The supply areas are one of the pillars of the companies, therefore they must be agile, strategic and transparent. One of the critical points is precisely the agility of its operations. However, with the use of technology and good practices, this factor can be optimized considerably.
By winning agility in the processes, the sourcing areas can anticipate or detect changes in business conditions and make effective decisions that respond quickly to these variations in the conditions of its operations.
In this regard, increasing the agility of the supply processes The project has three priority objectives: to turn the purchasing areas into a valuable team within the companies, reduce procurement costs and, finally, increase the satisfaction of the user areas of the organizations.
Technology: a key factor
Undoubtedly, technology is a foundation for building a more modern and agile sourcing area. Some strategies leveraged on technology can be:
1.Unify business systems
Moving from a "patchwork quilt" to a single environment for sourcing management has benefits such as: increasing visibility of procurement data, facilitating communication between areas to streamline decision making, reducing infrastructure costs, and making large-scale upgrades faster.
The recommendation is to take the next step and acquire an end-to-end service that covers the entire process from budgeting to vendor payment.
Migrate applications to the cloud
Change platforms on premise a cloud helps to make processes more flexible and ensure stakeholder accessibility at any time, contributing to the agility of the purchasing areas.
3.Use the data generated in the area.
Increasing visibility and leveraging information is key to transforming procurement areas. One of the different uses is to analyze data in the supply and demand processes to optimize contracting, reduce time and implement agile practices that impact the results of the area.
Some recommended tasks
As well as technology, it is also important to include some practices in daily life. That is why we recommend some actions that can be implemented:
- Have a list of backup suppliers in case the main suppliers are unable to meet the organization's requirements.
- Mitigate risk to the company by actively monitoring suppliers to ensure their solvency and ability to meet demand.
- Conduct internal training programs so that each member of the team is knowledgeable about operations. This is key to reduce the learning curve in cases of expansion, creation of new roles or responsibilities in the area.
- Prepare action plans in case of surplus or shortage of materials or supplier fluctuations to ensure that the supply chain does not come to a halt.
The supply areas that seek to become strategic allies in the companies, undoubtedly need to evaluate the way in which they use technology in their processes and the agility in the execution of strategies. When best practices, human talent and technology come together, the results of the areas change radically.
Source: GEP.
