Which Preferred Vendor Lists Are You On?

We often get asked by prospective energy service companies looking at Oilfield HUB for the first time, how their prospective customers and existing clients are using the HUB? In our world, we refer to these companies as our Operators (Exploration and Production) and EPC/EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Management) clients who are using the HUB from any one of 4 perspectives to:

• Manage their preferred vendor lists.
• Search for products, services and people. (Read More >>)
• Organize their field operations for wells, projects and orders. (Read More >>)
• Centralize their sourcing inquiries, bid requests and authorized orders. (Read More >>)

In this post, I will give you some insights as to how our customers are using the HUB to manage their preferred vendor lists more effectively.

It all starts with the creation of a master preferred vendor list for all of the service companies they have done business with in the past or plan to do business in the future. How do Operators and EPCs/EPCMs manage this information today? Well, that is all over the map, regardless of the size of the company you are trying to sell into. It ranges from having no formal preferred vendor list at all, to business card rolodexes, to individual Outlook contact records, all the way up to formal vendor management systems using costly systems like SAP.

The HUB provides the Operator with the opportunity to create a master preferred vendor list which is accessible 24×7 by all of their staff and contractors, whether they are located in their downtown head office or throughout their field operations. This master list can be easily copied to create additional preferred vendor lists for different divisions, departments, drilling programs, facilities, and in particular, when regional lists of local service companies are required to get the job done and to keep operations costs down.

 

But having the preferred vendor lists is only part of the battle. Typically an Operator will have anywhere from 3 to 5 go-to companies for major services and a myriad of other vendors for other field operations requirements. So, if they have 5 coiled tubing companies, how do they decided who to use, where and when? This is where the HUB’s vendor rating feature comes into play. Each preferred vendor can be rated by the Operator, on a scale of 1 to 5, based on their own rating definitions which may include considerations like service availability, field support, technical expertise, past performance, costs and so on.

 

Operators are also able to log and store internal, private comments pertaining to each of their preferred vendors in Oilfield HUB, again for immediate reference by any of their team members. This is an invaluable tool to keep everyone abreast of any background or instructional information which is shared online amongst their employees so it is immediately and always available to all when important buying decisions are being made for their service, supply and rental requirements.

The future …… Many of our Operators have been looking for a means to organize their preferred vendors by service for easy reference as they are sending out their sourcing inquiries, bid requests and authorized orders. This feature will be available shortly in the HUB, and will also provide them with the ability to rank their go-to vendors for that particular product or service. The next step after that will provide our customers with the ability to specify and track their go-to contacts for each of their preferred vendors, again down to the service level.

So, if you are an energy services company, why is this important to you? Click here to request a conversation with one of our HUB experts. We will explain how you can get involved to improve your chances to get on these preferred vendor lists and leverage your participation in Oilfield HUB to grow your business!

October 16, 2014

 

Kevin Turko CEO Leadstone Group Inc.

Get in touch with Kevin:                                                         kevin.turko@leadstonegroup.com       (403) 537-6561