Database administrator aids PPPFA adoption in Western Cape
Ariba (previously Quadrem) is assisting the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) to implement its policy to only contract with businesses duly registered on the Western Cape Supplier Database (WCSD), Catherine Hills, Partner: Global Accounts at Ariba, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)
Desktop virtualisation - the future for end-user business computing?
More companies are now considering desktop virtualisation strategies just as an increasing number of employees within large organisations are demanding a more flexible work environment. In South Africa we are faced with additional challenges, including increased congestion on our roads, the introduction of road toll fees and high fuel prices, all of which make commuting to central office hubs time consuming and expensive, Alan Low of Purchasing Index (PI) tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
Competitive advantage - full expenditure, risk and performance visibility
Ready access to accurate, timely, structured internal and external business intelligence will create unprecedented abilities to synthesize info in support of decision making, envisions a report on Ideas for Procurement in 2020, the outcome of a dialogue between Ariba and leading procurement practitioners.
Posted by Editor at 5:50 AM | Comments (0)
Quick wins to boost this year's savings
We’re into September, which leaves you only four months to meet your savings targets for the year.Where can you deliver savings in the remnants of 2011? There are still cards in your hand, in this month’s SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
Travel management system integration is true efficiency
Most travel procurement managers are well versed in the various systems available to them in their quest to bring efficient management and reporting to their travel programmes. However, efficiently using various different systems to complete a booking is still inefficient, Jim Weighell, Corporate Manager at Sure Travel, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 4:40 AM | Comments (0)
Procurement in 2020 won't exist in its current state
The procurement function as we know it will no longer exist in 2020.This is the consensus reached in a report ‘VSION 2020: Ideas for Procurement in 2020 by Industry-Leading Procurement Executives’, the outcome of a dialogue between Ariba and leading procurement practitioners and influencers.
Its main points make for interesting reading…
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Online transparency facilitates efficient management of POs
Suppliers and service providers can expend a lot of time chasing outstanding POs from buyers, only to find that the buyer never signed the order. This may cause serious production or operations interruptions owed to late delivery, with other ripple effects for both the buyer and supplier.Fortunately, modern e-procurement solutions include a facility for both buyers and suppliers to manage their POs online, and to accurately measure each others performance, Elmo Erasmus, Elmo Erasmus, Chief Technology Officer at WebPortunities, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)
How new generation supplier management technologies work for you
Procurement has migrated from the transactional to the strategic edge of the contemporary organisation and usually manages and directs the total expenditure from within a centralised framework.In this scenario the choice of enabling technology plays an important role as it can develop or limit the scope of the overall effectiveness of procurement, Elmo Erasmus, Chief Technology Officer at WebPortunities, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
Procurement transformation: more than squeezing suppliers' margins
Transferring pressure onto your suppliers’ margins is not sustainable in the long-term. In fact, it is the shortest route to supply disruption as you will risk supplier failure, Duncan Jones, Principal Analyst for Forrester Research, told supply chain leaders at SAP and SmartProcurement’s CPO Forum early in March.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Reducing processing time: online procurement systems
Similar to the latest communications technologies, massive strides are being made on the e-Procurement front to facilitate procurement processes and transactions faster, better and more cost effectively, Elmo Erasmus, Chief Technology Officer at WebPortunities told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Master data management crucial for commodity management
The implementation of proper Master Data Management (MDM) enables organisations to not only improve their reporting capabilities, but also realise savings through true commodity management, Johan de Jager, Senior Procurement Specialist at Volition Consulting Services, tells SmartProcurement.Procurement professionals the world over realise more often than not when kicking off a sourcing initiative, that the data they are working with is the most complex part of the whole process.
Posted by Editor at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)
Lowering costs - SCM's business strategy
Lowering procurement cost through targeting inventory more efficiently is high on the procurement agenda for 2011, reports the 2011 Supply Chain Foresight Survey (SCF Survey).“Cost reduction is never far away,” Cathrin Heath, MD of procurement information solutions provider Ezee-Dex told SmartProcurement, “it compliments organisations’ core efforts to align their supply chains with business strategy.”
Posted by Editor at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
Quality of data - The eternal conundrum
To get better quality data, it is essential to change behaviour - and to do that you need to have the right information tools at your fingertips. Purchasing Index’s Alan Low tells SmartProcurement that structuring data in a more meaningful way is only half of the success.
