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Managing Procurement Cognitive Overload

Published Date
Author Carolyn Mathas

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 30 seconds

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By Carolyn Mathas for Mouser Electronics

Published September 26, 2024

It’s difficult to imagine a time when procurement professionals, especially within the electronics industry, have encountered so much complexity and information. With constant updates on tariffs, regulation changes, material shortages, and fluctuating prices, staying current has become a challenge.

Today's processes must simultaneously achieve cost efficiency, ensure quick time-to-market, mitigate various risks, and maintain the quality and flexibility necessary to stay competitive. Leveraging tools and platforms that provide real-time insights and automated updates on industry trends can help procurement professionals manage this cognitive load more effectively.

For example, authorized distributors like Mouser Electronics offer procurement tools that allow professionals to streamline complex tasks by offering automated inventory tracking, pricing updates, and notifications on material availability. Tools like this help reduce cognitive overload, allowing teams to focus on decision-making rather than constantly monitoring for the latest changes. By incorporating solutions like these, procurement staff can stay ahead of industry shifts and focus on optimizing workflows, ensuring both efficiency and adaptability in a dynamic market.

What Is Cognitive Overload?

First, let’s define cognitive overload, also known as information paralysis.[1] Cognitive load theory, initially posited by educational psychologist John Sweller in the 1980s, states that there’s a limit to how much knowledge or tasks the mind can process in a specific amount of time.

Symptoms of cognitive overload include lowered concentration, a drop in productivity, poor decision-making, higher stress, and finally, burnout.[2] For electronic component procurement teams, contributing factors include:

  • the rapid component obsolescence and constant part updates,
  • the exploding volume of technical specifications and compliance requirements,
  • the need to better manage supplier relationships,
  • the availability of multiple sourcing options, and
  • the capacity to navigate complex global supply chains while keeping an eye on cybersecurity challenges.

As cognitive overload sets in, further symptoms can include memory challenges, negativity, anxiety, depression, agitation, irritability, and the feeling of being alone.

Cognitive Overload and Procurement

According to Gartner, 83 percent of the workforce feels overwhelmed by today’s increased complexity in the supply chain and the overall business environment.[3] On the procurement front, cognitive overload can cause performance issues with decision-making, accuracy, and efficiency in sourcing and selecting electronic components. It also negatively impacts job satisfaction and mental health. Ultimately, organizations pay for the resulting increased errors, supply chain disruptions, and cost overruns.

Should the overload not be addressed, the organization also faces the likelihood of employee burnout and a predictable reduction in the effectiveness of their procurement staff.

Addressing Cognitive Overload

Organizations and professionals have myriad ways to address cognitive overload. Options include tracking and monitoring staff experiences, simplifying the many procurement operations (including workflows and decision rules), integrating process maps and templates for more straightforward implementation, and separating strategic work tasks from tactical tasks across procurement staff.

Another important internal action is to prioritize tasks effectively. For example, an Eisenhower Matrix decision-making tool can be used to distinguish between tasks’ levels of importance and urgency, allowing for prioritization, delegation, and removal.[4] Another productivity tool is the Pomodoro Technique for time management, which breaks work into timed intervals separated by short breaks.[5]

Additionally, incorporating automation tools and streamlining processes to reduce manual tasks saves both time and work hours, freeing up professionals to concentrate on more rewarding tasks. Companies can optimize data management through tools that search and compare the newest products for designs. This data visualization makes electronic component information more digestible.

By setting well-defined data management practices and using collaborative tools, organizations can improve team communication and reduce the chance of cognitive overload.

Companies along the supply chain offer various online tools to support procurement professionals in their efforts to streamline tasks. For example, Mouser Electronics offers an exhaustive set of services and tools that enhance efficiency, including FORTE, the Intelligent BOM Tool®, and a suite of API solutions.

Conclusion

Stress and overload are a reality for electronic component procurement professionals. While completely removing the sources may be difficult, professionals can tap into a wealth of resources, established practices, and tools to turn cognitive overload into a fleeting memory.

 

Sources

[1]https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/cognitive-overload
[2]https://hrexecutive.com/how-hr-can-spot-and-solve-your-teams-cognitive-overload/
[3]https://www.thescxchange.com/articles/6702-in-tough-times-gartner-recommends-adopting-an-offset-strategy
[4]https://www.forbes.com/sites/hillennevins/2023/01/05/how-to-get-stuff-done-the-eisenhower-matrix-aka-the-urgent-vs-the-important/
[5]https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

About the Author

Carolyn Mathas is a freelance writer and site editor for United Business Media’s EDN and EE Times, IHS 360, and AspenCore, as well as individual companies. Mathas was Director of Marketing for SecureLink and Micrium, Inc., and provided public relations, marketing, and writing services to Philips, Altera, Boulder Creek Engineering, and Lucent Technologies. She holds an MBA from New York Institute of Technology and a BS in Marketing from the University of Phoenix.

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