Traditionally, supply management professionals have been very good, if not great, at the sourcing process. They have negotiated well, are thorough in ensuring that contract terms and conditions contain "risk-averse" language, and have helped their companies maintain a competitive advantage.
Where they may have faltered in the supply management process is in the failure to fully capitalize on cost savings, containment and innovative ideas from their supply base. As most supply management professionals can attest, in the past those in their positions negotiated the deal, filed the contracts and then moved on to the next spend area to continue to look at driving down costs. However, a logical next step should be to place more attention on the SRM area. Regardless of which strategic sourcing model you employ, the last step or element is SRM. It is probably the step that gets the least attention.
Source: Inside Supply Management, http://www.ism.ws