Using A Source-To-Pay Solution For Automotive Purchasing: A Step-By-Step Guide
AUTOMOTIVE PURCHASING SOLUTION
Given the accelerating changes in the digital landscape, corporate purchasing processes have experienced substantial transformation. With the emergence of source-to-pay (S2P) solutions, businesses have taken crucial step toward driving successive quantitative and qualitative gains to their operational efficiency. These solutions allow companies to establish transparent processes, reduce associated costs, drive compliance, and grant visibility over the entire cycle from the moment need is identified within operations, through to the settlement of accounts with vendors.
In particular, S2P solutions have provided much-needed paradigm shift in the automotive industry, where businesses are increasingly needing to keep overhead costs to minimum and secure their purchasing operations against fraud. By deploying S2P aimed at managing its procurement operations, organizations can reliably and more efficiently manage the entire purchasing lifecycle, culminating in tangible monetary rewards.
For those executives looking for comprehensive instructions on utilizing S2P solution for automotive purchases, this guide offers an easy-to-follow sequence that can be applied to any organization interested in leveraging modernized purchasing system.
Step 1: Identify Requirements
Before selecting suitable provider to the business, organizations should assess the critical needs of their operation. This internal assessment should cover the current situation from all stakeholders? perspectives, endeavoring to appreciate the pain points that features of the desired S2P should address. Organizations should also consider the categories of their suppliers and the volume of typical purchases, as well as the prevailing supplier contracts, to ensure tailor-made solution is selected to account for all use cases.
Step 2: Select Vendor
Once the requirements of the operation have been clearly identified, the next step is to select the most sensible vendor to provide the service. To achieve this, organizations should consider vendors who have invested significant efforts in building deep levels of integrations within various enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, as well as proven their worth with successful case studies within their sector.
Step 3: Create System of Controls
Organizations should establish comprehensive IT framework to ensure the system is adhered to and to prevent fraud or misspending. To do so, companies should introduce controls that combine the use of technology, with signature trails of responsible personnel, and even multi-approval layers, depending on the procurement categories and the size of the purchase.
Step 4: Utilize Advanced Modeling
When selecting source-to-pay solution, organizations should pay particular attention to providers who offer user friendly service, allowing personnel to enjoy rapid configuration across multiple processes. This should enable the organization to choose the most relevant model for its operations, as well as enable rapid amalgamation of ERP systems and other purchasing procedures, ushering in exponentially higher levels or ROI.
Step 5: Clip and Record
The organizationshould ensure that the compliance policies and data protection protocols are safely and securely recorded throughout the entire purchasing lifecycle, from the sourcing of companies through to the vendor performance. This activity should also include the support of periodic audits and anamnesis procedures to ensure the system is always up-to-date and critical changes are ratified appropriately.
Step 6: Monitor Process
Finally, enterprises should ensure ongoing monitoring of the process, both at executive and operational levels to foster transparency and allow changes to be rapidly enacted in order to maximize value extraction.
Conclusion
Organizations that want to benefit from the substantial operational and monetary gains offered by source-to-pay should follow the steps presented in this guide. By stipulating the basic needs of their operations, assessing the available service providers, creating systems of control and leveraging advanced modeling, companies can effectuate secure and efficient purchasing process that allows them to accurately allocate their expenditure and remove the risks of fraud.
