Word Processing Services | Intelligence Report

Strategic Sourcing Guide to Word Processing Services Procurement

Overview

Several macro changes in the dynamics of overall Printing Services as well as Word Processing Services procurement trends are poised to change the business practices and procurement thumb rules. Digital printing has made significant in-roads at the expense of offset printing owing to its benefits such as order flexibility, optimized stock handling, and minimization of time-to-market for printed content.

The category is expected to experience a moderate price rise resulting from increasing investment in technologies and automation by commercial printing companies, but long-term price outlook remains positive for buyers as suppliers are expected to recover the technological investments soon.

Many large and mid-sized companies, especially from legal, financial, healthcare and real estate sectors are still heavily reliant on paper. Off late, there is a growing concern on security of documents - whether printed or stored digitally on a connected printing device. To address this concern, suppliers are coming forward with solutions that offer print and document security and monitoring services.

Category managers need to take note of the potential of these developments and reassess the changes required in their procurement practices.

Word Processing Services Procurement Best Practices

The report discusses in detail the best practices that have served well the category managers responsible for Word Processing Services procurement.

For example, Cross-platform color management refers to the management of colors among computer operating systems. Cross-platform color management helps in translating color across different devices with the help of color profiles. Buyers should asses the capability and compatibility of a supplier's solution for cross-platform color management.

Buyers should engage with regional service providers of digital print as this will reduce the procurement lead time. Shipment of goods from regional service providers takes lesser shipment time compared with shipment from global print service providers.

Buyers prefer to engage with service providers that adopt hedging techniques to mitigate the effects of fluctuations in printing ink prices. The majority of printing inks are primarily derivatives of crude oil, the prices of which are highly volatile. Thus, engaging with service providers that adopt hedging will allow buyers to minimize the impact of price fluctuations pertaining to printing inks during the contract tenure.

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Risks in Word Processing Services procurement

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

Procurement without consulting the actual users of Word Processing Services may result in a mismatch in expectations of the buyer's internal stakeholders versus the actual contract executed
Contract-related risks where unfavorable credit terms may severly penalize buyers for delayed payments or entitle the supplier to demand pre-payments or shorten the payment terms are not very common in the category but they do exist in certain situations where buyers' liquidity or financial health is in question
Suppliers may face a situation where they are unable to honor a contract in its entirety due to shortage of resources, finances or capabilities. While contractual terms safeguard buyers from the non-performance, their operations could still face massive disruptions due to suppliers' non-performance

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Who should read this report

The report is intended to serve as a one-stop reference guide for Word Processing Services procurement strategy and offers a perfect blend of category basics with deep-dive category data and insights. Therefore, it is ideal for category beginners looking for “Word Processing Services: Procurement Report 101” as well as for category experts actively tracking the global Word Processing Services procurement market.

You may have just initiated your research to design a winning Word Processing Services procurement strategy, or you may be a category expert looking for strategic insights and updated data.Either ways, the report has your requirements covered.

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Key questions on Word Processing Services procurement answered by this report

Procurement decisions can prove to be costly in the absence of careful deliberation and evaluation of every available option. In fact, more than 90% of the decision makers we work with acknowledge that timely availability of up-to-date category intelligence can help them make better purchasing decisions. More than 80% of them believe that in-house category intelligence needs to be updated periodically to achieve full benefits. If you have read so far, we are quite sure you agree!!

The Word Processing Services procurement report helps take more informed decisions by placing all the critical information and advice at the fingertips of a decision maker. It also specifically answers some of the key questions that we have been routinely asked during our industry outreach initiatives:

What is the spend potential in the Word Processing Services market?
What is the correct price to pay for Word Processing Services? What are the key trends and factors that influence current and future pricing?
Which selection criteria are the most important for Word Processing Services Suppliers Market?
Who are the top Word Processing Services suppliers? What are their cost structures?
Which negotiation levers can reduce Word Processing Services procurement cost ?
What are supplier margins in Word Processing Services market?
What are the best practices for Word Processing Services procurement and what are the potential risks?

SpendEdge Insights has helped procurement professionals and sourcing teams manage multiple spend areas and achieve more than $2 billion in savings. Activate your free account today!

Word Processing Services Category Insights: What is inside

The Word Processing Services market report offers a complete picture of the supply market and analyzes the category from the perspective of both buyers and suppliers. Analysis of the category trends, procurement best practices, negotiation levers and overall category management strategy advisory are interspersed with in-depth data and commentary on spend outlook, pricing ecosystem and supplier landscape drilled down to a region-level coverage.

Data

A key highlight of this report is the in-depth outlook created on Word Processing Services procurement spend and pricing trends. The report further delves deep into the aspects of cost structure, total cost of ownership and supplier margins for Word Processing Services. A dedicated section to supplier profiles and evaluation helps decision makers cast a wider procurement net and identify gaps in existing relationships.

Insights

Along with specific category and supplier intelligence, the publication also includes curated insights on Word Processing Services market trends, price influencers and inherent risks. These insights help the decision makers prepare for market shaping trends in advance and create alternative strategies for changes in the market conditions.

Advisory

Additionally, the report also advises on the best practices and strategies to manage the Word Processing Services category efficiently. Negotiation levers and opportunities are explained in detail along with quantification of their potential. Benchmark KPIs for supplier and buyer performance management are also aggregated to better organize the category objectives. Other themes of advisory include ideal procurement organization structure, enablers to achieve KPIs or category objectives and ideal SLAs to have with suppliers.

Category Ecosystem

Buyer and supplier ecosystem
Competitiveness index
Buyer and supplier power
Threat of new entrants and substitutes

Global and Regional Sourcing Insights

Category spend
Spend growth
Dynamics
Opportunities

Pricing and Cost Analysis

Pricing outlook and data
Drivers of pricing
Cost structure and inputs cost
Total cost of ownership
Pricing models and margins

Cost Saving Opportunities & Negotiation Strategies

Buyer and supplier side levers
Quantified cost saving opportunities
Negotiation strategies and quantified outcome

Procurement Best Practices, Strategy and Enablers

Procurement excellence
Sustainability and innovation
KPIs and category enablers
Risk management and outsourcing

Vendor Analysis

RFx essentials and selection criteria
SLAs
Supplier evaluation metrics
Detailed supplier profiles

Our research is complex, but our reports are easy to digest. Quantitative analysis and exhaustive commentary is placed in an easy to read format that gives you an in-depth knowledge on the category without spending hours to figure out “what does it mean for my company?”

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Category Research Framework

SpendEdge presents a detailed picture of Word Processing Services procurement solutions by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The analysts have presented the various facets of the market with a particular focus on identifying the key category influencers. The data thus presented is comprehensive, reliable, and the result of extensive research, both primary and secondary.