Here is an excerpt from an article that provides a more in-depth explanation of the sourcing process:

“In enterprises, purchasing and procurement managers follow a stringent strategic sourcing process that achieves the goals set by the enterprise. Now, these goals are defined based on the fundamental priorities of the enterprise.

In an extremely competitive field, the fundamental priority could be cost, whereas, in other industries, it could be shipping efficiency and speed to market. Based on their requirement, priorities, and goals, every enterprise will have a slightly different sourcing process.

However, the majority of enterprises follow the 7-step sourcing process that was first designed by Professor Rajesh Gopinath from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The seven steps are:

1. Define the business requirement.

2. Gather data.

3. Analyze the data.

4. Develop a sourcing strategy.

5. Select suppliers.

6. Contract and manage suppliers.

7. Control the quality of the supplier’s supply.”

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