Game changers - Collaborative purchasing

In the world of supply chain and enterprise software new ways of business come along that couple technology to complement business practices. In this case the game changer is collaborative purchasing. Essentially it working together with like minded companies for a common goal - to reduce costs. This is the flip side to a buying consortium where they cater more to selling of common products and not cater directly to company specific requirements. In collaborative purchasing the group members share information for the good of the entire group to lower prices for whatever they are buying to either resell or consume. New membership is a group decision, only by unanimous count. Within the supply chain technologies for procurement are emerging that are changing the way procurement transpires. The usage of portals, consortiums , collaborative purchasing and social networking groups have shifted the thinking from internal-singular to external-global and the impacts on the organization. Combining systematic, repeatable and flexible purchasing methods to technology allows an organization to streamline its processes with little disruption or without significant cost. Corporations are starting to see the values of these approaches and are starting to pay more attention to these new and innovative ideas. If technology can be used to support your business while reducing inefficiencies and reducing costs, reduced risk and increase supplier quality then aren't these new applications and techniques worth considering ?