If anything became apparent during the pandemic is that it definitely changed a lot of the ways that we used to do business. For procurement teams, this means that they now need to maintain a very high operational level to compete in ever-increasingly volatile markets.
In other words, that means that having the already outdated and inflexible ERP legacy systems will most probably slow down your B2B operations and put you behind your biggest market competitors. So, do you wonder how your business can benefit from implementing a sophisticated eProcurement system?
Below, you can find the top benefits that a top-notch eProcurement system can put on the table for your company. But first, let’s start from the very top and answer the obvious question—what is eProcurement exactly?
What Is eProcurement?
eProcurement is a business-to-business, business-to-consumer, or business-to-government purchasing and sales method that allows companies to conduct transactions for goods, services, and work through the Internet and other information and networking systems like electronic data interchange. Of course, the ‘e’ in e-procurement stands for “electronic.”
As we move into 2022, it becomes clear that investing in a modern and efficient eProcurement system for your business is a must, which means that you need to ditch the ERP legacy systems on which you currently operate and move on using an eProcurement system.
So, if you want to learn more about why your business should use one of the best eProcurement systems available to grow your business further, here are five strong reasons why you need to acquire one now.
Top Benefits Of eProcurement Systems
A Great Way To Mitigate Risks
Procurement leaders are struggling to figure out how to control costs and mitigate risks while dealing with an old-fashioned procurement system as the need to accomplish more with less grows. Teams must abandon outdated, manual processes that lack the authority and control necessary to generate efficiency and cost reductions to address this issue.
For many of us, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant challenge as, besides the obvious health concerns it brought into our lives, it also put many businesses at risk as they had no idea how to deal with pandemic-inspired problems of buying and selling goods and services. For that reason, having a solid eProcurement system implemented in your line of work can help you mitigate the risks associated with procurement operations.
No More Double Payments And Invoice Hold Ups
Having to match an invoice correctly and all associated documents can prove to be a demanding task in day-to-day operations. Invoices need to contain information synced to the one in the bill and the purchase order.
Additionally, the invoice’s line-item quantities, product descriptions, and per-unit pricing must match the purchase order, and the actual goods received. Although three-way matching can be performed manually, the cost, accuracy, and time required for the validations can be significantly reduced through automation and what eProcurement systems can do for your business.
Collect Insightful Information On Which You Can Strategize
Your purchasing process is a book that is best read with well-organized data. Unfortunately, charts, chats, emails, and similar data cannot give you a complete overview, and modern-day procurement teams are very well aware of that.
To counter this, utilize the organizational capacities of eProcurement systems and start collecting and organizing data in a way that can allow you to gather crucial parameters like supplier lead time, purchase order sequence time, item defect rate, and much more.
Significantly Increases Your Buying Power
Because eProcurement systems allow companies to manage their data better, businesses can better manage their relationships with suppliers. As a result, with the knowledge at their hands, business executives who work through an eProcurement system can better negotiate volume discounts and use their purchasing power. Furthermore, eProcurement makes it easier for enterprises to consolidate their purchases and achieve cheaper overall expenses successfully.
Get Rid Of Approval Bottlenecks
Human errors and dangers are present in a procurement system that relies on human interference, charts, and emails. If given a chance, most people will employ their own way of things, which is why it is not uncommon for employees to disregard policies to shorten the length of a purchase.
With enforced accountability and role-based accessibility, an efficient eProcurement platform may mitigate such buy risks while keeping the procurement cycle moving forward, securing sensitive information, and restricting confidential information to relevant stakeholders.
Final Thoughts
Using an eProcurement solution lays the path for digital transformation and increases the efficiency of B2B, B2C, and business-to-government transactions. Moreover, as previously stated, the existing software benefits are ideally positioned to enable the widespread adoption of eProcurement systems.
Outdated procurement systems do not enable a company’s procurement processes to be as flexible as they should be, and your company may find it challenging to keep up with rising market volatility and remain competitive. By benefiting from eProcurement systems, enterprises all over the globe can accomplish this and much more by taking advantage of all the segments that this software has to offer.
