We've talked about metrics before and their importance to your job. How else will you know if things are improving, if nothing is measured?
I'm not against metrics, when they are meaningful and useful. In those cases, metrics are great tools. I am definitely against metrics for the sake of metrics which is usually what happens in big companies. Those types of reports end up being exactly what Purchasing Departments' detractors accuse them of being - paperwork for the department to justify its existence.
That's the sad part. No such paperwork should be necessary. A good Sourcing Department is so vital to a company's health and profitability, I don't understand why it's not obvious to everyone. I wish the Sourcing professionals would stop buying into these job justification exercises and put their collective foot down when it comes to metrics.
Here's a trick from the world of editing which should be adapted by all professional Sourcing personnel. The fewer words in a sentence (or paragraphs in a chapter or scenes in a movie, etc.) the more important the remaining ones become.
The less metrics reported, the more prominent the remaining ones will be.
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