Africa ready to take advantage of e-marketplaces
PanAvest International and Development Corporation has signed an exclusive agreement to promote and market the ProcServe suite of trading management and eMarketplace solutions in Africa, Dr. Douglas Boateng, PanAvest CEO, has revealed to SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 1:50 AM
Quadrem delivers African market new services powered by SAP® Software
Quadrem has signed a global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) agreement with SAP AG. The organisations will work together to help customers reduce the cost and complexity of implementing and operating integrated electronic sourcing, procurement, invoicing, and contract management processes. In addition, Quadrem's BPO services have qualified as ‘powered by SAP’.
Posted by Editor at 9:45 AM
South African named Chief Operations Officer of global e-Procurement leader
Amsterdam & Dallas – Quadrem, a global provider of supply management solutions, has promoted Brandon Spear to Chief Operations Officer. In his new role, Spear will continue to oversee Quadrem’s operations for eight regional offices on six continents. Additionally, Spear will lead Quadrem’s research and development team as they build next-generation systems to enable customers to operate reliable, efficient supply chains.
Posted by StaffWriter at 9:50 AM
World Class Operational Procurement: Electronic, XML & Other POs
Part 6 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called “Purchase to Pay” value chain
by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema – Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
In Part 5 of this article series we looked in detail at the Purchase Order (PO), which is a standard output document used in the initial steps of the Purchase-to-Pay process. Although a PO marks a confirmed order with a supplier, it is important to note that there are a number of different methods by which the PO can be transmitted to the supplier, depending on the contractual relationship that the organisation has with them as well as technical capabilities. “I often get asked why our suppliers do not get their POs immediately. In this scenario, supplier delivery timeframes is an important aspect of any purchasing relationship, so the people purchasing internally must be familiar with the technical set up between the purchasing organisation and the supplier for the transmission and receipt of POs”, Peter Alkema, Head: Purchase to Pay, ABSA, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM
New home grown procurement technology changes the rules of the game
63% of organisations researched by The Aberdeen Group placed ‘reduced cost of processing purchase orders and cheque payments’ as their primary goal for implementing a Purchase Card Program”, Julian Curtiss, Managing Director of Transaction Technology Solutions, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:35 PM
Mining Division Launches its Full E-Procurement Functionality with African Suppliers
Dallas & Johannesburg - Anglo Base Metals launched its full e-Procurement functionality at a formal event on 1 August 2008, in partnership with Quadrem Africa, a subsidiary of Quadrem International Ltd, a supply chain solutions company with one of the world's largest electronically connected supplier networks for private and public sectors.
Posted by Editor at 11:30 AM
World Class Operational Procurement: Effective Requests & Approvals processes
Part 3 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called "Purchase to Pay" value chain
by Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema - Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
Posted by StaffWriter at 10:45 AM
World-Class Operational Procurement: Catalogues and Shopping Baskets
Part 2 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called "Purchase to Pay" value chain
By Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema - Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
Posted by StaffWriter at 9:00 AM
Quadrem Positioned in Challengers Quadrant of Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sourcing Application Suites, 2008
Dallas & Amsterdam, Gartner, Inc. has positioned e-Procurement and SRM provider Quadrem International in the Challengers Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Sourcing Application Suites, 2008. "In my opinion, our position in the Challenger's Quadrant by Gartner confirms our ability to deliver sourcing solutions successfully while also providing a robust offering for tactical and strategic sourcing," Chris Haydon, Quadrem Senior Vice President, Marketing and Global Solutions told SmartProcurement.Posted by Editor at 11:43 AM
World Class Operational Procurement: What is compliant spend?
