5 mistakes slowing down sourcing (that hardly anyone sees)

Procurement teams often don’t realize that some seemingly harmless activities silently undermine operational efficiency and final results. The most common issues include poor cost visibility, manual processes, and the absence of data-driven analysis (McKinsey & Company, 2025).

Here are the five hidden mistakes that most often slow down sourcing:

1. Superficial supplier selection Suppliers are often chosen based on speed or immediate availability rather than true qualifications. This leads to delays, poor quality, or unreliable partners.

2. Hidden spending: invisible waste Without a unified view of spend, the risk of duplicate orders, budget overruns, or policy violations increases significantly.

3. Paper-based or manual processes Relying on Excel, emails, and manual approvals creates friction: delays, errors, and dispersed documentation — all costly inefficiencies.

4. Ignoring total cost of ownership (TCO) A low unit price can be misleading. Transportation, support, quality, and warranties all impact the real cost.

5. Outdated supplier data Incomplete or obsolete supplier databases result in missed opportunities and repeated cycles of ineffective sourcing.

These mistakes weigh heavily on procurement departments and organizations as a whole. In fact, studies cited by Wired and the book Bad Buying show that over 90% of procurement projects fail at the very first stage due to poor visibility, inconsistent analysis, and shallow supplier selection — generating massive waste on a global scale (Economist Impact, 2025).

To avoid falling into these traps, it’s essential to:

• Centralize information on spend and purchasing methods
• Use structured scorecards to evaluate suppliers
• Automate critical workflows such as sourcing, RFX, and supplier response analysis
• Always include total cost of ownership in evaluations
• Keep supplier databases updated with certifications, product details, and contact information

In this context, technology can make the difference. It enables organizations to define smarter processes that anticipate problems and prevent operational bottlenecks.

If you want to start eliminating these inefficiencies before they impact your next sourcing cycle, Soource can help. Soource streamlines supplier searches for specific products or services, automatically collects supplier responses via email, structures the data for you, and — most importantly — keeps your supplier database continuously updated and accurate.

Lightweight, scalable, and hassle-free.

Try Soource for free by booking a demo