Sourcing optimisation has been available for many years, and many organisations have invested in advanced sourcing platforms and capabilities. Yet in practice, the full potential of these tools often remains underutilised.

To better understand how organisations use sourcing optimisation today, TWS Partners is currently running a short survey among procurement professionals. The aim is to assess adoption levels, identify key challenges and understand how organisations can scale optimisation capabilities more effectively.

In many sourcing initiatives, optimisation features are only partially applied, complex supplier bids are simplified and final award decisions are still made outside the system in spreadsheets. As sourcing decisions become more complex – balancing cost, resilience, sustainability and supplier capabilities – this gap becomes increasingly costly.

What sourcing optimisation enables

Sourcing optimisation allows procurement teams to evaluate complex sourcing decisions using mathematical models. Suppliers can submit expressive bids, such as bundle offers or capacity constraints, and procurement teams can analyse thousands of potential allocation scenarios.

Compared to traditional approaches, optimisation significantly expands the range of supplier offers and allocation options that can be evaluated.

However, many organisations struggle to scale these capabilities beyond individual events. Tools are often used selectively, and their analytical potential remains only partially realised.

From tools to better decisions

Technology alone does not guarantee better outcomes. To unlock the full value of sourcing optimisation, organisations need the right sourcing design, analytical capabilities and decision processes.

This includes structuring tenders so suppliers can submit meaningful bids and ensuring that procurement teams can evaluate scenarios and understand trade-offs before making award decisions.

smart Collaborative Optimisation

To address this challenge, TWS Partners has developed smart Collaborative Optimisation (sCO).

The approach combines sourcing design, optimisation analytics and game theory-based process design. It helps organisations structure sourcing events, analyse complex scenarios and integrate sourcing decisions into broader business objectives.

sCO is particularly valuable in complex sourcing environments such as direct materials, logistics, packaging or IT services, where traditional tender methods often reach their limits.

Beyond improving individual sourcing events, the approach enables organisations to scale optimisation capabilities across categories and move from isolated projects to a systematic sourcing capability.

Take part in the survey

We invite procurement professionals to participate in our short survey on sourcing optimisation. Participation takes only a few minutes and responses will be treated confidentially.

The results will contribute to a first Sourcing Optimisation Adoption Index and will be shared with participants.

Click here to take the survey.