Part 1 of a ten part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called "Purchase To Pay" value chain
By Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema - Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
Posted by Editor at 8:43 AM
New generation E-commerce tools for procuring 'indirect' spend commodities
Direct spend commodities are products that are directly involved in the organisation's core business and is often also referred to as 'productive spend'. For instance, in a manufacturing organisation, all equipment, materials and packaging will be included into this category.Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM
PURCHASING MANAGER™: A NO RISK, FIRST STEP INTO E-PROCUREMENT
RS Components, a global distributor of industrial products has launched Purchasing Manager, an e-Procurement system that enables procurement departments to monitor
buying behaviour; allocate authority levels and control spend; manage
work-flow and draw reports. Lutz Otto, National Marketing & Sales Manager, at "High
Service Level Distributor" RS Components tells Smart Procurement that Purchasing Manager, is an effective e-Procurement tool, that allows RS's
customers to efficiently manage the supplier relationship that they
have with the company. Posted by StaffWriter at 8:08 AM
Supplier Relationship E- Management launched
One of the pillars of Strategic Sourcing is SRM (Supplier relationship management) - which is in this context, is process for building and management of enduring and sustainable supplier relationships. The delivery of quality products/ services on time every time at the right price is usually the result of a particularly sound relationship between the vendor and client.Posted by StaffWriter at 9:24 AM
Taming travel expenses? Boost your compliance!
Although travel expenses account for a significant - and rising - portion of a business’ s operating expenses, it remains one of the most difficult to manage or control.
This results in unnecessary costs, says Warren Tanner-Ellis, general manager, Travel Management Solutions at MWEB CommerceZone, a provider of hosted e-Procurement solutions and services. "These costs can amount to as much as 8% to 10% of total overhead expenses according to recent research undertaken by the Aberdeen Group*"
Posted by Bernie at 10:29 AM
Local e-Procurement provider grows to 100 000 procurement transactions a month
E-Procurement as a solution in the South African marketplace is steadily gaining ground, growing not only in transaction value, but also in transactions volume and the number of suppliers, Philip Katz, Managing Director of e-Procurement provider mymarket.com told Smart Procurement.
Posted by Bernie at 1:03 PM
e-Procurement and Strategic Sourcing combine to deliver savings
Whilst e-Procurement solutions are improving the procurement practices of organisations by eliminating many paper-based and labour-intensive processes, increasing transparency and improving control it cannot deliver the depth of benefits expected by businesses investing in the technology. It must be supported by effective and transparent strategic sourcing.
Posted by Bernie at 11:37 AM
Case Study: e-Procurement brings expenditure on office groceries under control
While some businesses spend millions every year on basic office groceries such as coffee, tea, cleaning materials and other everyday commodities, very few manage their spend on these essential items effectively. “It’s easy for anyone in the organisation – from a driver or messenger to the chairman’s personal assistant – to quickly go to the supermarket to buy tea or milk or toilet paper." "As a result", says Wayne van Deventer, National Strategic Sourcing Manager at MWEB CommerceZone, "many companies end up spending more than budgeted for on these goods, waste time and lose BEE points.
Posted by Bernie at 2:29 PM
Netcare e-procurement cuts CAPEX cycle time by 66%
E-Procurement technology has assisted South Africa’s largest private healthcare network Netcare to cut the time to procure CAPEX items from 3 months to as little as three weeks. The company's Buynet solution (Powered by local provider mymarket.com) is now used by more than 3500 users, 250 suppliers and 43 sites. The company processes as many as 15,000 purchasing transactions a month, valued at more than R60m, via e-Procurement.
Posted by Bernie at 9:53 AM
Using SMS's to control the procurement process and boost governance
In organisations in which executives with approval authority are often out of the office, e-Procurement functionality is extended to enable the executive to approve a purchase request via SMS. Says Arthur Benting, IT manager at MWEB CommerceZone, a hosted e-Procurement solutions provider, "It won’t matter if the executive is out of the country or without access to email or the Internet: he or she is likely to have a cell phone and the ability to check for messages throughout the day."
Posted by Bernie at 12:40 PM
13.5% savings on copy paper through Reverse Auctioning and BBBEE Supplier
A recent online reverse auction resulted in savings of up to 13,5% on photocopy paper whilst at the same time boosting the BBBEE score of a consortium of purchasers involved in the transaction.
Posted by Bernie at 2:55 PM
SA Companies finally benefiting from e-Procurement promises
Local results seem to be echoing recent international research regarding e-Procurement benefits. According to Tracey Newman, CEO of MWEB CommerceZone, recent research from Aberdeen showed that e-Procurement tools deliver a 64% reduction in maverick spending...
Posted by Bernie at 7:31 PM