e-Procurement: Procurement Process for the Tech Savvy Organizations

Business enterprises both large and small deal with exchange of goods and services and the transaction is either in the same form or in cash. The process of buying of supplies and services, for use in the business process is termed as procurement.  With technology being integrated into every system, most business houses use automated tools for procurement. The tools like the enterprise resource planning and EDI aid procurement specialist with the buying process.

Technological innovations and growth of e-commerce have given rise to electronic procurement. Also referred to as e-procurement this process involves the use of electronic media for acquiring materials and supplies. However, irrespective of being a consumer or a retailer, for the home front or for the business organization, the first step in every procurement process is identification and recognition of the requirements.
The process involves generating a purchase requisition for the product either as an automated or a manual one followed by the request for quote (RFQ) or purchase order depending on the purchase status of the product, payment to the supplier as per terms and conditions and finally the delivery of goods or services. Today with number of purchase order software available in the market is equipped with its directory listing of genuine suppliers, making the procurement process easy.

Depending on the business and the organizations the procurement process may differ but is definitely aimed towards the benefit of both parties involved. The whole process of procurement however should be in compliance to the regulations. Further, the Internet has opened up a wider scope for researching and consulting for procurement services and efficient order management system. The automated procurement process integrates the suppliers, buyers and collaborating partners into a value network with the use of intelligent IT systems.

The electronic procurement method adopted by most organizations not only facilitates better post award management, way ahead of the traditional purchase order software, but also ensures an automated end-to-end workflow in the procurement process leading to improved organizational efficiency and significant reduction in overhead costs.
The advent of the cloud computing technology, leading enterprises of the industry sector have designed and developed cloud process based procurement process. This process is an all in-one package with every details from definitions of products, organizational hierarchy, managers and administrators, user language preference, existing and approved price list, supplier data base etc, available at ones finger tips. Such systems with features like article selection, product comparison and structured shopping carts facilitates a configurable post award management. Along with detailed delivery reports and order confirmation, the cloud based e-procurement process provides an end-to-end display of all the procurement transactions.

Read on - After sales service , travel expense management

Why Does Your Enterprise Need Supply Chain Management Solutions?

Increased market competition and globalization has made supply chain management an essential and important concern for every company. Supply chain management is all about attaining the apt things at the right place and time. It helps in enhancing business performance by searching out ways to make the goods reach the customers faster, better and cheaper.

Typically, the stakeholders in a supply chain comprises of manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, distributors and customers. Hence, supply chain management aims at the total movement of services and products from one end of this chain to the other, through various stages in order to enhance the profitability, productivity and efficiency of the overall process. When a customer has got direct admission to global suppliers, the percentage of competing vendors in any section is huge. Global markets compel enterprises to retain competitive price range. Hence, the capacity to produce a given good at a lesser price can offer any enterprise tremendous competitive advantage regardless of its territorial location. Furthermore, increased volumes in global market add in sustainability to the bottom-line. In short, supply chain management is all about attaining higher volumes and service levels without having to raise expenses.

Eminent service providers today have introduced supply chain management solutions that lead to several cost benefits. Some of them are as follows:-

• Minimized logistics expenses by 30% with the help of order and shipment consolidation
• Minimized logistics management staff globally by 70%
• Results in automated processing of 90% of orders and even more
• Minimized the count of warehouses from 70 to 3
• Minimized stock by 30%
• Helps in attaining real-time visibility into ongoing order fulfillment logistics flow
• Minimized transport invoice expenses through an improved control of carriers’ invoices
• Minimized environmental impact through lesser locations and improved shipment consolidation

These leading service providers today utilize Cloud Process and provide efficient order management system hat enables the users to have a clear idea of whatever is taking place in the flow. At the same time, it results in better effective logistics planning and consolidation, as well as intervening with the appropriate measures as and when it is required.

To conclude, supply chain management solutions are looked upon as a medium or channel that functions between vertically integrated firms. That means here the overall material flow is administered by one firm and those where every channel partner operates independently. Therefore, a co-ordination between the various players in the chain is what results in the overall success. In addition to other innovative features, service providers of supply chain management also specialize in efficient purchase order software.




Read on - order fulfillment, Expense management software

Upscale Order Fulfillment Services for Incremental Customer Satisfaction

When a customer places an order he expects on-time delivery of a high quality product that has the capability to meet all his requirements. As you are the provider of the product sought after by your clients you have to ensure that a range of processes are carried out without any hindrances so that you can deliver the product without fail. An order management system is a necessity so that you have an effortless and efficient enterprise resource planning platform for information exchange facilities on stock updates, inventory specifications, sales orders, transport and pick-up list orders as well as exemption management.

