The purchasing department in the digital era

▻ In recent years we have been witnessing an intense digitalisation process that hasn’t left the fine-chemicals industry untouched. Within this changing landscape, new procurement-management models have emerged. They have been evolving and developing up to the point that are now able to lodge the entire source-to-pay (S2P) process on a digital platform. 

So let’s find out more about how eProcurement reduces costs and time of daily activities, from supplier scouting to electronic invoicing, and why today it is becoming an indispensable tool even for small and medium-sized enterprises. 

eProcurement can be referred to as the business to business (B2B) process of sourcing, ordering and purchasing goods or services through the use of web-based digital platforms. This type of systems is based on a set organisational methods and procedures that include the use electronic commerce technologies (eCommerce). 

When correctly implemented, the digitalisation of S2P processes has proven to be extremely efficient in reducing the total costs in terms of time and budget, and effective in ensuring transparent procedures and direct communications.

As a matter of fact, on the one hand, eProcurement systems speed up the stream making tender processes leaner and faster, thus cutting the number of hours procurement managers spend on tendering. On the other, by adopting digital procurement solutions, individual business transactions can be completed much more quickly and on a real-time basis.

The reduced transaction time derived from the digitalisation of S2P processes helps to free the procurement staff from processing orders and handling low-value transactions. The time saved can be used to focus on strategic sourcing and improving relationships with the suppliers, thus enhancing the global productivity of a company and the efficiency of its operations. 

Moreover, by using tools like electronic requests for quotation and documentation shared on website, eProcurement can bring huge improvements in transparency and openness between buyers and suppliers. Through the website suppliers can access and monitor all tender opportunities, quotes, orders and their current statuses. All the necessary documentation will always be available on the user’s private page. 

But there’s more to it: digitalisation tears down geographic boundaries and allows immediacy. First, interactions through digital tools guarantee swift communications and precious feedbacks, so all the parties can always stay updated and have a firm grip on the current situation. Secondly, in such an ecosystem, buyers and suppliers are able to develop long-lasting and productive relationships even with companies whose distance might have previously been a barrier.

Even in such a scenario, we are aware that technology does not replace the human factor. Although digital tools are becoming indispensable, we still believe establishing a good relationship between the parties is of paramount importance. Our eProcurement platform does not prevent its users to personally reach out to the company and get in touch with our team. Quite the opposite, it enables a direct and efficient channel of communication which allow us to develop a tailor-made relationship with each of our partners. 

Efficiency and productivity. Transparency and immediacy. Attention to the human factor.
These are the five main reasons companies may want to consider for adopting eProcurement solutions. For small businesses this digital transformation of the corporate world may look overwhelming and it might take some time to adjust routines and habitual workflows. Still, it’s through small steps that a strong basis for the digital age is created. We are positive the adoption of eProcurement for source-to-pay processes is a great start for that solid basis.