to-date information is critical to maintaining a clear picture of current and potential suppliers. For many organisations keeping suppliers' profiles and catalogs up to date is in the ‘too-hard basket', especially with supplier data held in disparate systems.

By adopting a central repository of all suppliers that are relevant to the organisation, it speeds up the sourcing of new suppliers, of goods and services in the procurement process and introduces an element of control over the supplier base.

A central repository of supplier information is easier to monitor performance and risk. Buyers can use a single system to obtain a snapshot of the current status of a supplier.

Rating factors such as delivery, quality, risk classification and a view of the supplier's strategic importance to the organisation are the most common KPI's.

As the energy industry moves into its next phase of development, a company needs full confidence that its suppliers will be able to provide the support and expertise in their products and services.

If you would like to hear more from TouchstoneEnergy, join us during December for a briefing on Business Process Improvement.

For more information contact +44 020 7121 4700, energy@touchstone.co.uk or www.touchstoneenergy.co.uk