Top 10 reasons to digitise your procurement systems
10. Simplify your processes
Analogue procurement processes are too much of a hindrance and have clear cost-related impacts for organisations as a whole. Simple processes are those which are brought about by eliminating unnecessary impediments to trade, and the most sure-fire way to achieve this is through digitisation. Procurement is, in the modern world - with its issues of supply chain disruptions and economic impacts - an already complicated process. Businesses want simple, or at least simplified solutions, and those companies that can provide these solutions through digitising the procurement process are going to appeal to their clients, as well as to their employees - all while driving down costs.
9. Enhance your customer experience
The changing face of b2b has meant that most businesses are more likely to interact with those that have intuitive digital systems, and have frictionless buying and selling processes. Happy customers indicate greater engagement, and digitisation needs to meet this pattern if businesses want to succeed.
8. Accelerate approvals
Approvals are time-consuming and tend to occupy months in analogue processes. Digitisation eliminated this time-consuming process, and leads to streamlines and efficient processes which essentially means faster time-frames in terms of your ROI.
7. Eliminate the errors
Most of the errors in procurement are, it's sad to say perhaps, human. However, a digitised procurement process is able to pick-up on these errors and correct them in a flash. As big data expands, digital processes are able to benefit from these superhuman error-corrections, and that means more money saved in the long run. It really is that simple.
6. Keeping suppliers informed - robust relationships
Gone are the days of slow and inefficient supplier contact, the manual procedures of sending out letters, picking up phones or trawling through rolodexes of supplier information to update them on the status of their undertakings. A digital supply chain ensures a fast and frictionless communication highway which ensures that suppliers are immediately updated with the latest information concerning their commercial activities. The process is becoming so streamlined that little human intervention is now needed, and for the most part, the machines do most of the talking, and that means satisfied suppliers, which means your organisation can stay on top of the game.
5. Cost-effectiveness
From the elimination of paper to time-saved, digitising procurement processes has a significant impact on business outcomes. Costs are inevitably reduced by reducing errors and speeding up processes, and the failure to digitise will mean nothing less than increased expenditure and the potential loss of profits.
4. Compliance
Feeding into the above ESG and sustainability considerations, companies are (fast) moving to collaborating and working solely with those companies who meet certain criteria in this regard. The databases are already populated with long lists of organisations who are essentially red or green-flagged for abiding by, or complying with, sustainability standards, amongst other things. Digitising procurement processes means swiftly being able to sift through the vast oceans of data on companies and identify those that do and do not comply. Many companies automatically reject working with those that do not meet compliance guidelines and this has obvious consequences for business.
3. Sustainability
The benefits of sustainable processes are significant in the long-term effects and quality of a business, and digital procurement processes are the centre of this trend. With the rise of the ESG framework and its implications for businesses at all levels, those businesses which have sustainability goals and mechanisms in place are far more likely to achieve their objectives, and those without, are likely to be shunned by the wider business world as non grata.
2. Eliminate the paperwork - Time is money
A survey by software provider, Ivalua, says that procurement teams are spending an average of 31% of their time dealing with inefficient paper-based or manual procurement processes. This is a highly significant percentage, and if the old adage that ‘time is money’ is correct, (and in business, for the most part, it is), then this translates into a massive loss of potential profits. Digitise your procurement processes to access untapped profits.
1. The competitive edge
In the end, organisations that fail to digitise their procurement processes will be overshadowed and outdone by those that do. The competitive edge provided by digitisation is essentially synonymous with ‘just, better’. This edge, subsumes both the supply and demand aspects of business and commerce. According to a 2021 survey of B2B buyers, 87% would pay more to deal with suppliers that offered excellent e-commerce experience. The numbers speak for themselves, and if your company is to be sought after by other companies, it will either adapt by digitising, or fail.
