Procuring supplies is one of the most vital functions in business. Finding the right suppliers and, of course, the right prices is of utmost importance to a firm’s success. e-Procurement is the way of the future – here’s what you need to know about it.
What Is e-Procurement?
e-Procurement is an essential development in digital transformation that can help businesses capture and leverage more data than ever before. e-Procurement is essentially a suite of digital solutions for managing traditional procurement functions online. Whereas most procurement transactions such as RFIs and RFQs, which refer to requests for information and quotations respectively, used to be exchanged either in person or via fax, it’s all going digital.
Instead of relying on inefficient, time-consuming, labor-intensive processes, e-Procurement offers businesses a simple solution to their procurement needs in the form of software. This software can quicken the procurement process considerably and help firms source the best deals from key suppliers.
When asking what is e-Procurement, the complete answer is multifaceted. e-Procurement software fulfills all of the traditional procurement functions except it does it better.
The Advantages of e-Procurement
The world is changing, global trade is pulsing at an ever-faster rate and it’s not about to slow down any time soon. The rapid pace is making it hard for many firms to keep up and manage their supply chains. e-Procurement software offers the perfect solution. Not only does it make the procurement process faster, but it also makes it significantly more cost-effective and efficient.
e-Procurement systems deliver customized solutions, manage time, and reduce cost-to-service. All of these benefits have a direct impact on your bottom line and help make your business more competitive.
Your overhead costs will be cut to the bone as e-Procurement software is virtually error-free compared to the manual alternative. People are liable to order too much or too little, with e-Procurement software, you get exactly what you need, nothing more, nothing less.
The time it takes between recognition and order release is dramatically reduced by using e-Procurement software, which helps your supply chain flow smoothly. The amount of paperwork that’s involved is also greatly reduced. You’ll have fewer headaches managing software than mountains of paperwork. Cutting back on paper also helps save money and the environment, making your business green in more ways than one.
With e-Procurement software, you can effectively streamline the purchasing process by providing automated POs. Automating POs makes the procurement process go even faster and helps strengthen your supply chain. By standardizing invoices the labor involved in Accounts Payable is decreased in tandem with rejections. All of these benefits save firms enormous amounts of time.
How e-Procurement Improves Supplier Relationships
Firms using e-Procurement systems enjoy improved communication with their suppliers which leads to other benefits. It allows companies and their suppliers to share valuable data that can have an impact on their relationship. By sharing data via e-Procurement systems, suppliers turn into trusted partners.
Suppliers can take on a more prominent role by sharing data as it helps them become involved in the product design process. When customers and suppliers communicate more freely and share data, suppliers can collaborate on new parts in product development. The increased responsibility and interaction strengthens relationships with suppliers and turns them into strategic business partners that can weigh in on matters of product design.
How to Get the Most Value Out of e-Procurement
When it comes to getting the most value out of e-Procurement, it all depends on the software that you use. Not all e-Procurement software is created equally. Some of these software products offer little or no value to your firm and are difficult to use. Others are intuitively designed and capable of saving you a tremendous amount of money. It all depends on the software that you end up with which is why business owners should partner with trusted industry leaders like ProcurePort.