Posted by Editor at 4:50 AM | Comments (0)
Utilising Technology for Effective Collaboration
The concept of collaboration is not new, however it has traditionally occurred between related companies with strong single leadership that offer each other a privileged right to use certain products, services and personnel. The development of technology has enabled organizations to expand their ability to collaborate beyond the traditional supply chain and into collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment, David Carney, a senior procurement specialist at Volition Consulting Services, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 5:30 AM | Comments (0)
Innovate with off-the-shelf technology
Innovation doesn’t have to come with a high price tag any more. With a little bit of technical savvy and some consumer-level wireless technology it is possible to create a paperless environment and speed up the distribution of work assignments to warehouse workers and other operations staff, Lloyd Mather, a Toronto-based logistics consultant specialising in facilities planning, materials handling and storage systems design and implementation, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 5:10 AM | Comments (0)
Shortlisting a supplier performance management solution
The best of breed supplier performance management (SPM) solutions available today are widely being recognised as important enablers to manage, monitor and find methods for collaboration with suppliers, says Niren Chaudhary, of Zycus, a spend management organisation.
Posted by Editor at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
Expenditure management - prevention is better than cure
This old adage seems to be more appropriate now than ever before with the focus on various State-owned enterprises (SOEs) regarding alleged or apparent mismanagement of funds. With failing to adhere to financial budgets, financial limits being exceeded, wasteful expenditure in the area of Expense Management, one has to question the processes in place to prevent this from re-occurring, Tracey Shaw, Sales Director at Tra velUxion, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 5:50 AM | Comments (0)
20% of public procurement budget lost to corruption
Some R30-billion of South Africa’s R150-billion public procurement budget is lost to corruption, estimates TFAC and its alliance partner Sentigol, supplier of the Tendersure system.
Posted by Editor at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
Applying recognised P2P best practice offers improved business performance
In times of recession, it is widely accepted that companies need to tighten belts and closely control expenditure. However, no organisation can function without steady and efficient supplies of the goods, raw materials and services which are necessary for value creation. A possible solution for improved company performance therefore lies in an optimised ‘procure to pay’ (P2P) process which eliminates waste, reduces administrative overload, rules out the potential for fraud and provides for the efficient sourcing of necessary inputs at optimal cost.
Posted by Editor at 5:10 AM | Comments (0)
Procurement's image problem
The Procurement profession has a serious image problem. Most South African organisations, whether corporate or government, still do not see the profession as a strategically important function...
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
Leads and tenders bulletin next level in procurement links
Technology can be developed and configured to accommodate ever-changing legislation, but is ineffective in isolation when not supported by services, Catherine Hills, Client Services Director for Quadrem Africa, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
What will your supply chains resemble in ten years' time?
If they are still operating in the same way as they are today, you will probably not be competitive, let alone a significant market participant!Researchers have proposed seven key strategies for success in the future. Organisations that aspire to be commanding forces in their industries in the next ten years will have to consider all seven. South African based organisations must take note of how this will affect them, Elaine Porteous, Business Development Executive at TechPro Personnel, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
World Class Operational Procurement Powered by Technology
The contract is signed, months of negotiation are concluded, the supplier is already paying performance incentives and the sourcing managers are going home for their first decent night’s rest in a long time. Is the hard work over? Doubtful, says Peter Alkema, Head of CAO OPS Absa, in this month’s SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
Professional development and procurement training road show comes to Gauteng
Tomorrow’s supply management professionals will be charged with developing and executing value creation strategies that find new value in the supply base, deliver value as quickly as possible within the cost parameters defined by the demand market and maximise the return to the company.
Posted by Editor at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)
SCM Summit feedback: Intelligent databases further Preferential Procurement
Technology is an effective support for Preferential Procurement Policy implementation and compliancy, Catherine Hills, Client Services Director for Quadrem Africa, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM
World-Class Operational Procurement Powered by Technology
Case Study – Using SAP SRM at ABSAThe ability to manage supplier relationships has never been more important. The necessity for governance and control over expenditure with suppliers is simply not up for debate any more, Peter Alkema, Head of CAO OPS Absa, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:25 AM | Comments (0)
New Expenditure Analysis tools empower procurement, increase savings
A new generation of expenditure analysis tools offers a route that procurement departments can follow to help their organisations avoid laying-off staff , Alan Low, Managing Director of Purchasing Index, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
Quadrem Africa receives top award at annual IPSA/CIPS Pan Africa Conference
Global provider of e-Procurement and Supply Management Solutions, Quadrem, has announced that it received the top award for the Best Public Sector Procurement Project at the Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa and Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s Annual Pan Africa Conference in Johannesburg.IPSA WIN
Karen Van Vuuren, IPSA Chair of Board of Directors, Catherine Hills, Client Services Director at Quadrem Africa and Deon Mocke, Vice President Quadrem Africa.
