Digitalization of the procurement process
Process digitization has become a crucial success factor for companies across all industries. Specifically, digitizing time-consuming procurement processes is no longer a trend but a necessity for maintaining efficiency and competitiveness. Manual, error-prone processes in purchasing and procurement pose significant challenges for many companies, ranging from paper-based order forms to lengthy, confusing approval procedures.
Digitizing these processes allows companies to automate, optimize, and simplify their procurement activities. E-procurement solutions enable the complete management of procurement cycles digitally, from requisition to goods receipt and payment. Start digitizing your procurement process now.
Advantages of digital procurement workflows
A comprehensive digital procurement process establishes a new standard for your company, eliminating double entries and media disruptions. It reduces costs, boosts efficiency company-wide, and provides better insights into supply chains. A digital solution offers numerous benefits to help you stay competitive in today's fast-paced business environment:
- All important information and data at a glance: Access everything you need quickly and easily.
- Time and cost savings: Benefit from automated processes.
- Clear responsibilities and processing status: Know who is responsible for what at all times.
- Quick addition of accompanying documents: Easily attach relevant documents.
- Clear regulation of responsibilities: Maintain clarity and accountability throughout the process.
Challenges in the manual procurement process
Manual processes often lack transparency, making it unclear who is responsible for an order and what its processing status is. This lack of clarity hinders fast processing and tracking of orders.
Processing purchase requisitions and orders manually is time-consuming and prone to errors. Managing paper documents, order confirmations, and other paperwork can lead to delays and decreased productivity.
Manual procurement processes require additional resources and carry a higher risk of errors. These factors can lead to significant expenses and increased costs.
There are great challenges ahead. But we will be by your side as an experienced partner. Our dedicated and knowledgeable consultants will personally advise you on the best solution, support you throughout the process and train your employees. Our aim is to produce an impressive result and have fun along the way!
Workflows in the purchasing process
Digital workflows are electronic processes that streamline the procurement process. Many aspects of the purchasing process can be automated, making it more effective and saving time on routine tasks such as purchase requisitions, approval processes, order confirmations, and goods receipt.
Automated workflows can be optimally designed for the following processes:
- Use digital purchase requisitions to clearly define needs.
- Approval processes including email notifications
- Automate the creation and management of purchase orders.
- Order confirmations
- Track the receipt of goods
- Monitoring purchases
Examples of application
Purchase Requisitions
Creating purchase requisitions is simplified by a digital procurement process. Existing suppliers and regularly ordered products are stored in the system, allowing quick access to data such as supplier, goods, price, and quantity. A purchase requisition can be created with just a few clicks, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual input.
Once created, the purchase requisition automatically progresses through all the steps of the requirements process. It is reviewed multiple times and approved if certain conditions are met. If the conditions for approval are not satisfied, the requisition is automatically halted, and the user is promptly informed of the reason.
When the approved purchase requisition reaches the purchasing department, its data can be directly transferred to trigger an order.
Review and approval processes
Approval processes are often the most time-consuming aspect of procurement management. Responsibility for approval varies depending on the requisition. For example, approvals may be required from a manager, controlling, purchasing, or directly from management. In a digital workflow, each requisition is automatically forwarded to the appropriate approver based on the specific case. Different approvers can be clearly defined and specified depending on the type of order or order value. This flexibility allows companies to design review and approval processes that are optimal for their needs. Digital approval workflows enhance both the transparency and efficiency of the ordering process.
Incoming goods
Digitized delivery bills are immediately checked by the system and made available for further processing. Goods receipts are automatically posted based on the delivery bill, and information such as supplier, order number, and delivery quantity is forwarded to the designated employees via workflow. The digitized delivery bills are attached to the order and archived securely through the document management system. This process ensures that recording and posting the goods receipt requires only a few steps. Since the order is created digitally, there is an immediate link to the goods delivery, allowing you to verify whether the order has been delivered in full.
The software behind it all: edoc procurement
The functions cover the entire procurement process. From the initial notification of requirements to confirmation of receipt of the goods, you can track the status of a process in real time. The main feature is flexible workflow management, which can be used to map company-specific workflows in no time at all.
Digital procurement workflow with xSuite for SAP
With xSuite Procurement, holistic P2P workflows can be carried out directly within the SAP system. The solution ensures that document-based processes are automatically mapped throughout SAP. This accelerates and simplifies processes, improves work results and helps to achieve targets more easily.
We are once again grateful to have had help from the edoc team in developing part of our digital roadmap. By successfully automating purchasing processes and using AI in IT processes, we were able to benefit from state-of-the-art intelligence. From both a theoretical and practical point of view, edoc has expertise in both d.velop documents and Infor – and always keeps an eye on any developments!
Peter Herzog, Project Manager of the Production Organization for the ESCHA Group
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