E-Procurement helps firms cut down on purchasing costs<\/p>\n
Are the employees in your company still using the old, paper-
\nbased procurement procedure? Does Ina still have to obtain seven
\nsignatures before she can get a new ink cartridge for the inkjet
\nprinter on her desk? Does Tommy often get angry because his PO
\nfor fax paper always gets lost in the office labyrinth? Then your
\ncompany is still living in the New Order era. This is the Web
\nera.<\/p>\n
Imagine how many ballpoint pens a large bank like BCA has to
\nbuy every month. Imagine also how many reams of photocopy paper
\nthe entire bank organization uses up every month. Or how many
\npaper clips? Or staples?<\/p>\n
If your company buys only two dozen pens, you may not get a
\ndiscount. But if your entire organization buys thousands of pens
\nevery month, ballpoint pen salesmen will be more than eager to
\noffer you attractive discounts. Incidentally, in the New Order
\nera -- and we are still struggling to eliminate the practice --
\n\"discount\" was just another world for \"kickback\" or \"commission\".
\nIn today's business scene -- or the post-New Order era --
\ndiscounts should once again mean savings to the buying company.<\/p>\n
In the cutthroat competition of today's business, cutting
\ncosts is one of the few effective ways to remain profitable. One
\nof the ways costs can be lowered is to ensure that the company
\ngets huge discounts, and the discounts are not converted into
\ncommissions for the pockets of the purchasing managers. How can
\nthis be done? The answer is e-Procurement (sometimes also written
\neProcurement).<\/p>\n
E-Procurement service allow employees, staff or anybody in an
\norganization that has implemented it to make their requisitions
\nelectronically. As the volume is larger than if the items were
\nbrought by individual purchasing managers, the discounts can be
\ntremendous and the savings to the buying company can be very
\nsubstantial. Besides, the authorization process is streamlined
\nand made transparent. When the e-Procurement application is
\nconnected to the company's ERP or financial system, invoice
\nmatching can be made to occur seamlessly and automatically. It
\nalso helps reduce financial losses by eliminating duplicate
\nordering, lost requisitions and maverick buying.<\/p>\n
Features of a typical e-Procurement include facilities to send
\nRFI (request for information) and RFQ (request for quotation).
\nThe authorization process is also made simple and quick. The
\napplication can also accommodate electronic catalogs submitted by
\nparticipating suppliers that have been preselected. A user can
\nbrowse the contents of the catalogs, make his selections and drag
\nand drop the selected items he wants to order into the
\nrequisition form.<\/p>\n
E-Procurement is not a new concept, but in the New Order era,
\nthe majority of purchasing managers rejected the e-Procurement
\nidea, as it would eliminate kickbacks and commissions.<\/p>\n
Today, dozens of companies have been offering the necessary
\nsoftware to build e-Procurement application in your enterprise.
\nOne of them is PurchansingNet (www.purchansingnet.com). Two of
\nits major customers are the famous Warner Bros and Black &
\nDecker. The e-Procurement application at Black & Decker, for
\nexample, relieves the employees from the headache of having to
\nobtain seven layers of approval before their requisition for
\noffice supplies and MRO (maintenance, repair and operation) items
\nreach the Purchasing Department.<\/p>\n
So, if you want your organization to leave the New Order era
\nbehind and become a truly low-cost producer or provider, then you
\nshould seriously consider signing a deal with one of the
\nreputable e-Procurement vendors. (Zatni Arbi)<\/p>\n
Upcoming topics for
\n IT Superhighway:
\n Technology<\/p>\n
handset I -- Aug. 21
\n Put the gadget
\n on your wrist -- Aug. 28
\n Hi-end -- Sept. 04
\n Input devices -- Sept. 11<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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