GEP SMART Strategic Sourcing User Training Course

Course overview

Strategic sourcing teams need more than familiarity with an e-sourcing platform: they need to configure events that produce comparable supplier responses, enforce governance, preserve an auditable decision trail and move approved awards into contracts without recreating work in spreadsheets. This course addresses the practical gap between knowing where GEP SMART menus are and using the platform to run defensible RFIs, RFPs, RFQs and reverse auctions. Participants learn to structure sourcing projects around category requirements, stakeholder approvals, supplier risk and total-cost decisions.

The course develops working capability in GEP SMART Sourcing, Supplier Management and Contract Management. Participants build sourcing projects, create supplier lists, configure questionnaires and pricing sheets, set event rules, publish and manage events, evaluate bids, run scoring scenarios, document award recommendations and create award-to-contract handoffs. They also practise spend classification using UNSPSC, supplier segmentation, weighted evaluation models, bid normalization and approval workflow design. The emphasis is on making decisions that are commercially sound and traceable in the system.

Delivery combines instructor-led demonstrations with guided system exercises using realistic sourcing data for a multi-site procurement requirement. Each participant configures an end-to-end sourcing event, evaluates supplier responses and prepares a documented award recommendation. They leave with a reusable strategic sourcing event blueprint: project stages, stakeholder roles, supplier invitation criteria, questionnaire sections, pricing template, scoring matrix, approval route and post-award actions.

This course is best suited to procurement professionals who already understand the sourcing lifecycle and now need to operate GEP SMART with greater control, consistency and confidence. It is also valuable for category managers and procurement operations leads responsible for improving adoption, event quality and sourcing governance across teams.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure a GEP SMART sourcing project with milestones, team roles, approval gates and stakeholder tasks
• Build supplier invitation lists using supplier profiles, qualification criteria and segmentation logic
• Create RFx questionnaires, pricing sheets and line-item templates that generate comparable supplier responses
• Apply weighted scoring models, bid normalization and total-cost analysis to evaluate supplier proposals
• Administer RFIs, RFPs, RFQs and reverse auctions using GEP SMART event rules, communications and timelines
• Document an auditable award recommendation with evaluation evidence, stakeholder approvals and supplier rationale
• Transfer awarded commercial terms into a GEP SMART contract workspace and define post-award obligations
• Produce a reusable sourcing event blueprint for a live category or procurement requirement

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Strategic Sourcing Managers — who need to run complex, governed RFx events in GEP SMART
• Category Managers — who translate category strategies into supplier competitions and award decisions
• Procurement Specialists — who build events, manage supplier communications and evaluate responses
• Procurement Operations Leads — who standardise sourcing workflows, templates and approval controls
• Supplier Relationship Managers — who maintain qualified supplier pools and support sourcing participation
• Procurement Systems Analysts — who configure user processes and improve adoption of GEP SMART

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of the procurement sourcing lifecycle, including requirement definition, supplier identification, RFx preparation, bid evaluation and award approval. They should understand common terms such as RFI, RFP, RFQ, total cost of ownership, weighted scoring and supplier qualification. Familiarity with spreadsheet-based pricing analysis and basic contract terms is useful. Access to a GEP SMART training environment is recommended for maximum practice, although it is not required to attend. This is not a beginner procurement course; no coding, system administration, API knowledge or advanced data-analysis qualification is required.

Training methodology

The instructor demonstrates each GEP SMART workflow in a live training environment before participants configure the same function themselves. Short technical sessions are followed by RFx build exercises, supplier-response analysis, stakeholder role-play and peer review of evaluation logic. A running case uses a realistic category requirement, supplier data, pricing schedules and approval constraints rather than isolated menu practice. On day five, participants complete an end-to-end sourcing pack and identify the templates, approval controls and supplier-data improvements they will apply to their own GEP SMART process.

Course outline

Day 1: Sourcing governance and GEP SMART project foundations

• GEP SMART navigation, workspaces and role-based access
• Strategic sourcing lifecycle from intake to contract handoff
• Sourcing project creation, project metadata and milestone planning
• Project teams, stakeholder roles and task assignment
• Approval workflows, governance gates and audit evidence
• Category requirements, scope statements and sourcing strategy selection
• UNSPSC classification and spend-data inputs for event planning

Workshop: Participants create a governed sourcing project for a facilities-services category and produce a milestone plan, stakeholder map and approval route.

Day 2: Supplier intelligence and RFx event design

• Supplier profile review and qualification data in GEP SMART Supplier Management
• Supplier segmentation, invitation criteria and incumbent-versus-challenger strategy
• RFI, RFP, RFQ and auction selection criteria
• RFx questionnaire design for capability, risk and sustainability evidence
• Pricing-sheet construction, line-item structure and response validation
• Lots, alternates, attachments and supplier instructions
• Event rules, confidentiality settings, communication protocols and timelines

Workshop: Participants build an RFP package with a supplier shortlist, qualification questionnaire, pricing schedule and supplier-facing event instructions.

Day 3: Event execution and supplier engagement

• Publishing events and managing pre-bid supplier communications
• Supplier response monitoring, reminders and deadline controls
• Clarifications, amendments and controlled document revisions
• Sealed-bid event administration and response visibility rules
• Reverse auction setup, lot structure and bid decrement settings
• Auction monitoring, extension rules and event-close procedures
• Exception handling for late responses, withdrawals and disqualified suppliers

Workshop: Participants administer a live simulated RFQ, issue a controlled clarification and produce an event-control log for the sourcing file.

Day 4: Bid analysis, scoring and award decisions

• Response comparison views and completeness checks
• Weighted technical and commercial scoring models
• Bid normalization for differing units, volumes and commercial assumptions
• Total cost of ownership and scenario-based award analysis
• Supplier risk, compliance and ESG evidence in evaluation decisions
• Consensus scoring workshops and evaluator conflict controls
• Award recommendation documentation and approval submission

Workshop: Participants evaluate supplier bids, run an award scenario and produce a scored recommendation with a documented decision rationale.

Day 5: Award-to-contract handoff and operating adoption

• Award communication, supplier notifications and debrief preparation
• GEP SMART Contract Management workspace handoff
• Commercial term capture, obligation ownership and contract milestones
• Sourcing template libraries and reusable questionnaire components
• Event-quality metrics, cycle-time measures and compliance reporting
• Common configuration errors and sourcing-process control points
• Personal implementation planning for live GEP SMART sourcing events

Workshop: Participants complete an end-to-end sourcing event blueprint and present the templates, controls and implementation actions they will use on the job.

Tools & standards covered

GEP SMART Sourcing, GEP SMART Supplier Management, GEP SMART Contract Management, UNSPSC

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions