Efficient Procurement

Overview

Procurement is an investment in your business. The time and resource of your procurement team, large or small, is spent on key tasks, including:

  • Managing vendor and supplier relationships
  • Maintaining visibility of spend – potentially across multiple locations and geographies
  • Standardising on a product catalogue, to improve operational efficiency
  • Management of vendor agreements (subscriptions, renewals etc)
  • Streamlining the cost of items and of processes
  • Releasing time for procurement of strategic assets

These tasks quickly mount up and maintaining focus on strategic activities that add value to your business can become a challenge. Working with a partner who takes the time to understand your environment and works with you to ensure it is as effective and as streamlined as possible is key.

 

Procurement often focusses on reducing the cost of an item at the point of procurement. That is only a part of the jigsaw. What comes before, during and after – representing the full lifecycle of engaging with a strategic partner - ensures the best possible return on your investment.

How?

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As detailed on our Journeys homepage, Bechtle has an established model to support our clients, with key tailored steps for every part of the journey that fit your specific requirements.

 

The 4 stages below offer examples of actions Bechtle will carry out to help build your Efficient Procurement Journey.

 

  • Current procurement model, system and processes
  • Current challenges – Visibility of spend, high volume of low value requests, management of multiple offices etc
  • Where change would be most achievable
  • Maturity of environment – XML integration via SAP Ariba, Oracle etc.
  • Priorities for procurement team.
  • Desired state

 

  • Competitive analysis review of vendors
  • Structure of workflows and approval processes
  • XML integration/catalogue punchout with partners such as Oracle, SAP Ariba etc.
  • Product catalogue and vendor agreements created
  • Frequency of review meetings decided
  • Engage European offices (where required) to replicate to those locations
  • Engage Global IT Alliance partners (where required) extend to global sites

  • Training for users
  • Introduction to pre-sales specialists to relevant category managers
  • Deployment to European offices/global partners
  • Feedback on processes, implemented and refined as necessary

 

  • Regularly agreed review meetings
  • Tracking and presentation of KPIs
  • Vendor engagement for product road mapping and escalations
  • Ongoing competitive analysis
bechtle-journeys_e-procurement
The Results

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Streamlining the core day-to-day purchasing activities of your business ensures that your procurement team has the time to engage strategically with suppliers and vendors. Utilising the automation built in to Bechtle’s European-wide platform ensures visibility of spend, efficiency of transactions and ongoing cost-management. Multiple options for xml integration means Bechtle can offer extensive support for streamlining processes.

 

With simplified management of the low-cost spend, procurement can be focussed on more strategic areas, driving further efficiency and cost-savings.

 

With data available at your fingertips, Bechtle ensures informed decisions can be made and reacted to quickly, ensuring continuous improvement from the ground up.

 

This is all provided as a foundation to what Bechtle offers you. Automation is supported by dedicated account managers, who are there to understand your business and ensure your investment in technology is paid back.

Case Study
Take a look at how we worked with Valspar to simplify their IT Management with the help of e-procurement.

 

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