Categorically Implementing A Source-To-Pay Procurement Management System
Procurement Management System
Procurement, or the process of acquiring supplies and services, is critical for business of all sizes and industries. However, constantly managing this process can be both time consuming and costly for organizations. Implementing source-to-pay software provides streamlined and centralized procurement process, allowing you to drive bottom line savings and track ROI.
In this article, we will succinctly go through the stages of procuring and implementing solution for your procurement management system. This guide is designed to help your C-Suite executives successfully and cost-effectively build procurement process that understands and optimizes all spending.
Step 1: Understand Your Requirements
Before engaging in any activities to procure system, take the time to properly define your current and future procurement processes. Consider both small-scale and bulk needs, any applicable internal controls, and budgetary requirements. You should also inquire whether the prospective solution integrates with and utlitizes your existing systems, or if you’ll need to invest in additional technologies. If any customizations are required, make sure to note this as well.
Step 2: Market Research
Now that you have list of must-haves, you can investigate the market for potential source-to-pay solutions. It is good idea to partner with an external consulting firm who specializes in procurement solutions to facilitate this research. They can narrow down your list to handful of providers, and provide you with details on the benefits, costs, and implementation timelines associated with each product.
Step 3: Plan Design Your Solution
Once you?ve decided on suitable solution, you?ll need to carry out detailed planning and designing. This is when mock-ups and wireframes come into play, in order to make sure the interface is efficient and meets the user?s needs. This is also when you can input any customizations to the model, as you determined in Step 1. At this stage you should also select an implementation team, someone who will be guiding the process and making sure each step is completed on time.
Step 4: Implementation
In this step, which involves setting up the product and training your team, you may want to complete few test run scenarios to ensure the system can handle unique scenarios. This is also where any integrations would take place. Make sure to double-check for any inaccuracies before go-live.
Step 5: Monitoring Maintenance
Once your system is up-and-running, your work isn?t done yet. On order to keep the software running well your staff will need to be trained to use the system and understand any new processes. Additionally, it is important to routinely monitor the system and make sure all transactions are logged, that any transactions follow internal processes, and that corrective action is taken to address any issues.
By categorically implementing cost-effective and integrated system for your procurement management, you’ll be able to ensure accurate and simplified record-keeping, as well as capitalise on ample cost-savings and increased visibility throughout the process. Though the initial research, devising and implementation process might seem tedious and overwhelming, systematic planning and adhering to this 5-step guide will ensure the success of your source-to-pay project.
