How can new technologies improve the corporate procurement?
Before the introduction of e-procurement, a technology that centralizes a company’s procurement management, the purchasing function was generally managed by paper. With the progressive development of new technologies, the digital transformation of the purchasing process has resulted in electronic catalogs and complete end-to-end procurement systems managed solely online. New technologies have become a real success factor for companies. How can they help improve the company’s purchasing process?
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Improved spend visibility and reduced costs
The use of procurement-specific software enables you to structure supplier spend management and track all flows in a centralized medium. Not only does this reduce your costs, it also gives you real-time information on your expenses. So you’re better equipped to anticipate risks, ensure contract compliance and monitor your suppliers. Productivity is de facto increased, with additional savings at the end of the day.
Consolidating all your purchasing process information within a centralized solution facilitates its execution, as well as the organization of your purchasing teams. Dematerialize purchase requisitions, orders and supplier invoice payments. You can easily see which departments in your company are ordering and receiving the most goods, whether they’re on budget, making the most of supplier contracts…
This data enables you to make more informed decisions, ensuring that you keep a close eye on the balance between your company’s needs and the expenses incurred to meet them. Adopting performance tech within your company can perfect your purchasing practices and generate added value in your procurement processes.
- Because purchasing management tools support multiple currencies, languages and logistics choices, your company can easily source goods and services from all over the world.
- Web-based management applications connect you to suppliers all over the world, giving you a wider variety of products, services and suppliers from which to choose.
Improved operational performance
Because procurement technology solutionsautomate many internal processes, including supplier evaluation and purchase order tracking, your business runs more efficiently. The more you limit human intervention in the purchasing process, the more you reduce errors, which can be very costly.
In order management, for example, purchasing management software enables you to centralize internal customer requests, save time and better track performance indicators. This means you can better comply with invoicing regulations. Finally, if you relieve employees of these tasks, they have more time to concentrate on tasks that cannot be automated, such as thinking through a purchasing policy, organizing a competitive bidding process or managing contracts after strategic suppliers.
Standardized workflow
The use of technology in a company’s purchasing function produces a system that standardizes workflows and automates procedures, boosting efficiency. The digital purchasing system makes it quick and easy to access the data you need, when you need it, whether it’s supplier details, a contract, a purchase order or a competitive tender with quotations. Transactions are routed through the appropriate channels, and approval ensures that orders are placed with the right suppliers, under the terms of the current contract, and at the right price. In this way, no purchases are made outside the contract, which generates a double benefit: cost reduction and year-end rebates (RFA).
Your company also benefits from a simplified process with management software. These software packages enable electronic storage of documents, ensuring better process management. Order placement turnaround times are reduced, as templates are reusable and easily accessible. Contracts and orders are also stored in the system, so you spend less time searching for old documents. This speeds up contract compliance checks and reduces the risk of errors.
Improved data accuracy
Data routing is streamlined when processed with high-performance software, helping toimprove your purchasing strategy. Your document repository is well organized and easily accessible. Visibility on your best items, supplier relationship management with requests for additional parts, contract compliance or even the information required by your internal customers. Centralizing data is more important and more secure than storing it in a mailbox.
Since the procurement system guarantees transparency, you can keep track of who does what in the system. This means that everyone is held accountable for their actions, and data integrity is not compromised. Efficient purchasing management is all about controlling flows and looking back on movements. Purchasing departments particularly appreciate the optimization and monitoring of performance indicators as part of good purchasing practice.
Thanks to transparency, traceability is automatically implemented. This means you can keep track of every action taken in connection with a purchase order. Who placed the purchase requisition, who the approvers were in the validation circuit and what decisions they made, supplier purchase order tracking, when the order was officially placed with the supplier, receipt history… Thanks to management software, you can ensure that your files are kept for as long as possible, and retrieve your information a posteriori.
A large number of companies are adopting technology to automate the purchasing function, bringing significant net benefits to businesses through increased productivity, visibility and profitability. Weproc’s purchasing software increases the efficiency of purchasing organizations and generates operational performance levers.
Want to learn more about our procurement management software Weproc? Contact us or request your free 15-minutes demo below!
Weproc is a SaaS software specialized in digitizing the procurement process of companies. From purchase requests to supplier invoicing, through the validation process, Weproc is designed to simplify the purchase management of SMEs and mid-sized companies by centralizing all purchase-related activities.