Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Features and Functions
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) is a relatively new way of categorizing software–born out of the concept that you have customer relationship management (CRM) systems for managing customer-facing processes, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for internal processes and SRM for both supplier-facing processes and managing the supply base. The heart of SRM is sourcing and procurement, which differ from their internally-focused ERP counterparts primarily in that the SRM modules have a much greater emphasis on integrating and connecting with the suppliers. SRM also includes interactions with the supply base throughout the full lifecycle of processes from design through to fulfillment, manufacturing, and settlement.
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Sourcing
Many consider sourcing to be the heart of SRM and commodity management to be the heart of sourcing. Advanced sourcing suites are rich in analysis and decision support technology to absorb huge amounts of data quickly and make intelligent sourcing decisions. They also lay the foundation of execution through the RFx process and managing performance against contracts. Risk management is an area which spans the full lifecycle, but is most associated with the sourcing function.
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Infrastructure
SRM is by nature an integrative function and requires the infrastructure to support that integration, as well as to manage the massive volume of related content, alerts, and data.
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Supply Chain Management Features and Functions
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