Digital Transformation in Procurement and the Supply Chain

Data and information are the gold of the future. It is a fact that each division in the value chain is responsible for a large part of this data and thus influences the digital transformation in procurement. The procurement department accesses the internal data of a company in order to carry out its purchase planning, creates and sends orders to suppliers and monitors deliveries. At the same time, procurement receives data from countless suppliers. This data is valuable. On the other hand, the same applies to sales as an interface to the customer. The production, logistics and commercial departments also contribute their data to a successful value chain. Industry 4.0, automation and digitization are not a vision, but already reality – AI, RPA and Blockchain are just a few examples.

Digital transformation is only possible with clean data

Digital transformation in the processes means on the one hand the automation of these processes, so that the areas can be designers; on the other hand, the generation of an actual added value from the gained data. But this added value can only be created if the incoming data is clean and holistic. Data is knowledge, it is the gold of the 21st century. But only good data offers an advantage.

Digital transformation requires market-driven processes

Accordingly, the basis for value-adding data is the holistic evaluation and, if necessary, fundamental revision of the entire existing business processes of a company, instead of a delimited departmental thinking and, based on this, only the optimization of existing individual processes. For a digital transformation, a fundamental rethinking and radical redesign is required in order to consider the interrelationships of the „big picture“. This is the only way to achieve drastic improvements in key performance indicators such as costs, quality, service and throughput time. Here the levers to success are the market-conform structuring of the accompanying processes, the selection of the right tools in the overall concept of the value chain and a systematic implementation.

Digital transformation cannot be a silo project

The more individual business processes are designed in the entire value chain, the lower the integration quality and the more complex the process and data management for a successful digital transformation in procurement and the supply chain. In order to avoid complications, process governance should be developed as a control and regulation system for increased digitalization. Digital processes do not end at the doors of an organizational unit or department. In order to ensure agility and flexibility in the future, it is important to design the process structure in such a way that other processes can be integrated, and interfaces are considered.

We at ADCONIA have been dealing with the provision and analysis of data, the entrepreneurial application of acquired information and the development of knowledge for more than 10 years. In addition, our experts support you in the conceptual design, creation of specifications, system selection and implementation of your suitable solution for digital transformation.