The SPX global network development contributes to develop and improve the efficiency of the global outsourcing and supplier network through the development of SPX Centres in different countries and regions. UNIDOs methodology applied in a well-established global network emerges as a concrete support mechanism for industrial subcontracting and partnership promotion.  SPX Centres are designed to facilitate production linkages between small, medium and large manufacturing firms and to link up with global markets and international value chains. SPX Centres provide technical information and matchmaking services tenable to industrial subcontracting and partnerships between buyers and suppliers, thereby aiming at optimizing the manufacturing capacities of the affiliated industries.

Within SPX Centres, local specialized teams supported by UNIDO, work to link buyers to potential suppliers and subcontractors. Utilizing the UNIDO SPX Profiling tool, SPX teams develop profiles of the skills and capacities of local companies to be promoted among buyers and provide customized support to buyers looking for competitive local suppliers. SPX Centres use a specific Management Information System to help build databases of local enterprise capacity, collate requests for quotations (RFQs) and provide a gateway to international benchmarking and information resources. SPX Centres are also encouraged to implement SPX methodologies and approaches aimed to track subcontracting opportunities and enhance the Buyer Engagement in the SPX process, thereby matching buyers with profiled suppliers in respective databases.

Through the utilisation of the UNIDO SPX Benchmarking Tool, SPX Benchmarking compares enterprise’s operational performance and practices against those of other companies of similar size and type. Such comparisons enable enterprises to objectively assess business operations, gauge their position vis-a-vis international practices within pertaining industrial sectors, and identify gaps and needs for upgrading so as to meet buyer requirements. The UNIDO SPX programme works with leading international partners to ensure that companies have access to the best systems and up-to-date plant-level data when they undertake this process.

Where SPX Matchmaking helps identify new buyers for potential suppliers, and SPX Benchmarking provides a diagnosis of the need for upgrading to meet buyer requirements, SPX Capacity-building assists enterprises to meet these requirements. SPX offices act as clearing house for the collation and provision of information about industrial service providers available at the national and regional level and facilitate linkages with other stakeholder institutions engaged in the enterprise upgrading and technology development.  SPX offices assist enterprises with the formulation of investment proposals and in the identification of technology partners. SPX Centres therefore aim to facilitate supplier development through enterprise-level capacity building and investment promotion support in line with needs identified by the benchmarking diagnosis.

Tools

The SPX Programme Management Centre at UNIDO HQ provides the overall strategic, technical and implementation advisory support and back-stopping to the various SPX Centres around the globe. Over the years, this technical assistance has resulted in the compilation and development of various tools and resources, comprising extensive training material, methodologies, guidelines, manuals and software.

Under the SPX Profiling Component, there is a comprehensive SPX Profiling material comprising of the SPX Profiling Tool, related SPX Profiling Training Materials and implementation manuals. A set of documents describing the manual of procedures of the SPX Management Information System are also available. For the SPX Benchmarking Component, resources and tools consist of the UNIDO SPX Benchmarking tool for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing enterprises as well as training documentation comprising case studies, power-point presentations and implementation handbooks. An SPX Buyer opportunity development and engagement manual further outlines and prioritizes the capturing of buyer needs for locally sourced industrial subcontracting. Other SPX support material resources, ranging from introduction to SPX Programme as well as detailed overviews of its main components, is collated in a series of video lessons which are available for dissemination and use by SPX network members on a dedicated Electronic Platform (SPX E-Platform). Documents, implementation guides and manuals describing and presenting the UNIDO SPX methodology and tools form part of a package of a Technical Assistance (TA) support which can only be provided to institutions once these start implementing the SPX programme. Technical Assistance support comprises technical expertise and specialized training provided by UNIDO.