The e-procurement process: a quick guide

A 10-slide guide giving a quick overview of the basic steps in a procurement process, and outlining some of the benefits of using electronic procurement (e-procurement) to improve productivity, cut costs, and gain transparency over the purchasing process.

Transcript

1. The e-Procurement Process: A Quick Guide by
2. 1. Figure Out What You Need • Is it a product or a service? Both? • Pros of using an e-procurement platform: ◦ Request time and date are well-documented. ◦ Requests can be easily and quickly passed to the relevant people electronically (ex: for approval). (which leads to): Faster order processing that can be tracked and expected proqur.com
3. 2. Evaluate Suppliers • A great relationship with a trusted supplier is priceless! • If you're getting started, look for suppliers registered with a [inter]national association. ◦ Ex: If you are in manufacturing, SAE International has a vast database of suppliers in several categories. • Is your supplier certified to meet [inter]national quality standards? Proqur tip: Ask for 3-5 client names from each supplier to conduct a basic background check. proqur.com
4. 2. Evaluate Suppliers (cont'd) • Minimize surprises by negotiating terms and conditions with each supplier before adding them to your approved suppliers list. • Pros of using an e-procurement platform: ◦ A centralized system can be used to track and compare supplier performance based on: ▪ Quality ▪ Cost ▪ On-time Delivery Proqur tip: Create a supplier scorecard to evaluate them on key metrics (not just price) that bring value your business. proqur.com
5. 3. Request for Quote, Review, and Place Order • Request quotes from your list of approved suppliers. • Review and compare the quotes to reach a decision: ◦ Based on quality, cost, delivery, etc. • Submit a Purchase Order (PO) to the chosen supplier. ◦ Be sure to include in this document, all the key terms and agreements you developed earlier proqur.com
6. 3. Request for Quote, Review, and Place Order (cont'd) • Pros of using an e-procurement platform: ◦ All of the bids will be submitted electronically, to one central place. ◦ POs can be sent and received electronically. ◦ The platform can time the entire bidding, review, and ordering phases. Allows for an easier, side-by-side comparison, and for historical reference. Collect info on how to improve and streamline your procurement process. proqur.com
7. 4. Order Fulfillment and Receipt • This is one of the most important periods of communication between the buyer and supplier, but it's often overlooked. • Suppliers should provide regular updates on the status of an order. • Time is also spent internally between employees asking for status updates. • Once the order is received/fulfilled, a proper inspection must ensure that all criteria are met proqur.com
8. 4. Order Fulfillment & Receipt (cont'd) • Pros of using an e-procurement platform: ◦ Improved communication between everyone involved in the purchasing process by: ▪ Automatically notifying relevant stakeholders when key milestones are reached ▪ Creating transparency ▪ Processing payments on time proqur.com
9. 5. Measure Performance • The basic idea is: rinse and repeat. • An ideal e-procurement system will be able to present all the tracked data in an actionable format. proqur.com This allows you to easily: • Measure supplier performance • Identify bottlenecks in your purchasing process
10. Thank You! We hope this was a helpful synopsis for you. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know (hello@proqur.com). Happy Procurement! proqur.com About Proqur We are a group of folks with backgrounds in aerospace and computer engineering, who believe procurement software can be better. It can improve not only productivity, but also strengthen the relationship with your suppliers. Want to learn more? Check us out http://proqur.com | @proqur | facebook.com/proqur