The digital procurement revolution is well underway as more organizations than ever before are using digital tools to reconstruct how they do business.
Far from replacing human input, AI is automating manual procurement tasks to provide freedom to procurement teams to discover they can strategically impact their business, rather than undertake tactical and clerical duties.
Many Chief Procurement Officers are now on board to help actualize their organization’s broader digital transformation targets, rather than just those of their own department. There are endless strategic and process-driven benefits associated with going digital.
Move over Microsoft
If your procurement team is still using Excel and Access to track spend and supplier relationships, you are missing a trick that allows for real-time collaboration from anywhere in the world at any time. Analytics and data management potential are also incomparable when looking at cloud-based technologies compared to Microsoft Office.
Businesses who are not investing in eProcurement are missing out on opportunities for cost-savings, identifying areas for potential innovation and growth, and on a competitive edge that their tech-adopting competitors are achieving through driving efficiency and integration.
Identify the barriers to digitalization and remove them
Whether your organization has never attempted digitalization, or whether a bad first attempt at implementing an eProcurement solution has left a bad taste in the collective mouth of the C-Suite, you are not alone.
For a variety of reasons, including difficulty in achieving buy-in from the senior leadership team to a lack of tech skills, many companies are late adopters of eProcurement technology, but the business case for investing in procurement software is very clear: eProcurement saves money and stimulates business growth for businesses who utilize an effective solution. You cannot afford not to become adopters of eProcurement technology, both in terms of cost-savings for your business and ensuring your skills remain relevant to your profession.
How outcomes will improve with investment in procurement processes
You can expect three main areas of positive change when you implement a procure-to-pay solution within your procurement department:
1. Streamlined processes
Automation frees up manpower for strategic rather than tactical opportunities, and efficiency of time and resources leads to cost-savings before any buying opportunities or economic waste has been identified or eliminated.
2. Smooth communication and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders
By removing friction between communication routes between buyer and supplier, the opportunities for adding value through collaboration and innovation for both parties are endless.
3. Increased cost savings
Insights lead to cost savings, and the benefits of real-time actionable data analytics are discoveries of savings potentials and eliminating uncontrolled spend.
Advances in technology have seen procurement totally transformed through opportunities for real-time collaboration, and leveraging AI and big data for predictive analytics potential. These technologies can problem-solve procurement processes and put serious downward pressure on delivery times and efficiency.
The contract lifecycle can be managed in its entirety through integrated, cloud-based systems that all speak to each other, with standardized data sets that make for cross-functional reporting and analytics capabilities of the likes the profession has never seen before.
The benefits of an eProcurement solution have almost limitless potential, but the potential pitfalls of falling behind in a business climate that has long since adopted automation and technology have huge ramifications for corporate success and your own professional advancement.
ProcurePort’s suite of best-in-class eProcurement software can help your business unleash your procurement potential, and our industry-leading advice and support service can help you implement technology even where skills or knowledge may initially be lacking. We want to help your organization determine and eliminate the barriers towards investing in procurement processes to unlock savings and growth opportunities. Contact us to tell us how we can help you.
