Importance of Sourcing from Eastern Europe
Pankaj Tuteja
Head of Operations at Dragon Sourcing | Leading Voice in Sourcing, Procurement & Supply Chain | Sharing Insights & Reports to Drive Operational Excellence
Sourcing is more complicated than interesting. Usually, high-skilled professionals are appointed for helping an organization for removing complicacy. Since there are a lot of things to do, you may think of hiring in-house support. But that would be very expensive for your organization which can further cause a sharp decline in your profitability. This also has another reason that offshore service providers have usually been seen providing more headaches than results. Many organizations nowadays are looking forward to engaging with Eastern Europe sourcing. The major reason behind this is that Eastern Europe gives more importance to quality than quantity. Marketers have also found out that they sell items at low costs which is the best for several organizations around the world.
Professionals like contractors, subcontractors, agents, consultants, etc. are the regular and the most important personalities you will always see in several projects related to sourcing. But hiring them should undergo certain requirements, especially when you are sourcing from Eastern Europe. The continent or the part of the continent may be new to any of those experts, thus, requirements should be set in that way. Further, it is your responsibility to make them understand about different sides of sourcing from Eastern Europe so it becomes easy for them to execute a process smoothly.
Pros of Sourcing from Eastern Europe
Read below to know in detail about the 5 major benefits of sourcing from Eastern Europe.
1.?????Growing Labor Market
Quality education in both Central and Eastern Europe has the outcome of an expanding job market. Moreover, those two countries have low-cost economies which eventually owe minimal labor charges along with plentiful skilled workers. Organizations are finding this aspect very interesting, charming, and beneficial. Eastern Europe procurement can simply bring the best out of an organization if all activities are executed properly and efficiently. The countries of Eastern Europe have a big talent pool which can correspond with the total population.
2.?????Access to Cheaper Wages
Sourcing of labor-intensive manufacturing processes can be done very cheaply from countries that provide wages lower than in your own country. This entire statement positively marks the truthfulness only if the used technology has a life cycle. Producers' reactions are usually seen when a technology matures and it has to be at some point. So, as the technology matures, high-wage cost producers tend to move on to new technologies. This is simply because they think that the benefits and features it brings can be very useful for charging a premium price offsetting the higher labor costs. Then low-cost countries sell the older technology at low costs for producing products for the late majority of users who are willing to buy. Other than this effect, overseas countries also let you operate services at low costs.
领英推荐
3.?????Inventory
Costs and reliability are the two most important elements in the world of sourcing. Now, the inventory plays the game with both of them. It either stresses costs or reliability with its strategy. Make sure that you have high-value goods with long lead times. Then only, you will be able to opt for a centralized distribution structure for minimizing the inventory in the supply chain which will further lead to a reduction in invested capital. The agility of your supply chain needs to be focused on properly. Accordingly, you need to have multiple warehouses throughout Europe. This will influence the sourcing policy to a huge extent. Eastern Europe sourcing activities in organizations need to cover this aspect primarily for carrying out every other process smoothly.
4.?????Reduction in Cost
Eastern Europe usually undergoes the process of sending and receiving goods or services all over the continent, and surprisingly, the expenses add up really quickly. Amidst this, the amount of money that the companies of the countries of Eastern Europe usually spend on product sourcing logistics is greatly staggering. Even then, the left-out pieces are stored in warehouses until the next assignment arises. Many of these costs can encounter severe reduction by localizing the supply chain. You need to focus on spending very less on logistics.
5.?????Growth in Business
This is one of the most important aspects that need to be understood properly. You can face a significant benefit by knowing the culture and ways of working in other countries. Knowing how to deal with those countries while buying from them can be an effective way of learning. You will have a good time learning how to trade with any of those countries before your sales and marketing strategies and implementations take place. Eastern Europe procurement may encounter certain risk factors if organizations mark themselves as a major section of the local market.
Sourcing from Eastern Europe has various opportunities knocking on your organization's door including cost reduction. The most amazing part of sourcing from those countries is that they are flexible and can always provide you with the best quality products at low costs.