In an increasingly competitive market, the purchasing sector – the entire company, in fact – faces constant challenges to keep pace with technological changes and to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the adoption of disruptive technologies.
To be successful, the company must have an integrated business transformation strategy for a digital world and the roadmap for digitization needs a vision that takes advantage of the business, its strategy and objectives, so that the digital transformation is planned holistic and consistent manner.
Where to start?
The initial step is to obtain information about the sector. Understand how the purchasing sector is inserted in the company’s business strategy and what technological trends are available and their benefits. For example, migrating to the cloud is an option increasingly implemented to reduce costs and have easier access to information and systems geared to the sector.
It is necessary to find information about what the sector processes are and how they work, and how they are linked to other departments of the company; what is the IT strategy, the resources available in the company and how it impacts the relationship with stakeholders.
In addition, purchasing professionals must seek a leadership position with the company to demonstrate the real value that the sector can deliver to the business. The industry also needs to recruit talent with new skills – not just knowing how to buy – and who understand IT, data and analytics.
What should a successful roadmap have?
- Technology in the purchasing sector should be seen as a way to optimize and improve processes. This transformation must also extend to supply chain management and involve stakeholders. It is necessary to understand that the function of the sector is not only to reduce costs, but to generate value for the business.
- Manual processes must be eliminated as much as possible and the processes already digitized must be maximized, especially with analysis resources. Information must flow naturally, unhindered, between purchasing teams and suppliers.
- New technologies contribute to several digitization processes and to increase (and improve) the amount of data available. Internet of Things, blockchain, RPA (robotic process automation), among others, may already be transforming businesses, so it is necessary to understand where they can be implemented and how they will benefit the sector. Having a set of KPIS is important to assess whether changes are having the desired effect and to use them to make the necessary changes. Once the objectives are defined, involve the suppliers in the innovation processes.
- At this point, cognitive analysis needs to be developed so that the database is monitored and analyzed. In this way, the industry has access to consistent information and can leverage the intelligence behind the analysis to improve negotiations and other business decisions. Predictive analysis allows you to make projections about the market and prescriptive analysis provides information on what is the best action to be taken according to the company’s needs.
The implementation of a digitalization and digital transformation strategy is only possible if all processes and data are on a common platform. This provides a basis for data visibility and also allows for the development of new solutions. Having a reliable database focused on optimizing the time of negotiations and obtaining cost reduction is essential for the purchasing sector. Talk to the experts at COSTDRIVERS and find out how we can help your business.
