Welcome to parallel purchasing

We specialise in supporting SME Bakery and Food Manufacturing businesses with purchasing and supply chain projects and services. We combine years of experience in the food manufacturing and bakery industries, including large scale manufacturing for major supermarkets, wholesale supply into catering and food service, and retailing on the UK high street.
 
If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please contact us using the form at the bottom of this page, or here.

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Our Procurement Process

Procurement is the process of finding and acquiring goods, services, or works from an external source, often via a tendering or competitive bidding process.

We use a core strategic sourcing plan with 5 stages, and through this process we typically save between 10% and 15% on the cost of goods, services or works.

Stage 1​ - Pre-Project

• Identifying the objectives and deciding the scope of the work.
• Getting to know the key people that are a part of the procurement and supply chain process.
• Create a communications plan, so we are always on the same page.

​Stage 2 - Scoping
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• Understanding what happens now, and why it works that way. We must understand how the business works to create practical solutions, and a successful outcome.
• Gathering and understanding the data such as contract statuses, spend information, key products, suppliers and technical requirements.
• Create a proposed approach to go to the market, to be discussed and agreed before actioning.

​Stage 3 - Negotiating
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• We have the ability to utilise state of the art eProcurement tools to tools to engage the market and analyse opportunities, such as eRFX and eAuction (we call it Purchasing Portal).
• We understand that a ‘Cold’ procurement process is not always the right strategy and tailor the negotiation strategy to suit what is right for the business. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ or a standard sourcing and negotiation process. 
• We produce a detailed analysis of the results of bidding and negotiating, and give recommendations of any changes. The final decisions can then be made by the client, with all the relevant data required to make an informed decision.

​Stage 4 - Implementing
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• We work closely with the key people in the business to insure a smooth transition when making changes to the supply chain.
• Contracts and new business is awarded with robust supplier agreements and terms and conditions including relevant SLA’s (service level agreements), to insure the correct governance and supplier compliance.
• We also can implement systems to support changes, like Purchase-2-Pay, that helps to reinforce adoption and supplier compliance. 

​Stage 5 - Post-Project​
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• Post project spend and KPI reporting to give spend data tracking savings and success.
• We organise and file contracts and renewal dates, to insure the next cycle of bidding and negotiation is executed at the right times.

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Sourcing as a Service

We have reliable, established sources for many products, materials and services currently in demand. In addition, with our supply chain expertise we can implement new suppliers quickly and effectively. Categories include:

• Commodity Ingredients
• Specialty Ingredients
• Packaging and Packaging Design

• Utilities, Electricity, Water and Gas
• Waste Management
• ​Cleaning, Janitorial, and PPE

• Catering and Industrial Equipment
• 3rd Party Logistics
• IT Equipment and Services

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sustainability

Sustainability is already a significant trend in the food industry, as environmental concerns are increasingly top of mind for consumers. Put simply, sustainability sells.  

Companies are also managing sustainability to improve processes, pursue growth, and add value to their companies rather than focusing on reputation alone.

We can help you develop a competitive, sustainable supply chain that supports your CSR (corporate social responsibility) objectives. We follow best practice principles to help you develop and implement sustainable practices and policies.

• Eliminating single-use products

• Reducing waste and maximising associated cost savings
• ​Sourcing carbon neutral Electricity and Gas
• Create measurable sustainability metrics and reports to support you CSR message ​

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e-Sourcing, e-Tendering and e-Auctions

eSourcing is the business process of finding, evaluating, selecting and collaborating with current and potential suppliers via online, web-based platform. We call this Purchasing Portal.

Using this streamlined solution, we can manage entire strategic sourcing projects from initial tenders through to eAuctions, manage supplier information, contracts and performance, as well as collect detailed product specifications.

The software is SAAS (Software as a service) and is hosted in the cloud, ​therefore is accessible  anywhere that has internet access, including smart phones and tablets.
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key functionalities of Purchasing Portal

​eRFX (Electronic Request For [x])

• A more accurate, streamlined and consistent tendering process
• Substantial time savings through deadline driven and controlled response times
• Increased visibility through a transparent tendering process
• Comparable and consistent supplier information
• The ability to invite a larger volume of suppliers to tender
• Central storage of secure yet accessible supplier data

eAuction

• Find the best market price
• Increased supplier participation
• Increased market visibility
• Improved transparency throughout negotiations

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​Strategic Sourcing

• Increased visibility over sourcing projects
• Promote best sourcing practices
• Streamline sourcing project management
• Configurable workflows to match requirements

​Supplier Information Management 

• Supplier self on-boarding
• No re-keying of information, ability to request large volumes of information
• Ensure supplier compliance with government legislation, industry standards and company requirements
• Full audit trail of actions evidencing risk mitigation
• Real-time access to up to date supplier information

Supplier Contract Management

• Alerts and reminders set against key terms including milestones, tasks, renewal dates and events
• Approval process is mapped electronically and fully auditable
• Increased compliance to commercially critical terms
• Improve contract risk management
• Single source of contract information which can be shared across the organisation

​Supplier Performance Management

• Measure supplier performance against customisable key metrics
• Easily identify supplier risk
• Remote access for key stakeholders
• Data is exportable to other business tools