The digitalization of the purchasing area has been transforming business between companies. In most cases, the adoption of digital solutions begins gradually and in a scalable manner, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of the tools: buyers, suppliers, third parties and employees from other areas.
To discuss this topic, we invited Julio Abrahao, Purchasing Executive at Vibra Energia (formerly BR Distribuidora), one of the largest energy companies in the country and a ME client, to the RJ Purchasing and Sourcing Forum. The event was promoted by Live University on May 11th, in a hybrid format: in-person in Rio de Janeiro and with live streaming for registrants.
With the lecture “Purchasing categorization and supplier management: the role of digitalization in process efficiency“, Julio Abrahao showed the department's digital transformation process during the transition – from state-owned to privatized, in 2020 – and the main achievements with Mercado Eletrônico's solutions.
Check it out!
Digital transformation of purchasing processes
For the purchasing process optimization plan, Vibra Energia hired the platform Procure-to-Pay of the Electronic Market. The solution replaced several other tools that were used by the company's buyers and that were harming the team's productivity.
Vibra's old manual and decentralized purchasing processes are now brought together in the ME solution with integration to the ERP, which has resulted in greater agility, organization of categories and processes, and increased savings and efficiency of buyers.
“Now, our department is responsible for 100% of the company’s purchases. In a short period of time, we have increased the number of requests and are considering new suppliers in the ME Marketplace. In addition, we have reduced the average purchase time from 41 days to 28”, comments Julio Abrahao.
New achievements related to supplier management
To align with market practices, including those of ESG, Vibra Energia made changes related to supplier management, which allowed for greater agility in all its purchasing processes, in addition to major progress in transparency and compliance issues.
Now, all of Vibra's supplier management procedures are carried out with the help of ME's SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) solution. SRM Solution Key Practices are: registration, approval, evaluation, third-party management and inspection.
“By changing and implementing the tool, we can verify whether or not the supplier is able to meet our demands. We analyze the legal, economic, sustainable and integrity aspects to ensure that we have reliable partnerships,” adds Julio Abrahao.
Mindset change and team development
Changing the mindset of buyers was one of the main challenges faced during the department's transition. We have already talked here on the Blog about the importance of training and company culture in the digital transformation process..
Today, Vibra Energia's purchasing team works with more intelligence and continuous exchange of knowledge between buyers.
“Changing the team’s mindset is a huge challenge. For Vibra’s transition, we held several training sessions and, during this process, we noticed the team’s motivation. In purchasing, learning is a daily process. We changed from order takers to solution providers,” he concludes.
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To the next! 😉
