Procurement automation
Procurement automation has progressed significantly over the last decade and has saved time and resources for manual and repetitive tasks
What is procurement automation?
Procurement automation has progressed significantly over the last decade and has saved time and resources for manual and repetitive tasks. The time can then be used towards critical activities and strategic planning, which can bring more value to an organisation. Procurement automation software also has changed the procure-to-pay process significantly, saving time on purchase order creation, invoice processing and reporting. Organisations can streamline operations and reduce errors.
Benefits of procurement automation
Procurement automation has many benefits to your organisation.
- Eliminates manual errors and promotes trusts, as you’ll have real-time communication with buyer and supplier, able to track order status, time and cost savings.
- Improves supplier collaboration and accelerates approvals which can often slow down the process.
- Acts as a central point of truth as there will be access to all contracts and critical data, as well as ensuring all terms and conditions and guidelines in contracts are uniformed.
- Increases productivity as there is no need for repetitive and redundant tasks in the procurement process. Employees can then focus on more strategic tasks.
- Provides more visibility and streamlines spend management, with updates on past purchases, order history and supplier quotes, so decisions are based on the data.
How can AI help with supplier risk assessments
AI can help organisations evaluate and prioritise risks, reducing the workload of the procurement and supply team, and eliminating any human errors. It can also help to improve your risk analysis, as data collection and processing is automated and AI can analyse the data patterns for you. It can analyse large data sets quickly, making it easier to see the patterns and anomalies that indicate a risk. This can especially help if you have a large quantity of suppliers and data to get through, meaning the procurement function can focus on other business critical tasks.
Future of procurement automation
The future of procurement automation is changing, and procurement and supply professionals will need to embrace digital technology to optimise processes, access real-time data and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders. Procurement automation automates routine processes and will continue to improve all aspects of the procurement process.
