The first stop on the European swing of my global quest for supply management excellence brings me to Stockholm, home of the Nobel Prize and exotic foods ranging from pickled herring to reindeer. (I was assured by my waiter that none of the reindeer that made it to my plate were formerly on Santa’s payroll.)

After an overnight plane ride and several cups of espresso, I attended a private forum to discuss market trends and strategies with supply management executives from Stockholm and surrounding areas. I engaged in a particularly intriguing discussion on online sourcing methods with Rajat Mitra, head of e-sourcing at Compass, the world’s largest food services company. Compass buys and provides food for all types of organizations, including corporations, schools, hospitals, hotels, and restaurant chains. (In fact, I learned that Compass likely provided the airport espresso that’s been my antidote to jet lag.)

Rajat is from the school of thought that “if you can spec it, you can auction it.” His successful shepherding of the online sourcing program at Compass is the proof in the pudding. Rajat and his team have auctioned everything from frozen bacon and salmon to logistics services and temporary labor. To determine which spending is ripe for auctioning, Rajat says the category must meet four criteria:

1. Can you define clear specification for the category?
2. Is there a competitive supplier pool?
3. Is the spending or unit volume significant enough to be of interest to suppliers?
4. Are you prepared to change suppliers based upon the auction results?

“If you can honestly answer ‘Yes’ to each of these questions, the category can be auctioned,” says Rajat.