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Smart procurement can get even smarter.
By putting a thin layer of technology over enterprise applications—using AI, predictive analytics, and more—organizational leaders can connect formerly disparate processes and data into integrated end-to-end intelligent workflows. Teams can work smarter and toward even better, more integrated, business outcomes.
It’s smart procurement made wiser with digital intelligence not only infused within procurement processes, but also across them— from source to pay (S2P). In this report, we share successes some organizations have experienced in this area, but also our own IBM procurement transformation story using intelligent workflows.
5 areas where intelligent workflows move the smart procurement needle
Removing friction from processes, and using automation to standardize, frees your workforce to take on higher value tasks. A financial institution in Asia Pacific saved $20 million in operating cost with intelligent workflows.
As organizations head toward carbon neutral more aggressively, intelligent workflows can help ensure sustainable practices are embedded across the value chain
With intelligent workflows, companies reap network effects from the power of technologies such as analytics, AI, and automation. That’s more important than ever, as IBV research shows one-third of Chief Supply Chain Officers have initiated working with suppliers in new countries or regions over the last three years.
Smart procurement helps create an operating model that drives multidisciplinary teams to focus on user outcomes across the portfolio rather than in siloes.
Allowing machine intelligence to do what it does best allows procurement teams to take on higher value work, optimizing opportunities rather than reacting and handling damage control.
The IBM smart procurement transformation story
At IBM, procurement teams experience the same challenges as other large companies.
“How did we get to smart procurement in a company with operations in more than 170 countries involving more than 13,000 suppliers? We began, as so many companies do, by facing the hard facts. While we have historically done a good job in procurement, we realized we needed to do a better job infusing digital intelligence, cloud, and more into our procurement operations.”
Transforming procurement with intelligent workflows, IBM procurement professionals can now onboard suppliers 10 times faster and conduct pricing analysis in 10 minutes versus two days. AI, automation, blockchain, and more enabled the transformation.
We share the IBM story in this report to help other Chief Procurement Officers and their teams on their smart procurement journeys.
To find out more, including suggestions on what to keep top of mind for smart procurement transformation, download the report.
Meet the authors
Matthew Bounds, Vice President, Procurement Services, IBMOriginally published 14 September 2022
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