The Parts Control Sourcing Agent is Live
For most manufacturers, the problem isn’t a lack of purchasing data. It’s that the information needed to make a better buying decision is scattered across sites, systems, suppliers and the wider market.
Today, we’re launching the Parts Control Sourcing Agent, an AI-powered sourcing capability designed specifically for industrial and engineering spare parts.
The Sourcing Agent brings together what your organisation already knows about a part with what is happening in the external market, helping purchasing teams identify potential savings before they place an order.
Your own organisation could already know there is a better price
In a multi-site manufacturing business, the same spare part can be purchased hundreds of times across different factories.
But those sites don't always pay the same price.
One site might be buying a component for £450 while another site in the same group has recently purchased exactly the same item for £320.
The problem is that the person raising the next purchase order often has no visibility of that information.
The Parts Control Sourcing Agent changes this.
When analysing a part, the agent can use internal company data to understand:
What each site has historically paid for the item
Which suppliers have previously supplied it
The most recent purchase prices
Price differences between sites
Existing stock held elsewhere within the organisation
Previous purchasing and consumption patterns
Instead of treating every purchase as an isolated transaction, Parts Control turns the buying power and purchasing history of the entire organisation into intelligence that can be used at the point of decision.
Then we add the external market
Internal purchasing history is only part of the picture.
The Sourcing Agent can also combine this information with publicly available marketplace and supplier pricing to understand how the organisation's current price compares with the wider market.
For example, Parts Control might identify that:
Your Site A price: £410
Your Site B price: £365
Best historical group price: £340
Current public marketplace price: £295
Suddenly, the buyer has significantly more context before placing the next order.
Rather than simply accepting the price presented by an incumbent supplier, the team has evidence that there may be an opportunity to negotiate, source elsewhere or buy through another approved route.
Find out what your spare parts are really costing you
If you operate multiple manufacturing sites and want to understand where purchasing price differences and external sourcing opportunities exist across your spare parts estate, get in touch with Parts Control to see the Sourcing Agent in action.