Whether you’re looking for a basic industry overview, for market research on a niche industry, or for the competitive landscape in a specialized market, you’ve probably looked at an IBISWorld industry report. IBISWorld doesn’t just offer market research through their industry reports collection – they also offer research on industry supply chains through their procurement reports. Here’s how you can use IBISWorld‘s procurement reports in your research.
To find procurement reports, go to IBISWorld and click the “Login” button to the right of the “Procurement Reports” banner. (Note: You can only access one of IBISWorld‘s collections at a time. You need to go back to IBISWorld‘s homepage to switch between the Procurement Reports and Industry Reports collections.) Now you can keyword search for a specific report or browse the full report collection.
IBISWorld‘s procurement reports are visually and structurally similar to their industry reports, and the procurement reports offer supply chain information that complements many of the available industry reports. For example, IBISWorld offers industry reports on several aspects of wind energy production, including “Wind Turbine Manufacturing in the US”. This report focuses on industry and company performance, covering industry growth and trends along with major companies operating in this industry.
However, a complementary procurement report on “Turbine Repair and Maintenance” focuses on pricing and buyers who are supporting this industry, covering the average cost of wind turbine repair services and analyzing whether buyers looking for this service are entering a buyer’s or seller’s market. In this case, growth is down in the wind turbine manufacturing industry so there aren’t many new turbines to maintain or repair. But there are a large number of turbine maintenance and repair companies competing for work, so prices for repair and maintenance services are being driven down. In other words, it’s a buyer’s market.
IBISWorld‘s procurement reports also cover the purchasing process for that industry at the end of each report. This is a valuable instructional section that covers lead time for purchasing a product or service, offers a “Buying-Decision Scorecard” to help decide how much to weight factors like cost and qualifications when choosing a supplier, and includes sample negotiation questions for vetting a potential supplier.
IBISWorld‘s Procurement Reports collection is a great resource for researching company and industry supply chains along with industry dynamics. Looking at a procurement report for an industry alongside its industry report is a great way to look at that industry from another perspective, or to see how different parts of an industry affect each other. Check out the Procurement Reports collection next time you’re looking for industry supply chain information. If you’re not sure where to start, you can always ask a Lippincott Librarian for help.
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