
Managers need to keep in mind the importance of keeping most of the operational load of purchasing processes automated.
I have heard countless times that there is no room for technology in companies' purchasing processes. This is because the sectors are used to operating in the same way as always and the idea of change generates fear.
To give you an idea, approximately 60% of the activities in these areas are controlled by spreadsheets or — countless — email exchanges between the company and its suppliers.
Can you imagine? On one hand, there are many processes, audits and rules for a corporation to maintain its core business. On the other hand, the actions of the purchasing and supply sector still circulate in “loose” documents on employees’ devices.
The fact that information is stored on hardware reminds me of a time when the director of a large company fired one of his employees. That's okay. But what's surprising about this story is that three years of purchasing processes went with the employee.
The entire history of negotiations, quotes, requests and even contacts from the supply department of that company simply ceased to exist. Thinking rationally, it is now possible to recover all the data.
However, just as the information was deliberately deleted, the problem is attesting to the veracity of the recovered information. What if changes were made to the comparative maps, quotes or delivery times? Is it really possible to trust the recovered data?
Large and not so large companies seek agility in purchasing processes, cost reduction, collaboration with its suppliers and governance. However, they often overlook important structural issues such as never leaving a database on an employee's computer, who often does not pay the necessary attention to something so important.
When thinking about the preparation of contracts or catalogs, buyers seek cost reduction through long negotiations, acquisitions with defined quantities and deadlines.
However, if the agreement does not become a reality internally and, for various reasons, the information about the orders is not updated, they will continue to be sent to suppliers with old values.
Now imagine a big negotiation with your company's mobile operator and, just two months later, you realize that the amount charged is still the old one.
When you go to check, you discover that the buyer forgot to update the contract data in the system. This is further proof that any manual process is prone to human error.
Many organizations lose huge amounts of money simply by focusing on negotiations and forgetting to update the system with what was agreed. Not to mention the governance problem.
It is necessary to manage purchasing processes because, with this information stored, you will be able to have more negotiating power. Remember that all these pains are real. And from real companies.
Ultimately, we need to keep in mind the importance of keeping most of the operational workload automated. It is also essential to avoid human error or data inconsistencies as much as possible. There are several solutions on the market to help with this.
One of them is the use of a platform e-procurement. It allows for quotations and negotiations to be carried out 100% electronically and, once the agreements are closed, the data is transformed into internal catalog items – which means that all requests for the product in question are made and approved automatically.
For the creation of a contractual draft, the buyer can forward the document through the CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) solution.
In this case, all changes to clauses are controlled and approved up until the moment of digital signature. This procedure provides even greater agility and control to purchasing processes, as all changes and versions of contracts, as well as other documents, are centralized in the same environment.
The use of a tool like this makes it even easier to search for contract management information in an efficient way.
Automating purchasing processes also allows the company to keep all information under control. And best of all: according to its rules.
In addition to greater agility and collaboration between the purchasing and supply department and its suppliers, initiatives like this bring greater results in terms of acquisition cost savings. How about thinking about all this and restructuring your company's department?
*Paulo Rosanova, Director of Electronic Market Channels.