5 Benefits of an Internal Marketplace

As businesses navigate the lingering COVID landscape, there are hard lessons being learned throughout the global economy that highlight internal marketplace benefits. Supply chain issues, labor shortages, and volatile markets are creating new challenges for businesses moving into 2022, and internal marketplaces can solve those issues.

One common problem that has been challenging businesses in every market are supply chain issues. From procurement of raw materials through production and shipping, the global supply chain has been experiencing unprecedented delays and interruptions. To succeed in this current economy, Employees need readily access to information to make the best procurement decisions, businesses need agility, creativity, and innovation when it comes to sourcing the equipment and assets they need to operate.

But what about the assets and equipment businesses already have?

An important tool to mitigate global supply chain issues is to integrate a dynamic internal supply chain, also known as an internal marketplace,  within your operation supply chain. By making the most of the unused assets you have now throughout your entire operation, you can reduce the associated risks of being tied to a supply chain that is currently unreliable at best. That concept is the heart of the internal marketplace, leveraging dynamic resource deployment to optimize the use of unused assets, allowing you to empower your employees with all necessary information to help reduce shortages and disruptions,

A successful dynamic resource deployment strategy involves using your current excess inventory of capital assets and equipment throughout your entire organization, as needed, as opposed to systematically buying new inventory to replace broken or outdated assets.

Example: A retail operation or a franchised chain with hundreds of facilities across the US will face equipment failure, repairs, scheduled upgrades, remodeling projects…. On a yearly basis.

Each time a set of commercial kitchen equipment is replaced with a new unit to comply with a corporate mandate kitchen upgrade, the facility can choose to liquidate the old inventory, recycle or dispose of it.  Now imagine a different facility that has a broken oven or cooler or freezer and is looking for repairs or new equipment. The facility manager could log into the company’s internal marketplace, look for the equipment needed and see if it is available at a facility nearby. He or she could compare the cost of transferring the used unit, shipping it, and installing it vs. buying a used one or waiting for a new one to become available.  The Facility manager would have all information needed to make the best purchasing decision to ensure his/ her operation runs smoothly while containing costs.   The same principle can apply to excess renovation material, furniture, displays, shelving….

Deploying an internal marketplace enables used assets to be deployed faster and at a lower cost – preventing inventory loss or interruptions in business as well as reducing waste.

1GNITE’s custom solution offers the following five internal marketplace benefits:

Mitigate Impact of Supply Chain Disruptions

Integrating a dynamic internal supply chain to mitigate the impact of uncontrollable factors in the global supply chain is the heart of 1GNITE’s internal marketplace. Using assets that you already have on hand means you’re not waiting for the production or shipping of assets that you need now. Tighter controls of internal inventories, internal production, distribution all mean your business is moving forward when others are left waiting.

Acceleration of Business Transformation Using Digital Assets

If self-reliance from the supply chain is the heart of our plug-and-play internal marketplace, Agile Technology is the brain. The deployment of key technologies, like an internal, cloud-based marketplace of used assets, enables the implementation of the changes required for companies to adapt and thrive in a new, post-pandemic way of buying. Instead of relying on external suppliers, procurement managers can easily and quickly find replacement assets from your own internal supply and deploy them with ease.  The end goal is to achieve a competitive advantage and unleash new opportunities. 

Realize Compounded Savings

The savings from deploying an Internal marketplace aren’t one-dimensional. Intelligence procurement of used assets saves money over buying new, but that is only one aspect of the savings your business can expect. Time, resources, and energy savings are all a direct result of a custom, plug-and-play, internal marketplace that leverages a strong technological infrastructure. Minimal internal IT requirements allow you to safely deploy a robust dynamic resource marketplace without burdening your IT department. Enhanced automation may be one of several unintentional internal marketplace benefits, but Automation allows you to focus on overall business instead of being consumed by transactional responsibilities.  A strong internal asset management solution also allows you to manage requirements and compliance- (ordering, shipping, billing, authorization) specific workflows, and provides full visibility to help buyers track spending. Another direct source of savings is to simply reduce excessive costs by minimizing new, external purchases over buying internally. 

Increase Responsible Sourcing

Responsible sourcing is all about reusing inventory on hand reducing waste – both of which save money. Responsible sourcing is also a key component of any sustainability or carbon reduction program. Making the best use of what you have and extending a product’s life cycle throughout your organization is key element to a sustainable, responsible business.

Empower your organization

Ultimately, self-reliance is empowering. Real-time, accurate data allows front-line buyers to make better purchasing decisions, saving time, money, and resources. Easy-to-use solutions allow employees to complete purchase decisions quickly and focus on more customer-centric, value-adding activities. In the end, they are more productive and offer a better customer experience because they aren’t having to deal with the hassles of acquiring new equipment in a shaky supply chain.

Making the best use of the assets and equipment your business already has on hand can be the key to your organization moving forward in 2022 when other companies are starting to fall behind. 1GNITE has the experience and expertise to design, implement, and manage a dynamic resource deployment program that can free your company from the burdens of a struggling supply chain, and make the best of all internal marketplace benefits.