Strategic Focus of the E-Procurement Initiative

Accordingly, the purpose of any e-procurement initiative should be to

• Improve efficiency and reduce labor costs by eliminating the manual, paper-based processes and providing enterprise-wide, self-service procurement

• Enforce on-contract buying; eliminate maverick buying

• Gather accurate and meaningful data on total spending, both by supplier and type of purchase (decision support)

• Using supplier performance, select preferred suppliers for strategic sourcing

• Move as many transactions as possible to front-line employees without undermining business rules

• “Smooth out” the supply chain: integrate process and systems, internally and with suppliers

Ultimately, possibly one of the most important results of the e-procurement debate will be to highlight to key executives the importance and strategic nature or the procurement process itself and its integral relationship with the supply chain and a company’s bottom line.