E-procurement was first brought to light in the year 2000 by production giant IBM to solve a complex procurement problem in their Mexican processing plant. When their plant’s business doubled in just three years in response to their use of e-procurement software, the technology took off. Now, more and more businesses look to e-procurement to increase efficiency and provide cost savings.
So, in a nutshell, e-procurement allows companies to handle the sale — or purchase — of services and supplies by using the internet or other online systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and electronic data interchange (EDI) systems.
6 Ways E-procurement Software Can Benefit Your Business
It’s easy to see how removing reams of paperwork handled by countless departments can result in a streamlined purchasing and invoicing process. But, let’s delve deeper into the advantages of this technology to demonstrate the many benefits procurement management software can have for your organization.
1. Compile Spend Reports and Share Them Instantly
2. Get Full Spend Visibility
3. Get Faster Order-to-Delivery and Higher Discounts
4. Increase Productivity
5. Uses Spend Control to Reduce Overall Spending
6. Encourages Suppliers to Move on Your Timeline
1. Compile Spend Reports and Share Them Instantly
Accountability is critical for analyzing company spending and keeping an eye on the bottom line. With procurement management software, you’ll be able to instantly compile accurate reports on company spending for stakeholders. You can pull reports on just the items you need; like how much was spent with each supplier in the last X months, where warehouse funding was allocated in a particular month, or how much of the company budget remains in the third quarter.
2. Get Full Spend Visibility
Spending visibility is often laborious to track, especially if you’ve got a complex organization. With e-procurement, you’ll be able to see exactly where company money is being spent in real time. For example, you can track who approved an order, what was purchased and where, and when the transaction took place to better develop spending roadmaps.
3. Get Faster Order-to-Delivery and Higher Discounts
Keeping vendor scorecards and statistics allow you to see which vendors are responsive and eager — and which are impacting your schedule with your own customers. And, being able to recall how much business you’ve done with each vendor over time can open up loyalty discounts or allow you to negotiate better terms for your next purchase.
4. Increase Productivity
The faster your staff can execute the procurement process, the more time they’ll have to be productive on other tasks. E-procurement saves time in a myriad of ways. Here are just a few:
· 3-way match invoicing and receipt of delivery are verified accurately using auto-fill capabilities.
· Complex orders can be recalled and re-implemented instantly.
· All pertinent parties can access frequently purchased items.
· All supplier contact information is stored in one place.
· Instant notifications allow decision-makers to give fast approval.
· All attachments and details are continued across documents.
Retrieving this data at the press of a button saves employee time and cuts down on human error in accounting.
5. Uses Spend Control to Reduce Overall Spending
Without an efficient procurement process in place, maverick spenders — those department heads and employees who buy “needed” items on a whim — can impact your budget and your bottom line in no time. With e-procurement, an easy-to-use online system tracks all expenditures for increased accountability and bottom-line health.
6. Encourages Suppliers to Move on Your Timeline
As more businesses adopt online procurement, suppliers find it easier to respond to orders received through online procurement tools. This can enhance the level of service they provide you and increase beneficial relationships at the B2B level.
Plus, with tracking systems in place you’ll be able to see exactly which suppliers take delivery on time seriously and which are negatively affecting your schedule. Decision-makers can then take appropriate action to notify vendors of poor response times or change vendors altogether.
Are you ready to take control of spending and invoicing for increased operational efficiency and cost-savings? Then you owe it to your organization to explore the many ways e-procurement can benefit your productivity — and your bottom line. To speak with the experts in e-procurement solutions, contact ASE Direct today and find out how simple it is to find the right custom e-procurement software solution for your business. Or if you want to read more about how we can connect, take a look at our E-commerce Capability Statement.