According to Forrester, e Procurement is at the “heart of enterprise commerce” which echoes our mission to simplify tools and make it easier for trading partners to engage in digital business commerce for buyers, its employees, and suppliers.
If tasked with implementing a new e Procurement System leaves you scratching your head in confusion about where to start, you’re not alone. Implementing the right type of e procurement system is essential as you need to use it every day and if you choose something unsuitable your colleagues won’t let you forget that you messed up the one job that you’re supposed to be good at!
Writing a specification for a system might make you full of fear but it doesn’t have to be a painful process. Write down your list of requirements, including must-have, desirable and non-essential.
Listed below are 5 e Procurement providers and top-level functionality. Use the top level information to drill down against your specific requirements. Most companies can offer a demo, use case studies and scenarios to test which system best suits your organisation.
Coupa http://www.coupa.com/
Asset Management
- Auction Management
- Budget Management
- Catalog Management
- Contract Management
- Expense Management
- Inventory Management
- Invoice Processing
- PunchOut
- Purchase Order Management
- Receiving
- Requisitions & Approvals
- Sourcing Management
- Spend Management
- Supplier Management
2.Bravo http://bravosolution.co.uk/
- Auction Management
- Budget Management
- Catalog Management
- Contract Management
- Data Management
- Invoice Processing
- PunchOut
- Purchase Order Management
- Receiving
- Requisitions & Approvals
- Sourcing Management
- Spend Analysis
- Spend Management
- Supplier Management
- Proactis http://www.proactis.com/Home
Auction Management
- Budget Management
- Catalog Management
- Contract Management
- Invoice Processing
- PunchOut
- Purchase Order Management
- Requisitions & Approvals
- Sourcing Management
- Spend Management
- Supplier Management
- Delta E Sourcing https://www.delta-esourcing.com
- Intend http://www.in-tend.co.uk/
Though this is not the easiest to use, it’s added because it’s popular in Universities
If you already have an E-procurement system but don’t have access to an E Auction Module try:
Market Dojo
- Auction Management
- Sourcing Management
- Supplier Management
The E-procurement systems listed above are just a few on the market and there are many more. Start with a long list of suppliers and whittle them down to the ones that meets your needs. Don’t forget that the procurement system can focus on just sourcing activities or it may be that it has an integrated module for your P2P. The two are separate so check for integration options .
The Benefits of e Procurement
One of the first questions asked by organisations who don’t currently use an electronic system is how can the benefits be quantified?
E-Procurement Defined
Electronic procurement, commonly referred to as e-procurement, defines the automation of procurement and supply chain processes using internet based applications and technology. This expands the idea of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, allowing the automation of internal business processes, thus providing a platform that supports automation at a global level. It allows procurement professionals across the world to communicate information simply and efficiently, streamlining the global procurement process; reducing time and costs without compromising on standards and quality
E-Procurement Advantages
Transactions can be completed much quicker with automated workflow to track and audit every keystroke. Relying on word documents and excel spreadsheets is inefficient.
Electronic catalogues: the development of e-catalogues has enabled organisations to market their product offer electronically, this has been a fantastic marketing tool for sellers and for buyers, there is price transparency (you can easily see how much items cost) and buyers can compare offers from various e-catalogue vendors.
Increased Standardisation: With the electronic catalogues mentioned, there has been a move by some suppliers to offer a more standardised offer, thus allowing buyers to easily compare the offers from e-catalogues, however care must be exercised in these comparisons as it is difficult to assess the quality of products without samples. If in doubt request samples and take time to make your own assessment.
The great news is that most catalogue sites operate in a very similar way, and they are very easy to set up allowing multiple business users to undertake some of their own procurement…this keeps the business running, sourcing the day-to-day needs of the business and allows procurement people to continue to develop great value-adding relationships.
Wider Spread Supplier Bases: Because the virtual e-procurement portals are web-based, buyers can search suppliers worldwide, meaning a wider selection of products and services are available to the organisation meaning that when items are not available locally, it is still possible to source these. It is important to remember the time and cost of shipping goods, but it’s great to know that it is possible to source items from somewhere in the world!
Simplified Global Procurement: With the e-procurement applications supporting various languages, currencies, international taxation and financing, shipping regulations and more, it is simple for buyers and suppliers in different countries worldwide to communicate and co-operate.
Increase Productivity: As e-procurement automates some of the procurement and wider business processes typically handled by employees, this will free up time for the team to spend on more strategically significant functions and tasks. For example with automated matching of invoices, goods can be ordered, processed and paid in a matter of minutes; the key however is to ensure that the supplier is set up in the buyers systems support as much automation as possible.
Simple Configuration and Scalability: E-procurement applications can be configured to suit the individual needs or both the buyer and the supplier, and can grow with the organisation as needs be. It is important to select suppliers for both the current requirement as well as possible future need so gaining an understanding of the technical infrastructure development plans of suppliers will help buyers to select possible longer term partners.
Creation of Trading Communities: Because the e-procurement applications are internet based, they allow for both vertical and horizontal trading communities to be developed. This means buyers can consolidate buying power and it also opens up opportunities for new supply chains. The opportunity to consolidate the requirements of smaller buyers via consortia or trading communicates has enabled smaller business to access prices historically reserved for bigger buyers, thus fuelling a fast developing SME sector. Many Chambers of Commerce and other local business organisations operate such buying communities.
More Cost Efficient: With the time reductions and increased supplier selection, development of trading communities, more opportunities for purchasing surplus goods and services at below market price, and much more, it isn’t surprising that e-procurement proves to be much more cost efficient than traditional procurement.
How E-Procurement Affects The Bottom Line
Among e-procurement’s many benefits, it has a positive impact on the profits of the organisation.
Savings From Increased Preferred Vendor Purchasing: E-procurement makes it easier to purchase products and services from preferred vendors. The more you purchase from the same preferred vendor, the more you typically save at a unit cost level as they often apply quantity discounts. In addition you have confidence about your sources of supply, making sure you have the right quality for you needs.
Consolidation of Preferred Vendors: Some low-volume vendors may eventually become eradicated from the network of suppliers via e-procurement, resulting in more purchases being directed to preferred vendors and increased discounts becoming available. However, specialist suppliers are better able to continue to operate in an e-procurement environment due to lower transaction costs.
Reduced Time/Cost of Transactions: Because e-procurement automates a large chunk of the procurement process, it reduces the time and money spent on the purchasing cycle as a whole.
The following table, courtesy of www.materialsmanagement.info, shows the vast time difference between manual and e-procurement throughout the procurement process. Nearly 80% of time and therefore cost is saved by e-procurement:
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You might like How To Write A Project Scope Report to get you started
It’s also worth noting that some of the material in this post for the benefits is from Oxford College of Procurement (the link takes you to their website for study options)
Also, check out Contract Management Software