SAP Procurement


Supply Chain Management: SAP Procurement

Strategic and innovative procurement is at the forefront of the supply chain today. While the root of procurement is all about connections and relationships, digitalization has now streamlined the experience and visibility. There are new opportunities to master the ability to maintain the right balance between the intersections of quantity, price, and time.

Procurement Simply Defined

Procurement is a process of acquiring goods or services in the right quantity, at the right price, and at the right time. Understanding supply chains is an important step because it helps to find reliable suppliers that best fit the business requirements. Minimizing cost is a crucial aspect but it should be combined with capacity planning, quality, and delivery reliability. Some organizations are using SAP Procurement, which is one aspect of supply chain management. It involves all activities in daily business operations for obtaining goods and services. There are generally three stages in the procurement process: sourcing, purchasing, and payment.

Supply Chain Management: SAP Procurement

Strategic and innovative procurement is at the forefront of the supply chain today. While the root of procurement is all about connections and relationships, digitalization has now streamlined the experience and visibility. There are new opportunities to master the ability to maintain the right balance between the intersections of quantity, price, and time.

Procurement Simply Defined

Procurement is a process of acquiring goods or services in the right quantity, at the right price, and at the right time. Understanding supply chains is an important step because it helps to find reliable suppliers that best fit the business requirements. Minimizing cost is a crucial aspect but it should be combined with capacity planning, quality, and delivery reliability. Some organizations are using SAP Procurement, which is one aspect of supply chain management. It involves all activities in daily business operations for obtaining goods and services. There are generally three stages in the procurement process: sourcing, purchasing, and payment.

9 Steps in the Procurement Process are:

  1. Identify the goods and services needed
  2. Submit a purchase request
  3. Review and select vendors
  4. Negotiate terms and pricing
  5. Create a purchase order
  6. Receive and inspect the quality of goods
  7. Conduct three-way matching in accounts payable
  8. Approve the invoice and make payment
  9. Record keeping.

Key components work together to make the procurement process happen. They include people, process, and paperwork. Building and maintaining relationships should be a top focus for procurement professionals to gain a competitive edge. By monitoring procurement KPI’s, businesses can empower teams to analyze savings and track supplier performance in a more simplified way.

Benefits of Procurement are:

  • Higher productivity
  • Lower management expenses
  • Trusted supplier relationships.

Using intelligent technology to harmonize processes and approvals will lead to cutting costs, driving compliance, and gaining visibility for an organization. Vendor partners that can offer solutions and services for software or strengthen process efficiencies include – SAP, Reveal or Gib.

Further insights for SAPinsiders are:

  • The Future of Enterprise Procurement: Saravanan Narasimhan outlines the benefits of a digital landscape for procurement. Stressing that a successful means of digital procurement in the corporate world is through early involvement. Redefine procurement from a tactical expense to a strategic investment.
  • Streamline Procurement Processes with the Raw Material Procurement Cockpit. Kaushik Choudhury explains the raw material procurement cockpit features, which can be used by small or large businesses. It supports planners working with multiple suppliers for the same material or several materials.
  • Sneak Peak: Sustainable Procurement as an Embedded Process in Supplier Management Activities. William Newman shares how to stay ahead of the curve on sustainability by previewing these conceptual roadmaps and the expected releases of related SAP functionality.

13 results

  1. An Analysis of Simplified Sourcing on SAP S/4HANA

    Published: 29/August/2016

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Learn the differences between the material requirements planning (MRP) source of supply determination in SAP ERP and the simplified sourcing logic introduced in SAP S/4HANA. Key Concept Source of determination is the process of selecting a source of supply. This process can be executed by material requirements planning (MRP) when a replenishment proposal is created....…

  2. Digital Innovation in Sourcing and Procurement

    Published: 26/April/2016

    Reading time: 6 mins

    Supplier relationships play a major role in determining an organization’s bottom line, and when suppliers are not performing at an optimal level, businesses need to know immediately or risk losses. Procurement professionals, many of whom have to deal with an ever-increasing volume of suppliers and contracts, face a growing burden in managing these supplier relationships.…

  3. Foreign Procurement: Handling Ownership of Goods in Transit

    Published: 15/April/2016

    Reading time: 14 mins

    Learn how to handle goods in transit (GIT) during foreign procurement. The process starts with the transfer of ownership at the time of shipment handover. It goes on to storing it in a bonded warehouse at the port of entry (if necessary), and finally to posting it to the company’s material stock account at the...…