We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
  • STRATEGY
  • GLOBAL
  • LOGISTICS
  • MANUFACTURING
  • PROCUREMENT
  • VIDEO
    • News & Exclusives
    • Viewer Contributed
    • CSCMP EDGE 2022 Startup Alley
    • Upload your video
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • White Papers
    • Webcasts
    • Events
    • Blogs
      • Reflections
      • SCQ Forum
    • Mobile Apps
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
  • STRATEGY
  • GLOBAL
  • LOGISTICS
  • MANUFACTURING
  • PROCUREMENT
  • VIDEO
    • News & Exclusives
    • Viewer Contributed
    • CSCMP EDGE 2022 Startup Alley
    • Upload your video
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • White Papers
    • Webcasts
    • Events
    • Blogs
      • Reflections
      • SCQ Forum
    • Mobile Apps
Home » Commentary: From a patchwork of solutions to unbroken digital thread
Forward Thinking

Commentary: From a patchwork of solutions to unbroken digital thread

December 21, 2018
Patrick McCarthy
No Comments

There was a time when businesses seeking to streamline their procurement operations, particularly the labor-intensive aspects of sourcing, purchasing, and contracting/payments, would purchase software applications narrowly focused on one of those areas. While these software systems improved efficiencies, rarely could they juggle more than one application or activity. Furthermore, the solutions often functioned independently of the business' other core operations (such as manufacturing, logistics, or sales) and were disconnected from the corresponding or complementary data they generate.

As a result, companies were often haphazardly piecing together a patchwork of different solutions to cover the source-to-settle process. Knitting together these systems of varying size, strength, and capacitythrough software integrations often hampered the smooth flow of operations.

But now there's another alternative: Cloud-based digital networks allow buyers and suppliers to see into each other's connected operations, better unlock the value hidden in their data, and uncover mutually benefical insights. As procurement leaders increasingly embrace cloud-based digital networks, they're finding the source-to-settle process no longer hemmed in by siloed data or organizational boundaries.  Instead they are able to tie together all the data gathered throughout the source-to-settle process, and they are reaping efficiencies. The data present a comprehensive view of an organization's supply chain efficiency and procurement opportunity. In a sense, the cloud-based networks provide an unbroken digital thread that replaces the old cumbersome patchwork of point solutions. This thread's reach includes finance, legal, and other mission-critical systems. The unbroken digital thread creates value that's not merely additive but exponential, as this report from the consulting company Deloitte lays out.

When contract renegotiations take into account previously unexamined sourcing data, or when sourcing decisions factor in previously untapped reputational data, or when payment methods include previously unavailable discount alternatives, savings add up quickly—the whole of procurement becomes greater than the sum of its traditional parts. Businesses can redirect these savings into shoring up the supply chain, investing in research and development, or exploring new markets.

Businesses can now uncover patterns out of previously disparate procurement data. Aided by machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence made possible by cloud-based networks, these newfound patterns of data can lead to actionable insights that extend competitive advantage. Imagine when smart contracts are immediately aware of performance and execution data from actual receipts and can autonomously invoke agreed-to pricing conditions and clauses. Businesses that leverage these emerging technologies successfully free up their employees to focus on higher-value outcomes.

These intelligent enterprises harness the vast repositories of uncorrelated data that organizations routinely accumulate—and, in the process, their procurement function transforms itself from back-office cost center to strategic growth engine! By stitching together insights out of data dispersed across an organization and its trading partners, procurement leaders dramatically sharpen the tools of their craft, trading in what amounted to a humble sewing kit for an industrial-scale textile powerhouse.

Procurement Technology
  • Related Articles

    iBASEt Now Integrates with Siemens Teamcenter to Create Fully Integrated Digital Thread

    iBASEt Releases PLM Connector to Extend the Digital Thread

    Commentary: Wanted: A viable all-water route from Asia to the U.S. Midwest

Patrick McCarthy is senior vice president and general manager of SAP Ariba.
You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Forecasts call for freight rate slumps in 2023

  • Projected U.S. recession in early 2023 will soften freight market

  • Inflation drops again as interest rate hikes hit home, NRF says

  • How to avoid the next crisis: A new approach to supply chain agility

  • New Jersey truck fleet says Freightliner tractors will deliver safety as well as freight

Featured Video

20221107korber large vs

Enhancing Customer Experience with Your Supply Chain Strategy

Viewer Contributed
With the rise of e-commerce, many businesses have had to transform their warehouses to handle online orders in addition to regularly scheduled inventory shipments. This means warehouses need more information than ever before to ensure they can meet customers' needs. As a result, companies need to select warehouse...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Guide to Pallet Rack Safety

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • A shipper's guide to navigating post-pandemic holiday freight

  • THE NEW WAY TO WAREHOUSE: 4 Innovations in Automation & Robotics to Boost Warehouse Productivity

View More

Subscribe to Supply Chain Quarterly

Get Your Subscription
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • E-NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing