Procurement is party to a number of business processes – sometimes as owner, sometimes as the recipient or supplier of information. Unfortunately, sometimes these processes take longer than it was anticipated, or the quality of input or output data is deficient. On the human side, faulty processes frequently lead to frustrations of everyone involved.
To demonstrate how I can help you with this, I picked out two typical processes procurement is involved in:
von der Entstehung des Bedarfs bis zum Vertragsabschluss mit dem Lieferanten
(Source-to-Contract, S2C)
von der Bestellauslösung bis zur Begleichung der Rechnung
(Purchase-to-Pay, P2P)
Procurement is party to a number of business processes – sometimes as owner, sometimes as the recipient or supplier of information. Unfortunately, sometimes these processes take longer than it was anticipated, or the quality of input or output data is deficient. On the human side, faulty processes frequently lead to frustrations of everyone involved.
To demonstrate how I can help you with this, I picked out two typical processes procurement is involved in:
von der Entstehung des Bedarfs bis zum Vertragsabschluss mit dem Lieferanten
(Source-to-Contract, S2C)
von der Bestellauslösung bis zur Begleichung der Rechnung
(Purchase-to-Pay, P2P)
In a systematic approach, I will investigate first who the stakeholders are and what their demand is. Sometimes, there is a difference between what the stakeholders want and what they need. Therefore, it is crucial to get a seat at the business’ table to learn about their plans early on – before any decisions have been made. With this specification we can check what the supply market has to offer that matches the requirements best, both in quality and financial terms. Smart supplier relationship management plays an important role in this matching process, and buyers should not be afraid to phase out and substitute incumbent suppliers. After all, we have the entire procurement toolbox at our disposal: off-the-shelf standard contracts, online auctions, catalogues, or buying platforms.
In my observation, the Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) process is often cumbersome and protracted. Every so often, transactions have to be logged in multiple systems, and manual corrections need to be made frequently. My approach to strengthening the P2P process starts with a thorough analysis of what hap-pens in real life: who are the parties involved and what are the detailed process steps. This breakdown of the analogue process already points to improvements in data quality, speed, and compliance. I recommend that only after this routine is completed, we look at digital solutions for further benefits.
