ACCELERATED DIGITISATION IN PROCUREMENT

Following significant technological advances, digitalisation is an emerging front and centre in today’s hypercompetitive and intertwined global network, with many firms employing it to enhance connectivity and efficiency across their supply chains. Naman Shah, Founder & CEO, NowPurchase, looks at how technology is driving industrial procurement

- Naman Shah

Technology-driven procurement has been spoken about for a while now – beginning with the introduction of mainstream computers to the shift to ERP, auctioning sites, and e-commerce marketplaces. Rapid advancements in digital technologies, such as low-cost computing and data storage, have enabled advancements in mobile technology and the cloud, as well as constant connectivity and sensors, which bring devices and machines to life in the Internet of Things, are remaking business supply chains, and are poised to transform how the procurement function delivers value.

Digital procurement solutions enable this future by providing access to previously unavailable data, or bringing order to massive, unstructured data sets; driving more complex analysis and better supplier strategies; and enabling more efficient operations. We are now more likely to witness a progression toward fully autonomous procurement. On the B2C side, there has been a significant amount of technological adoption in terms of individual procurement of goods and services as an individual. The same trend has accelerated in industrial and B2B procurement.

THE CHALLENGES

Industrial procurement is extremely complex and has a different side when compared to an individual. It is much more than purchasing one good to produce another. The majority of challenges mostly revolve around quality, delivery, timeliness, and to a lesser extent price. Timeliness is of extremely high value. Although the price must be lower, this is of little value without assurances around quality and delivery.