The purchasing sector is constantly evolving and embracing the digital era is no longer a trend but rather essential for the sector to remain relevant to business. But this also comes at a price: on the one hand, digitalization makes processes more efficient and allows the generation of actionable insights; on the other, it can bring unrealistic expectations regarding the benefits that can be achieved.
The digitalization of processes and systems faces a certain degree of resistance from partners and suppliers, who often do not want to change their systems or processes. Therefore, it is important to remind them of the benefits offered by digitalization and that data is already influencing several business processes, and not just those related to the purchasing sector.
While the procurement sector has historically been reluctant to adopt new solutions, this game is changing and many companies have already realized the value of digitalization and the use of data-driven solutions and technologies.
Digitize purchases? Why?
The information that becomes available as a result of digitalization means new business opportunities and increased productivity. This, at a time when competition is also growing rapidly, means that digitalized spend management solutions, for example, can offer companies savings of 5% to 25%.
Similarly, unavailable or unknown information becomes transparent to everyone, and analytics tools help extract more detailed insights that help in creating or changing business strategies. Furthermore, with the use of smart solutions, the entire purchasing network can be automated and streamlined.
Despite this, embarking on digitalization is not something simple or easy. It is important to keep in mind that some practices help in this process:
1. Efficiency
Technology-driven transformations provide a range of productivity improvements that justify the investment in themselves. Therefore, any change should lead to faster processes. If this does not happen, the changes need to be reviewed and reconsidered.
2. Transformation by phases
Before implementing digitalization across all processes at once, it may be wise to start small and experiment with a few existing processes. Reviewing your processes will help you understand them and also help you understand how new technologies will impact each of them.
3. Self-service
Data-driven technologies can automate and simplify complex operations. Real-time data capture allows for faster adaptations, and with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, purchasing systems can be highly automated, opening up opportunities for self-service. On a single platform, it is possible to conduct business and compile all interactions and relationships, which allows for improved management of the sector.
4 Priorities
It is necessary to select which processes and systems will be improved and, therefore, to know which tools are necessary for the task. This also means looking for opportunities to improve processes, not just choosing a tool to automate them.
5. Patience
No transformation happens overnight. It takes time for the investment to start generating the expected return.
The secret to a successful digital transformation is to create a digitalization strategy and understand that the changes, although they may take time, will have a positive impact on the company's business.
COSTDRIVERS optimizes the time of purchasing professionals who need to obtain relevant information to make more assertive decisions during negotiations. Contact us and find out how to learn about our solutions.
