Ways to Improve ROI for Source-to-Contract Process

Traditional Source-To-Contract (S2C) solutions are time-consuming and challenging to track. Automated S2C software solutions expedite time to market, give better ROI, and empower procurement staff. To truly achieve the full potential of automated vendor management, organisations must have a complete roadmap before and after implementing the procurement system. Embracing digital procurement is the only way to improve ROI and realise efficient cost savings.

Source: Deloitte

S2C Digitisation Challenges for Procurement Leaders

According to a PwC survey, more than 50% of procurement leaders are well aware of the importance of procurement digitisation. 77% of the companies already have some form of S2C and P2P automation solutions. The impact of an automated procurement solution is well understood, but enterprises continue to face digitisation challenges. The COVID pandemic has caused supply chain disruptions at an unprecedented scale. Procurement was not used to working remotely, requiring a massive shift in the work environment.

• Geopolitical shifts and pandemic restrictions resulted in supply chain continuity risk.
• Bringing down procurement costs without increasing costs for customers
• Disparate pricing policies and payment terms
• Incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies in procurement
• Training skills and talents to upgrade with changing business needs
• Modernising the overall procurement process
• Incorporating an agile and scalable procurement process
• Data piracy and cybersecurity issues

How can a Procurement System Automate S2C For Better ROI?

Digital procurement solutions drive efficiency and optimisation with more excellent strategies and insights. Standardised practices all through the organisation will result in increased excellence and effectiveness. The key to success with digitisation depends on the organisation’s ability to understand technical requirements. The digital transformation journey and roadmap can only be designed based on the current capabilities.

S2C automation is the first step toward digital procurement adoption. If the current technology strategy has little to no investment in digital solutions, the organisation must take a leap of faith and embrace digital applications immediately. If core technologies are already implemented, leaders should look for technology continuation solutions to plug gaps and improve the existing procurement core technology. Even in a fully mature procurement system, enhanced applications can be applied to differentiate and excel.

1. Adopt And Integrate Vendor Management Programs

Understanding contract analytics capabilities is the best way to maximise ROI on vendor spending. The procurement solution you implement should give you basic analytics from its deployment. This will help procurement leaders to draft contracts on intelligent platforms directly and use the same standard format throughout the procurement. The time-consuming drafting process and the labour-intensive contracting process can be simplified immediately with digital adoption.

2. Enable Self-Service Among Buyers And Suppliers

Actual digitisation benefits can be enjoyed when the procurement staff are empowered with self-service. All the users involved can carry out their business processes independently without waiting for approval. Onboarding vendors and suppliers on a self-service platform are accessible, with detailed Q&A to gather all vendor information. The vendor relationship can be significantly improved when both parties have the latest and updated information. A seamless portal experience for suppliers with e-invoicing, discounting, and reporting will empower suppliers to structure billing data directly through their ERP without any manual intervention. By simplifying the contracting process through automation, buyers will be encouraged to use the procurement portal for all purchases, reducing maverick spending.

3. Incorporate Data Analytics And AI Capabilities

AI is heavily used in almost 90% of the companies that have automated contract management. The predictive and proactive capabilities of AI-driven solutions help gather detailed data analytics. It helps CPOs to uncover hidden opportunities to improve ROI. It greatly helps in process improvement and reporting. Analytics can help improve savings performance by as much as 75%.

4. Improve Security With Contract Intelligence Systems

Legacy systems have numerous security vulnerabilities that hackers can quickly attack. Intelligent contract management platforms have advanced cloud-based security protocols to prevent data breaches. Effective access control and data governance policies significantly improve the security and privacy of enterprise data. AI-based e-procurement will identify vulnerabilities and risks before a breach happens. Even if there is a breach, the automated S2C platform can quickly recover from losses without business disruption.

5. Mitigate supply chain disruption risks

Automated vendor management will ensure that enterprises always have access to vendor products from multiple locations. It will improve transparency, making suppliers in the lower tier visible. Improved search capabilities will immediately present you with matches for vendors, so that supply chain disruption is quickly addressed.

Procol is the trusted procurement solution deployed by enterprises to improve vendor performance and contract management and realise more cost savings. Schedule a demo with us to optimise vendor relationships so your organisation always stays alert to overcome supply chain disruptions easily.