Cheap Sourcing

Cheap Sourcing - Is It the New Purchasing Game inencased in Tobacco leaves that could only have been
Town or is It the Most Ancient Practice on Earth?“cheaply” sourced from the
I was invited to participate in a round table discussionAmericas thousands of years ago.
along with senior colleagues from the largestThe roman empire invaded and occupied Egypt for
procurement organisations in Europe. The moderatoronly one thing, cheap and high quality Wheat to feed
of the forum asked a question to all theits army so that they could march further, occupying
attendees:” what are your views on theother territories and obtaining more goods and
latest thinking in procurement organisations - Cheapservices from other cheaper sources.
Sourcing”. People started answering whileThe British Empire was built on trade and the desire
highlighting their experiences and the advances theyto obtain goods, services and labour cheaply from all
have made into this new trend in Procurement.over the world. The British Empire went even further
I felt a bit strange at the question and being a Chiefand outsourced armies using other countries in Asia
Procurement Officer myself, I felt a bit embarrassedand Africa to fight the British wars up until to the
that I have never really given thisSecond World War. Cheap silk and spices from India,
“new” the importance itCotton from Egypt and Tobacco from America and
deserves or even thought about it much. I must beso on.
totally incompetent as a procurement officer since inMost wars in history were about obtaining goods and
such an important forum a question like this is beingservices from cheap sources in reality.
put forward to the participants, or am I outdatedThis is why I didn't understand the question in the
and not keeping up with the latest trends andfirst place.
technologies in procurement?At this stage I collected my courage and let it all out
While the others were answering the question eachto my colleagues and the moderator, they all
in his own way, I scratched my head thinking toenjoyed the remarks and laughed at it.
myself, well I do make good deals for my company,I don't think my remarks were funny at all. Sarcastic,
and in fact our deals are one of the best deals in themay be but not funny.
industry. We do search the globe for the best priceCheap sourcing is not a new game in town for
and quality while focusing on continuity of supply toprocurement departments to brag about, it is in fact
secure the company. The problem I have is that Ithe oldest game in town since all empires in history
never thought I was doing something extra ordinarywere built and motivated by finding new cheaper
or even implementing the latestsource for labour, goods and services to please their
“buzz” in the procurementcitizens.
industry.Put another way, all wars and empires were built and
I didn't think either that this was modesty on mymotivated by controlling these
behalf. As my turn was nearing and my confusion at“cheaper” sources in the first
the question was increasing, it suddenly occurred toplace for the advancement of their own nations.
me that there is something missing here and beingThese days the only difference is the fact that the
from an Egyptian origin myself I though to myself,acquirers of these goods and services have to pay
hang on, the ancient Egyptian have been trading allthe price which is usually still cheaper than obtaining it
over the globe for seven thousands years, thein their own country.
mummies of the pharaohs still preserved today are all