Despite digital’s promise, most companies’ procurement functions still live in the analog past and are missing out on digital’s key benefits. To implement an effective digital procurement strategy and take full advantage of the opportunities that digital offers, procurement leaders must start by defining the core value that their function brings to the organization.
Chief procurement officers can prioritize their digital focus and drive change where their organization needs it most. They can use digital to increase savings and unlock innovation with better-connected suppliers. They can use robots for every stage of the transaction process, greatly reducing cycle times. Most important, data analytics can support all procurement activities by storing and analyzing data for improved decision making. And digital applications can be easily and efficiently connected to the existing system landscape.
Digital creates value for procurement in three distinct but interrelated ways:
Jump-Starting the Digital Procurement Journey
Contrary to popular belief, the most successful digitization efforts do not begin with technology decisions. Focus instead on business and procurement objectives.
Getting Your Procurement Organization Ready for Digital
We have identified five key strategic value dimensions for procurement: savings, quality, speed, innovation, and risk.
Taming Tail Spend
Digital can help procurement teams gain a much deeper understanding of their purchases—and cut costs significantly.
Getting Quality Right with Digital Procurement
Deploying technology solutions along with conventional best practices can greatly mitigate the risk of future failures.
Digital: Boosting Scale and Speed of Analytics in Every Savings Generation
Generating savings is one of procurement’s paramount disciplines. Identifying savings potential in the first place, however, can be quite difficult.
Empowering Their People: How Companies Should Manage Procurement Professionals in Digital Times
Making the best use of new technologies in procurement is not only a question of selecting the right tools. It's about how people drive digital transformation efforts and make change happen.
