Loading Services Category Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for Operational Services and its sub-segments such as Loading Services are at an interesting intersection. Even as technological prowess of suppliers is increasing and processes are routinely being digitalized, there is a growing concern around putting critical data and information in the hands of a third party. Buyers are making elaborate contracts that aim to prevent intentional or unintentional data leakage or theft.

Technological advancements are enabling providers of Loading Services to leverage a diverse set of tools and identify resource and cost optimization opportunities in collaboration with the customers.

Historically, suppliers have sub-contracted a fair portion of their work and earned attractive margins, thereby increasing the cost of buyers. Buyers are now scrutinizing the service models of suppliers in much more depth to identify potential for sub-contracting and negotiating hard to avoid cost escalation on account of sub-contracting by employing should-cost models.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Loading Services is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

As market conditions become more dynamic and procurement practices get more sophisticated, category managers need to be cognizant of the best practices that work for their Loading Services category procurement. The report offers a succinct analysis of Loading Services procurement best practices.

For example, Large organizations are optimizing category spend by eliminating tail-spend service providers and engaging with a single service provider to meet buyers' needs. Buyers generally prefer to engage with preferred global suppliers. However, if global suppliers do not have an operational presence in a specified country, buyers should engage with local/regional service providers.

Engage suppliers that have adopted a high degree of automation in their business model. Automation of supplier's operations can offer benefits such as decrease in operational costs, reduction in the need for manual labor, lower chances of operational errors and optimized use of space.

There are increased exposure risks of confidential data such as product and service information, operations, and customer information when engaging a third-party supplier. Buyers must engage with suppliers that use encryption technologies, password protection, access control solutions, and proper training schedules to prevent possible information breach.

Loading Services procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Loading Services procurement. Some examples include: