Champion Petfoods Streamlined Sourcing Process with Digitized and Automated RFQ Workflows

About Company

Champion Petfoods is known for its award-winning pet food brands, including Orijen and Acana. Founded in 1985, Champion Petfoods produces high-quality pet food using natural, wholesome, locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. Their pet food is made in their kitchens, allowing for complete quality control. They also firmly commit to sustainability and use renewable energy sources to power their facilities.

Client’s RFx Management Challenges

Champion Petfoods, until now, resorted to tedious juggling of emails and Excel to connect and manage vendors for the quarterly sourcing of raw material . As a result, they observed an utterly manual process from shortlisting, supplier response consolidation, and evaluation to awarding that gave way to errors and time-consuming sourcing cycles. They also followed the tedious task of manually rolling out the event.

Subsequently, this process made it difficult for an organization to understand and compare ingredients from vendors they want to compare and bid award for.   

Their existing process needed more visibility at different sourcing stages. And everything being manual led to challenges for them in historical data consolidation. Moreover, it severely impacted management and their decision-making too.   

Key challenges include:

“We always had to manually create, edit, deliver, organize, and evaluate our RFx process. Aavenir has saved us countless hours of administrative work. The tool has also allowed us to focus on other tasks instead of organizing responses and dealing with email chains. Everything is organized in one place now, and we can respond to suppliers twice as fast." - Gary Richard, Procurement Manager, Champion Petfoods.

The Solution: Aavenir AI-enabled RFx Management Solution for Champion Petfoods Company 

Aavenir streamlined the RFX process for Champion Petfoods's RFQ with RFPflow.   

From drafting a request for quotes to reviewing responses to shortlisting and awarding, now everything can be performed in RFPflow, skipping the long excels.    

Automate Processes   

Aavenir RFPflow product extended an easy direct procurement experience to Champion buyers. In addition, the extended product capability from drafting and publishing to awarding at the ingredient level for multiple suppliers enabled Champions Petfood to plan various events across multiple commodities.   

Aavenir RFPflow streamlines the RFX process by automating manual processes, including drafting questionnaires, collecting responses, and segregating the award system based on the ingredient choices within the RFPflow tool in a few clicks. In addition, the cumbersome process of maintaining long Excel sheets is now automated, saving sourcing cycle time.      

Higher Visibility   

Aavenir RFPflow offers transparency on how things function at various stages, especially during evaluation. With a constant reflection of any changes captured dynamically, the tool provided real-time updates for any responses received or submitted by the suppliers.  

With the ability to refer to the historical data at the commodity level and even trace it back to two consecutive years in the past, the evaluator can refer to the differences observed in YOY and thus have the negotiations managed for the currently active event.  

With the savings calculation and currency conversion available, the evaluation process only sharpens, giving solid benchmarking and scoring for awarding.    

Increase Efficiency  

Aavenir RFPflow helps consolidates all sourcing-related data, making the consolidation and comparison exercise quicker and more efficient. The evaluator can refer to the differences observed in YOY and thus have the negotiations managed for the currently active event. 

Flexibility to Award  

Aavenir RFPflow offers flexibility to award at the ingredient level across multiple suppliers, making it easier to manage and compare ingredients from vendors based on the food production requirements. 

Key Results 

Is your organization experiencing similar challenges? We can help you simulate how AI-enabled, automated RFX solution can make your sourcing process seamless & error-free. BOOK A DEMO>>

Which RFx is Best For You

RFx processes, which include requests for information (RFIs), requests for proposals (RFPs), and requests for quotes (RFQs), are important tools for businesses to use when looking for suppliers or vendors to provide goods or services. 

The importance of each type of RFx process can vary depending on the needs of the business and the type of procurement being conducted. For example, an RFI may be more important when the business is looking for innovative solutions or has a broader scope of needs, while an RFQ may be more important when the business is looking for specific, well-defined goods or service. 

Check which RFx sourcing event your business requires with this Aavenir RFx Checklist.

RFP Questionnaire Checklist

RFP Questionnaire Checklist

Writing an RFP that gets a response isn’t as simple as it looks, especially if you don’t have any expertise. Instead, an attention-grabbing and compelling RFP increases your organization’s chances of securing the required services, attracts quality vendors, and minimizes wait time. 

In this Aavenir RFP Questionnaire Checklist, we have covered the most popular in-depth questions, from general to specific. Also, we have kept a balance of open-ended and closed-ended questions in this list to evoke thoughtfulness and creativity.

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Supplier Negotiation Checklist

From start to finish, a negotiator must always be one step ahead during the supplier negotiation process to build a performance framework early in the relationship.

This Six Step Supplier-negotiation Checklist will help you to build the foundation for critical negotiations with your chosen suppliers. It will be a key to developing your offer, recognizing your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), and planning any walk-away points when required.

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Value-Based Sourcing Checklist

Sourcing has become synonymous with cost management. However, an excessive focus on cost-savings instead of analyzing supplier's net value leads to wrong sourcing decisions.

Aavenir's Value-based Sourcing Checklist enables businesses to make the right sourcing decisions with value-based sourcing for direct and indirect purchasing. It helps you access the value of goods and services, cost, and competitive market for the right sourcing. 

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Sourcing Automation Checklist

Automating tasks helps improve productivity by 1.4% annually. Similarly, automation or digital transformation streamlines the value creation process in the procurement and sourcing sectors and impacts the ROI of the business. 

Aavenir Sourcing Automation Checklist is designed to help your organization plan and implement the best sourcing automation initiatives. Use these parameters to identify an advanced AI-driven strategic sourcing solution and maximize value creation.

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Supplier Risk and Performance Management Checklist

For seamless supplier management, it is essential to understand the RFx supplier lifecycle. Wherein, Supplier Risk and Performance Management (SRPM) is of great importance.

Aavenir Supplier Risk and Performance Management Checklist helps improve supplier collaboration and engagement, benefiting the overall supply management process. In addition, the Checklist will help your organization enhance its brand image, mitigate supplier risk, avoid supply chain disruptions and build long-term relationships with suppliers. 

To know more, access this Checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Supplier Sourcing Checklist

Supplier evaluation is a complex process that requires a thorough understanding and analysis of potential suppliers. To select one from the pool of suppliers, you may need to approach with your probing questions, check facts, reviews, and more. 

Aavenir Supplier Sourcing Checklist can be used for a formal supplier assessment to manage the choice judiciously and have seamless sourcing in the future. The supplier sourcing process enables effective cost reduction, higher business performance, and ROI while ensuring efficient processing. 

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Bid Proposal Checklist

Bid Proposal Checklist

A bid proposal differentiates you from the competitors. It has to be attention-grabbing, as governments or enterprises use it to persuade someone to complete their specific project with service or products

Aavenir Bid Proposal Checklist will simplify your task and boost wins by highlighting the significant proposal criteria document. In addition, it will benefit you with timely and precise documents that will convince the reviewer. 

To know more, access this checklist by completing the form and clicking “Download Now.”

Open Tendering Process Checklist

Open Tendering Process Checklist

Open Tendering Process Checklist provides an overview of the mandatory requirements a company must adopt during the procurement process. This document is designed to provide a basic checklist covering the steps in a normal procurement cycle, from identifying and specifying a need to awarding a contract. 

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