Automation and digitalization play a key role in the world of Industry 4.0, and the digital transformation in purchasing offers many opportunities for process and quality improvements as well as cost reductions on the customer and supplier side. It is an instrument that opens up new possibilities for your company, sets it up for the future and makes it (more) competitive. We are talking about Smart Procurement, which strives for constant further development in context with the changing challenges.

However, digitization is not an end in itself, but should always be individually adapted to the needs and processes of a company. To achieve meaningful digitization, clear and structured processes must always take precedence, because digitizing an unclean workflow does not add any value. This means that the implementation of a digitization strategy must be preceded by a definition of the current position in order to identify existing knowledge, skills and workflows. Taking this approach into account, we have developed the Smart Procurement Check, which is divided into three modules: Determination of a target level, status determination, roadmap.

The Smart Procurement Check

The definition of the procurement target picture is geared to the future positioning of procurement as a value-contributing strategic position in the organization and takes into account the requirements of corporate goals, stakeholders, markets and suppliers. The target picture is measurable and transparent for the organization.

To determine the current status of a procurement organization, we have developed a flexible questionnaire catalog based on our experience. It consists of over 160 criteria in 17 different categories, each with four levels of maturity. The demands on the questions and maturity levels are shaped by practical experience in constant comparison with developments and trends in procurement and supply chain management. During the analysis phase of a project, the catalog of questions is individually adapted to the individual company, taking into account the areas that are important and correct in each case. This enables a structured and objective view of the respective procurement organization. In the survey of the current situation, we involve interview partners from different hierarchical levels as far as possible in order to be able to present a comprehensive picture. The determined actual values are compared with target values in relation to the previously defined target picture as well as benchmark values in order to determine fields of action.

The third phase of the Smart Procurement Check defines the path to goal achievement as a roadmap, taking into account the maturity gap between actual and target values. Together with the customer, we design a development path with clear goals in terms of time and content, taking into account both the process and the organizational structure of the procurement department.

Determine your situation and set the course for Smart Procurement

How smart is your procurement? Where do you stand and what development opportunities are available to you? Please feel free to contact us at any time to answer these questions. Together with you, our ADCONIA experts will conduct a Smart Procurement Check to determine your current position on the road to digitalization.

 

Jessica Murawski

Consultant, ADCONIA GmbH