An integrated order management system provides cost reduction benefits through the automated processes which include billing and document creation. It helps in efficient tracking and tracing of your reference identifiers. It facilitates successful deployment of business policies of independent partners. It assists in maximization of assets with real-time reporting and notification capabilities. The processes are structured and fast to deploy rendering intelligent reports and expedited ROI. The order management system provides consistent and customized support that is extremely suitable for your business.

An organized and comprehensive order management system results in satisfying order fulfillment services with promising customer retention levels. The order fulfillment process is deployed on the cloud where the processes are automated and you have a greater control and enhanced visibility of your business operations. The cloud model enables end-to-end integration of the business value network. It ensures that the service level agreements are fulfilled competently and immediate actions are taken if there are any deviations.

The order fulfillment process enforces a valid order management system right from the sourcing stage till its final dispatch. The process is equipped with intelligent capabilities to manage the key performance indicators in the global network, track the trends, make critical analysis and identify the areas that obstruct the efficiency of the operation. It can strategically consolidate large amounts of data collected from various sources and convert them into powerful resources for making important decisions.

It provides web interfaces that provide cross-referencing capabilities and search facilities depending on the criteria specified. The orders are automatically processed into shipments considering the configured routes, carriers and rules. It helps in creation of shipping documents and sends it to the carrier electronically. It also provides a view of the order status and the event history.  The cloud process leverages your business operations as it provides you with simple and cohesive processes that reduce costs and investments. It focuses on improving customer satisfaction levels, providing increased and independent controls, complying with the service level agreements and applying remediation actions.


Also read on - Supply chain management systems, Regional development

Automated Procurement Process for Enhanced Value Network

It can be extremely difficult to achieve optimum control and efficiency in a value network, in today’s highly competitive, complex and volatile business environment. A value network is multi enterprise and spans over the industries of the numerous e-commerce partners that participate in an end-to-end collaboration. In order to understand e-procurement, it is important to understand the supply chain and how e-procurement can be used for an enhanced value network.

The objective of a Purchasing Manager or a Procurement Manger is to facilitate the in flow of goods and services to the organization, in such a way as to match specific organizational requirements, in the timeliest way, at the most advantageous prices. The application of e-Procurement techniques provides a means of improving efficiencies in specific segments of the supply chain management systems, thereby facilitating the achievement of the Procurement Manager’s objectives. Traditional methods and tools are not sufficient to manage the widely-distributed, business-critical resources in the value network.
Many organizations today use cloud computing to take control and manage their value networks. Cloud Processes integrate and automate the business processes of the entire value network across partners and the systems they use. They  provides end-to-end visibility of the entire value network based on real-time information and access to all key master information, whether it resides inside or outside your own network.  
An automated procurement and purchasing process integrates a company’s buyers with its suppliers together with the relevant IT systems on both sides. Together, these elements constitute the company’s value network of collaborating partners. This improves your organizational efficiency and reduces the administrative costs of all steps in the procurement process. It significantly enhances your company’s control over procurement activities at all levels. True after sales is beyond traditional purchase order software and post award management.

With automated procurement process, essential business information readily available to all authorized constituents across the Value Network. It provides the end-to-end visibility of real-time business information at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels. It also provides business process agility necessary to cope with today’s volatile, complex, and super interconnected globalized markets.  Automated cloud processes can be custom-built to specific customer requirements. While they take responsibility for many of their products far beyond the point of sale, they also they are responsible for the recycling and return of worn out goods in some cases.

Automated procurement processes for the value network enable management to take control of end-to-end business processes and automate the basic interaction among its participants. They help shorten the lead times in value added activities in the value network.

Read on - Expense management software, order fulfillment

Order Management Systems: Streamlining Business Intelligence

Every business irrespective of its size is profit oriented. The growth and success of any business is determined by its expansion, profit margins and revenue collected. During the initial stages of business, responding to customer needs and demands is easy as is the orders are also minimal.   However, as business expands the enterprises need to expert methods to ensure the correct procurement of products and services, track orders, sales and inventory so as to maintain better customer relationships.

The technologically enabled business world today makes use of a number of automated procurement and order management systems to maintain and manage the smooth functioning of the supply chain network. With the development of e-commerce, organizations have greater scope for business expansion and thus tend to make use of the cloud based business procurement process. Such automated purchasing process strengthens the value network of the organization by integrating the buyers and suppliers with the help of IT systems.

The cloud-based procurement systems goes way ahead of the traditional purchase order software and eases out post award management functions by automating the end-to-end workflow from order, delivery to invoicing.  Further, the use of order management systems enables the enterprises to track the progress of the product or service. Inefficiencies in the ERP system or order management process will lead to loss of revenue, hamper customer relationship and inability to integrate with eprocurement process.

