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Procurement – going frictionless

Blog: Capgemini CTO Blog

In the first article in this short series, we considered the challenges facing the procurement function, and also the changing nature of its role. This time, we’ll be looking at integrating it into a smart, enterprise-wide, digital model.

The Frictionless Enterprise

Let’s start with that very point. If procurement is to address its challenges and meet changing responsibilities, it does indeed need to be properly plugged into the organization as a whole.

But that’s not enough. It’s not just about procurement tapping into other business functions – it’s about all of those functions tapping into one another.

This is a concept that we at Capgemini call the Frictionless Enterprise. It’s an approach that seamlessly connects processes and people, intelligently, and as and when needed. Everything works together.

It’s an approach that dynamically adapts to the circumstances of individual organizations, and that addresses each and every point of potential operational friction – regardless of whether that friction is between individual departments, between functions, or apps, or data sources, or devices, or involving something else altogether.

Cohesion and improvement across the function

When the entire enterprise is smart and cohesive in this way, procurement becomes a constituent part of it, like any other. It may perhaps have been previously regarded by some as a backroom function, lacking glamor – but no longer. More importantly, when everything else, from finance through marketing to logistics, is working seamlessly, procurement can start to deliver far greater value than was ever possible before.

Intelligent automation and analytics can streamline processes, and save time and money across the whole function. Smart insight can deliver consolidation and improvement in:

Taking stock

When everything is smart and seamless, procurement ceases to be an operational function, and evolves into something much more strategic. It becomes predictive, responsible, and reliable, delivering actionable insight. It provides a dependable way to manage supplier performance, tailoring it to the needs of the business while ensuring that the suppliers’ own needs and expectations are also met. And it establishes a means of continuous feedback in contract management compliance and risk management.

In fact, several of these and other benefits are quantifiable. Working within an enterprise-wide digital model, frictionless procurement can:

These, then, are benefits that can be achieved in principle. But there’s no substitute for practice. In the third and final article in this short series, we’ll take a look at some smart, integrated procurement implementations in the real world. The results are pretty impressive…

To find out how Capgemini’s Digital Procurement Services offer maximize your digital investment to drive compliance and control across your procurement function, contact: greg.bateup@capgemini.com

Greg Bateup has worked with clients to deliver business transformation and BPO services for almost 30 years. For the last few years, Greg has focused on the digital transformation of the source-to-pay function, and how organizations can not only drive efficiencies in the procurement function, but also drive compliance and savings.

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