First things first, I want to get one thing out of the way: It’s time to dismiss the question of whether procurement needs to undergo a digital transformation. This is no longer a debate. The amount of information, the pace at which the world moves and the global nature of supply chains simply require it. Whether you’re talking source-to-pay, supplier collaboration, risk management or any other element of procurement, here’s the bottom line: What worked 10 years ago (or even 5 years ago!) just does not do the job today.
But digital transformation is about more than just keeping up—it’s also about moving ahead. Digitalizing your supply chain network creation and management processes enables your procurement organization to establish powerful networks that will drive value. Internally, a digital transformation project gives you the opportunity to connect decentralized global teams and category networks, helping you to leverage and bundle volumes, know-how, responsibilities and activities. Externally, there’s even more opportunity for value creation: You can better connect and integrate business partners on both the supply and the customer side, and with faster processes you’ll have be able to benefit from shorter reaction and lead-times, an agile work environment and a faster time to market.
If you want your organization to be competitive and prepared to bounce back from unexpected surprises, it’s going to be a lot easier with the right tools—and this is as true for procurement as it is for any other part of the business.
So what’s next? Here are my top 3 tips for going digital with procurement.