E-sourcing

E-sourcing supports the speci&cation

phase; it can be used to pre-qualify
suppliers and also identi&es
suppliers that can be used in the selection
phase. For suppliers the bene&t is:
“marketing” and for the
buying organizations the bene&t is
facilitating the sourcing of suppliers. The
UN Global Market Place
(UNGM www.ungm.org) is an example
of an E-sourcing tool.
b) E-tendering
E-tendering supports the selection stage
and acts as a communication platform
between the procuring
organization and suppliers. It covers
the complete tendering process from
REOI via ITB/RFP to
contracting, usually including support for
the analysis and assessment activities; it
does not include
closing the deal with a supplier but
facilitates a large part of the tactical
procurement process. It
results in equal treatment of suppliers;
transparent selection process; reduction
in (legal) errors; clear
audit trial; more eAciency in the tactical
procurement process and improved time
management of
tendering procedures. Some UN
organizations such as UNDP-IAPSO and
UNHCR have used E-tendering
in the formulation of long-term
agreements for vehicles, tents,
motorcycles and pharmaceuticals
through an in-house developed tendering
port
E-sourcing
E-sourcing supports the speci&cation
phase; it can be used to pre-qualify
suppliers and also identi&es
suppliers that can be used in the selection
phase. For suppliers the bene&t is:
“marketing” and for the
buying organizations the bene&t is
facilitating the sourcing of suppliers. The
UN Global Market Place
(UNGM www.ungm.org) is an example
of an E-sourcing tool.
b) E-tendering
E-tendering supports the selection stage
and acts as a communication platform
between the procuring
organization and suppliers. It covers
the complete tendering process from
REOI via ITB/RFP to
contracting, usually including support for
the analysis and assessment activities; it
does not include
closing the deal with a supplier but
facilitates a large part of the tactical
procurement process. It
results in equal treatment of suppliers;
transparent selection process; reduction
in (legal) errors; clear
audit trial; more eAciency in the tactical
procurement process and improved time
management of
tendering procedures. Some UN
organizations such as UNDP-IAPSO and
UNHCR have used E-tendering
in the formulation of long-term
agreements for vehicles, tents,
motorcycles and pharmaceuticals
through an in-house developed tendering
port
IBM was able to reduce its procurement costs by sending purchase
orders, receiving invoices and paying suppliers by using the World
Wide Web as its transaction processing network. Much of the
savings came from eliminating intermediaries—IBM was able to
eliminate intermediaries because the Internet allowed IBM to work
with multiple tiers of suppliers simultaneously.

2. The speed and ease of using the Internet allowed IBM to form
partnerships with small suppliers even though many of these small
suppliers were supplying IBM with a small volume, specialized, one-
time-only purchase.

3. In addition to cost reduction, IBM’s other main reason for

switching to Web-based procurement was forming strong long-term
supplier partnerships. The Internet allows IBM to collaborate with its
suppliers over issues related to scheduling, inventories and
forecasting.
The use of an Internet procurement process reduces mistakes that
occur during manual recording and processing because manual
entry and processing requires typing or writing prices, part
numbers, etc. on multiple documents. On the other hand, Web
based procurement automatically generates most transaction
documents to process all procurement transactions and contains
computerized checks to catch entry errors.

5. IBM developed a Web-based portal to provide a single entry

point to the company Web site instead of having suppliers connect
to the needed areas with separate URLs based on their specific
needs. Most large companies like IBM have multiple types of
relationships and interfaces with suppliers involving quality,
purchasing, engineering and other dimensions of the business.
Having a single entry point for suppliers makes the communication
process easier and increases the speed of the supply chain.
Speedy communication between suppliers and IBM is very
important, especially during the product development stage due to
the short life cycle of most electronic products.

Digital transformation is on everyone’s lips these days in the business world. We hear everywhere
that if you want your business to survive in this new era you need to go digital. Big words, which
might sound scary for some of us. But actually, going digital or making the first few steps towards
digital transformation, is more approachable than it seems if you take the time to break down all
the elements.
Digital has transformed the way in which we buy and sell goods and services, to the point where
most transactions are cashless and many of them are done from the comfort of our own home.
In the finance world, one of the building blocks for becoming digitally enabled is the purchase-to-
pay process, with electronic procurement as its core element. We believe that electronic
procurement should be the starting point for a digitally enabled spend function, as it helps
companies to have a better view over their supplier relationships, it automates their ordering and
purchasing process, provides transparency over their spending while digitising the entire supply
chain.
Why do you need an eProcurement solution?
In a volatile economic environment moving at a faster and faster pace it is hard to make savings
and achieve efficiencies. Additionally, businesses are faced with challenges from all areas such as
gaps in technology infrastructure, regulatory challenges, poor internal processes, supply chain
risk, poor alignment between procurement and the business strategy etc.
If implemented properly, and preceding a strong business case, eProcurement solutions are
designed to help speed up the order and purchase process whilst reducing risk and ensuring
better compliance.