How Coupa Helped AkzoNobel put end-Users in Control

Coupa, the margin multiplier company, was called upon to help AkzoNobel’s complex and very transactional focused purchasing. Helping to streamline its ERPs into one system, Coupa assisted AkzoNobel’s procurement teams to collaborate and work from a single truth source, leading to better sourcing and millions in euro savings.

The use of multiple systems and poor data integration meant low spend visibility, control and cross-department collaboration.

Fragmented procurement

Bernard Hardy, Procurement Excellence Director at AkzoNobel, explains that before Coupa, the company's infrastructure for its procurement function was fragmented.

Pepi Fili, Global Digital Procurement Manager at AkzoNobel, adds that its processes and systems were quite "outdated and disconnected."

Pepi continues, saying its users had to use multiple systems in order to facilitate the end-to-end process.

AkzoNobel supplies innovative paints and coatings which help to colour people's lives and protect what matters most.

Its portfolio of brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens and Interpon – is trusted by customers around the globe. It is active in more than 150 countries and uses its expertise to sustain and enhance everyday life.

Coupa: A needed solution

It needed a solution that could standardise operational processes for a globally disparate workforce.

Coupa helped to take the ordering system, which Bernard describes as being "very transactional focused," with end users not being able to connect things like catalogues, marketplaces and not being able to directly link to a buyer – and transfer it all to one platform.

Purchasing was complex and very transactionally focused; the business services team was creating POs on their behalf. AkzoNobel needed a solution that could standardise operational processes for a globally disparate workforce. The use of multiple systems and poor data integration meant low spend visibility, control and cross-department collaboration.

AkzoNobel switched from multiple systems and tools to one comprehensive platform with Coupa means it now offers a seamless procure-to-pay process for all users and boosts productivity and savings.

Bernard adds: "We want procurement to be an almost invisible support. End-users don't need to think about who to contact or how to buy. That's where Coupa comes in and why it's so powerful for our business."

Solutions:

• Procure-to-Pay
• Invoicing
• Sourcing
• Contract Management
• Supplier Risk & Performance

Better sourcing and millions in savings 

Within 18 months, Coupa was implemented at AkzoNobel, which included a three-month design phase at the start.

With Coupa, it offers AkzoNobel's stakeholders and requesters a self-service experience, providing visibility on their requisitions, purchase orders, while also bringing the benefits in the procurement organisations and bringing the savings.

This led to achieving 95% user adoption with automated order workflows that make it easy for end-users to access catalogues, marketplaces and buyers in one place.

Realising full implementation of Coupa across 60 countries with 8,000 users in just 18 months.

Integrating all ERPs and other solutions into one system enables AkzoNobel's procurement teams to collaborate and work from a single source of truth, leading to better sourcing and millions in euro savings.

A direct channel of communication

The end-user community is now connecting much better with the buyers, with them undertaking a lot of the transactional work themselves, according to Bernard – with AkzoNobel being able to automate a lot of the work.

"What I love about Coupa is the way it enables the collaboration between our end users and the buyers, having a direct channel of communication," adds Pepi.

"We improved the user experience, we have the end-to-end process in one tool and this will enable seamless source-to-pay process."

The transactional volumes via catalogue have risen to 25%, which was almost 5% in the past. The lead times for processing the orders are down to around two days.

"It means that everything is much more integrated, they can see their orders, they can see who they work with in procurement they can see where the contract is," adds Bernard.

18 months on from implementation, AkzoNobel reached a positive business case.

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