The demands on procurement professionals are growing daily. Procurement, once considered a back office administrative role, is increasingly considered a fundamental core business function that drives value, efficiency, and transformation.
Today’s digitalized and globalized business landscape create logistics challenges and increases the potential for risk. Risk and relationship management are increasingly fundamental elements of a procurement department’s mandate, along with traditional spend management and purchasing responsibilities.
In the SAP Ariba CPO Survey 2018, it was revealed that 83% of Chief Procurement Officers said digital transformation will be impactful to supply chains, but only 5% claimed to currently have “highly automated” systems. This suggests the gap between aspiration and reality when it comes to the digitalization of the procurement processes is huge for most organizations.
The same study showed that 63% have identified automation as a key area for investment, and so we can anticipate huge growth in procurement automation over the coming years.
Here we explore how automation is the key to achieving greatness across all areas of your department, and how the right software can unlock your procurement potential.
Approach procurement as a continuous process, rather than individual stages
Procurement software that allows your business to manage your procurement cycle from end to end as a streamlined, automated, standardized process is of invaluable benefit to your organization.
Only when you are collating the correct data in the right format will software enable your business to harvest the data and analytics you need to achieve the most value out of your procurement function. Not only does automation of the procurement process save you money directly through saving time and resources, but it also helps your business to manage your spend and identify areas where you can leverage growth or savings.
From strategic sourcing and analytics to contract and inventory management to payment – a comprehensive procure-to-pay solution should manage all aspects of your procurement cycle. Automating your Procure-to-Pay Process using ProcurePort’s Cloud Hosted Spend Management software can achieve cost savings and risk reduction, whilst also increasing contract compliance and reducing maverick spend across your organization.
Manage your spend from one integrated solution, providing insight and clarity
In our recent blog, we explored how spend analysis is a lesson in clarity. We discussed the idea that without an adequate spend analysis, you are in the dark about many of the questions you should be able to answer about your organization at any given time.
Spend analysis software can help your business answer those questions, by taking data from disparate sources and standardizing it to unlock the analytics contained within. But that is only part of the picture. The right software can help you ensure you are asking the correct questions and aggregating the correct data. Spend analysis can be your business’ most powerful cost-saving tool.
Leverage technology for collaboration, not just automation
Collaborative intelligence is the future of work, according to ITProPortal, and it is easy to see why. Technology makes the world a smaller place, enabling businesses to transcend geography and time zones.
Access to real-time information sharing at home, in the office and in the field for everyone involved in a contract or bid enables organizations to treat their suppliers as partners, fostering long-term mutually beneficial relationships. Technology enables interactions, not merely transactions.
Automation is the key to minimizing business waste and maximizing efficiency
Automation reduces the potential for human error, saves man-hours and resources, and drives value and productivity. It is clear there are barriers towards digital transformation, but the evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of the business case for investing in digital procurement solutions.
ProcurePort’s suite of e-procurement software and services can help your organization take your procurement potential to the next level. To discuss how your business can embrace digital transformation and unlock your procurement potential, get in touch.
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