Quantcast

Managing the Procurement Process with Automation

Delays caused by constantly sending documents back and forth, miscommunications and maverick spending are some of the top challenges faced by procurement teams. Automating procurement provides transparency for internal and external stakeholders and streamlines the process. This makes it easier and more likely for other employees to engage with the procurement department to fulfil a purchasing need providing opportunities for cost savings across the organization.

 

How does automation benefit the procurement process? 

Automating the procurement process brings benefits to procurement teams, other teams in the business utilising the procurement function and suppliers. These benefits include: 

- Increasing the speed at which documents are processed, shared and approved enabling procurement teams to work more efficiently and source, approve and pay suppliers faster.  

- Providing greater visibility and better collaboration creating better working relationships internally and externally.  

- Encouraging outside teams to engage with procurement department reducing maverick spending and giving procurement more opportunities to make cost savings for the business.

 

Automation has a role at each stage of the procurement process: 

- Purchase requisitions 

Submitting purchase requisitions manually can be an incredibly slow and error prone process. Multiple revisions and numerous approval levels often cause information to get waylaid and cause delays. Automating the process allows requesters to upload the information required in a predefined template which is then directed to approvers for review. Any feedback or changes can be updated directly in the platform making it easier to track progress and approve cases faster.  

- Purchase orders  

Much like purchase requisitions, purchase orders often go through multiple touchpoints prior to approval. Automation allows you to create a workflow that automatically routes your purchase orders through the appropriate steps based on predefined business rules preventing bottlenecks and allowing them to reach final approval faster. The automated process can also update your ERP automatically. 

Improving perception of procurement at Takeda 

Leading pharmaceutical company Takeda wanted to make it easier for other departments to engage with procurement and increase the procurement team’s overall activity. They automated their business engagement model, converting a three-page form into a web-based questionnaire supported by workflows and business rules. The streamlined process improved the perception of and engagement with the department massively increasing the potential for cost-saving across the organization. 

- Vendor onboarding 

Collecting information needed to review supplier compliance and risk, then communicating requirements often takes place across different systems creating silos and preventing transparency. Automating tasks and centralizing documents allows you to input and share information more easily ensuring that internal and external stakeholders know where they are in the process and the next steps. 

Speeding up onboarding at adidas

Global sportswear manufacturer adidas wanted to streamline their lengthy vendor onboarding process. By creating an automated workflow they were able to centralize supplier data and gain more visibility into the onboarding process allowing them to track status. These changes led to a significant improvement in data quality and a 50% reduction in factory onboarding time.  

- Invoice processing  

Matching invoices to purchase orders, resolving queries, submitting for approval and issuing payments can take anywhere from days to weeks. Automated invoice processing performs automatic matching to verify accuracy, routes invoices to the right people for approval and provides a central repository for records reducing manual data entry and speeding up the entire process.  

- Payments  

Your accounts payable team need to be able to pay invoices quickly and securely. Automated payments provide them with access to the documents and communications needed to ensure that suppliers are paid on time, every time. This avoids late fees and sometimes opens up the opportunity for early payment discounts. Tracking payments in a single platform also allows you to accurately monitor and control cash flow.

 

Implementing automation across your procurement process will increase efficiency and give your procurement team valuable time back to focus on negotiating the best deals for your organization. You can find out more about our procurement automation solutions here

Banking

Banking Compliance Automation: Benefits and Examples

Banking

How Automation Can Improve Risk Management in Banking

Agile & Low Code

Composability: Building Blocks for Accelerated App Development

Customer Experience & Engagement

How Automated Customer Service Can Delight Your Employees and Customers

Digital Transformation: Strategy

How Process Standardization Can Help Your Business Stay One Step Ahead

Manufacturing

5 Ways to Boost Supply Chain Efficiency Across Operations

Agile & Low Code

How to Boost Business Agility with Low-Code Process Automation

Manufacturing

Supply Chain ESG: What is it and Why Does it Matter?

Agile & Low Code

7 Enterprise Application Examples to Create with a Low-Code Platform

Manufacturing

7 Benefits of Automated Inventory Management

Manufacturing

Supply Chain Compliance: 3 Steps to Success

Manufacturing

Supply Chain Planning: 4 Benefits of Automation

Manufacturing

Retail Automation: 7 Ways Your Business Could Benefit

Manufacturing

The Secret to Effective Supply Chain Risk Management

Process Modeling and Mapping

Business Process Analysis: The Key to Great Automation Projects

Manufacturing

7 Ways Automated Order Management Benefits Your Business

Manufacturing

How to Improve Supply Chain Management with Automation

Agile & Low Code

Why PaaS Should Be Your Technology of Choice for Application Development

Manufacturing

Automate Logistics to Reduce Costs and Boost Operational Efficiency

Agile & Low Code

How Modern Enterprise Applications Can Improve Business Operations

Manufacturing

7 Benefits of a Vendor Management System

Banking

Banking: How Automating Back Office Tasks Increases Productivity and Efficiency

Agile & Low Code

[Infographic] 7 Reasons Why You Need a Low-Code Automation Platform

Banking

How Automation Can Help You Overcome Loan Origination Process Challenges

Banking

7 Retail Banking Challenges and How Automation Can Help

Agile & Low Code

How to Accelerate Enterprise App Development — 3 Steps to Success

Process Modeling and Mapping

Process Mining – What is it and How Does it Work?

Banking

The Benefits of Customer Onboarding Automation in Banking

Banking

Automation in Banking: What? Why? And How?

Manufacturing

4 Ways to Increase Supply Chain Visibility

Use Cases

Sourcing and Procurement – What’s the Difference?

Digital Transformation: Technology

Automation vs. Orchestration - What's the Difference and How Do Both Benefit Your Organization?

Manufacturing

5 Supply Chain Challenges and Tips to Tackle Them

Manufacturing

Supply Chain Analytics - Providing Full Visibility Into Your Supply Chain Performance

Agile & Low Code

What Is a Low-Code Process Automation Platform And What Can It Do For Your Business Processes?

Process Modeling and Mapping

How to Create a Process Improvement Plan in 7 Steps

Manufacturing

7 Benefits of Supply Chain Management Software

Intelligent Process Automation

5 Key Questions to Ask Before Choosing Your Intelligent Automation Software Partner

Digital Transformation: Strategy

8 Digital Transformation Objectives You Should Be Striving For

Digital Process Automation

6 Ways a Business Process Automation Solution Can Help Your Business

Process Modeling and Mapping

Types of Business Processes and Why Understanding Them Is Important

Intelligent Process Automation

How to Deliver the Benefits of Intelligent Process Automation Tools in 5 Steps

Digital Process Automation

5 Challenges of Business Process Automation and How to Overcome Them

Intelligent Process Automation

7(+1) Proven Benefits of Intelligent Process Automation 

Digital Transformation: Strategy

How to Build a Winning Business Process Automation Strategy in 6 Steps

Digital Process Automation

Automating Business Processes: The Five Steps You Need to Take to Get it Right

Agile & Low Code

5 Reasons Low-Code Platform Adoption is Taking Off

Person at desk building business process map in Bizagi Modeler on laptop Process Modeling and Mapping

What is Business Process Management (BPM)? 

Process Modeling and Mapping

Value Chain Analysis: Increasing Customer Value and Profitability