The leading market player shave designed and developed order management systems, which would provide visibility and control over the supply chain activities. These systems can integrate well into the ERP and warehouse managing systems of the value networks. The cloud process based order management system has the ability to incorporate the entire logistics from order to delivery and supports a web based order placement from the customer’s ERP systems.

These cloud based order management system provide high degree of functionality through a connectivity platform that paves way for automatic allocation of transport, validation of inventory, routing details and destination, stock updates and sales orders. The system is also designed to provide real time data to supply chain organisation to ensure improved management of delivery processes. From the organizations point, these cloud process based order management software brings about a significant reduction in cost, helps to track and trace consignments. With its real-time reporting mechanism and 24/7 access, it records higher asset utilization, quicker implementation and streamlined business intelligence for a higher Return of Investment.  


Also read on - Purchase order software, Supply chain management solutions

Order Management Systems: Streamlining Business Intelligence

Every business irrespective of its size is profit oriented. The growth and success of any business is determined by its expansion, profit margins and revenue collected. During the initial stages of business, responding to customer needs and demands is easy as is the orders are also minimal.   However, as business expands the enterprises need to expert methods to ensure the correct procurement of products and services, track orders, sales and inventory so as to maintain better customer relationships.

The technologically enabled business world today makes use of a number of automated procurement and order management systems to maintain and manage the smooth functioning of the supply chain network. With the development of e-commerce, organizations have greater scope for business expansion and thus tend to make use of the cloud based business procurement process. Such automated purchasing process strengthens the value network of the organization by integrating the buyers and suppliers with the help of IT systems.

The cloud-based procurement systems goes way ahead of the traditional purchase order software and eases out post award management functions by automating the end-to-end workflow from order, delivery to invoicing.  Further, the use of order management systems enables the enterprises to track the progress of the product or service. Inefficiencies in the ERP system or order management process will lead to loss of revenue, hamper customer relationship and inability to integrate with eprocurement process.

The leading market player shave designed and developed order management systems, which would provide visibility and control over the supply chain activities. These systems can integrate well into the ERP and warehouse managing systems of the value networks. The cloud process based order management system has the ability to incorporate the entire logistics from order to delivery and supports a web based order placement from the customer’s ERP systems.

These cloud based order management system provide high degree of functionality through a connectivity platform that paves way for automatic allocation of transport, validation of inventory, routing details and destination, stock updates and sales orders. The system is also designed to provide real time data to supply chain organisation to ensure improved management of delivery processes. From the organizations point, these cloud process based order management software brings about a significant reduction in cost, helps to track and trace consignments. With its real-time reporting mechanism and 24/7 access, it records higher asset utilization, quicker implementation and streamlined business intelligence for a higher Return of Investment.  


Also read on - Purchase order software, Supply chain management solutions

Invest in Order Fulfillment Software and Gain from its Benefits

Wikipedia defines supply chain as “a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer.” Supply chain management is managing different networks of interconnected businesses involved in delivering the products or services to the end customers.
Today customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are the crucial factors that determine the survival of any enterprise or organization. Customer retention depends a lot on how well order fulfillment has been carried out and hence of the different processes within a supply chain, order fulfillment is the most important business process. Order fulfillment refers to the activities involved from the moment an order is placed to the time when the order has been delivered to the customer.
Since customer satisfaction is highly necessary for companies and organization to fast track their business success, enterprises must invest in order fulfillment software to ensure customer satisfaction as well as loyalty. The order fulfillment software provides automation, control, visibility, and integration thereby making things easier for companies to manage order and delivery.
·         Automation
The software automatically manages distribution of all goods from manufacturing sites, warehouses to customer sites.
·         Control
It controls the complete logistics flow i.e. from data warehousing, business intelligence, booking transport on the web, printing transport documentation and labels to delivery, dispatch, and the flow of returns.
·         Visibility
Since everything happens automatically it provides greater visibility as to what is happening in the flow and when it is happening. This helps to plan logistics effectively, cut down costs in supply chains, and reduce lead times.
·         Integration
The software integrates all the collaborating participants in the order fulfillment value network.
Important Benefits of Order Fulfillment Software
As mentioned above, it provides end-to-end automation, control and visibility of the important activities between buyers, sellers and suppliers. It provides enterprises and companies functionality on three levels namely operational, tactical and strategic levels. Hence, what the companies and organizations get is an optimized order management system with pro-active process monitoring, multi-criteria end-to-end search, and supplier contract management.
Most IT departments fail to attain scalability and flexibility as far as order fulfillment process is concerned. But thanks to its standardization, automation and robust virtualization of networks, servers, storage, and applications, order fulfillment software provide companies with on-demand scalability and flexibility.
With effective order fulfillment software, companies can not only reduce logistics cost, number of warehouses,  environmental impact, and transport invoice charges considerably but also gain from automated processing and real time visibility.


Read on - Supply chain management systems, Business travel management