Posted by Editor at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)
'Supplier enablement' is a key component for successful procurement processes in South Africa
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This article appeared in the May newsletter with certain technical inaccuracies. SmartProcurement apologises for the error and would like to thank Quadrem for bringing the mistake to our attention and permitting us to re-print the article with the necessary corrections.The outsourced management of suppliers is of special significance in South Africa as a component of a successful procurement / tender process in the market place, Catherine Hills, Quadrem’s Client Services Director, told SmartProcurement in a recent interview.
Posted by Editor at 6:42 AM | Comments (0)
Fraud prevention is better than cure
In many of our recent dealings with South African companies, there has been a common issue with abuse and fraud committed by employees on their company-issued credit cards. These cards are generally provided to employees on the understanding that they are to be used for business expenses only, and in most cases this is reinforced by either the company’s policies or a specific “cardholder use” agreement signed by the employee. How is it then that this fraud and abuse is so widespread?
Posted by StaffWriter at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
Procurement visibility needed at compulsive buyer: UK National Health Service (NHS)
In the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s search for budget balancing savings of tens of £ billions annually, as led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, attention is increasingly directed to the more than £160 billion that the public sector reportedly spent on the procurement of goods and services from third party suppliers (half of which is spent on common consumables).
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)
The 'silver bullet' in managing travel and entertainment expenses
Organisations that do not use an automated travel and entertainment (T&E) expense management service are falling behind in almost every measure of financial management.These organisations as ‘laggards’ and presents figures showing that they pay 37% more to process their expense reports; they take three times longer to reimburse employees; and they are essentially working in the dark when it comes to controlling travel expenditures accoring to a a 2008 report by researcher Aberdeen.
Posted by Editor at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
World Class Operational Procurement: Oh yes, paying the supplier...
Part 9 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
“Money makes the world go round and this is even more so in the world of ‘Purchase to Pay’ (PTP) where the last step is often the one that receives the most attention, simply because the up-front steps and general governance has not been in place", Peter Alkema, Head: Purchase to Pay, Absa, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
Powerful, next generation spend analysis service launched
Purchasing Index (PI) is has announce the launch of a groundbreaking new spend analysis service, Spendtrak™, a next-generation technology that transforms spend analysis from “nice-to-have” to “must-have”. At a fraction of the cost of most older technologies, Spendtrak™ will immediately demonstrate superior value for money” Alan Low, Managing Director of PI, explained to SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
World Class Operational Procurement: Training, Training, Training
Part 4 of a ten-part series that examines key operational aspects of the so-called "Purchase-to-Pay" value chainby Independent Contributor, Peter Alkema - Head: Purchase to Pay at ABSA
"The Purchase-to-Pay (PTP) value chain is a series of business events that are usually enabled by a system such as SAP. Knowledge of this process, as well as the physical steps within the enabling system is critical to drive a culture of world-class procurement within an organisation where third party spend is significant."
Posted by Editor at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
New SearchLight Launched: The next level in Description Based Spend Analysis
The latest version of Searchlight, a description based spend analysis tool has just been launched. "The new version of SearchLight takes spend analysis to the next level," Marc Silberbauer of Marshan Technologies told Smart Procurement.Posted by Editor at 6:12 PM | Comments (0)
Further Beyond the Hype: The road ahead for Procurement
The recent international BrainNet/SAP survey shows that CPO's of leading procurement organisations are faced with three central procurement challenges. They are: 1. To create transparency; 2. To create value; and 3. To establish efficient risk management structures.
Posted by Editor at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
Free State Province signs with QUADREM for centralised, verified supplier database
Johannesburg and Amsterdam - March 2008 - Quadrem Africa has recently been awarded a three-year contract to implement and manage one centralised verified supplier database for South Africa's Free State Provincial Government and four Public Entities in the province.Posted by StaffWriter at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)
Only 1 in 10 procurement professionals can extract critical information
"Most World Class Organisations have realised that procurement is a key component for sustainable business success." James Yates, COO of Cutting Edge Commerce tells Smart Procurement. However, the lack of visibility into accurate and complete transaction data is hampering company performance. Usually, large companies commission an outsourced service provider to develop a solution which would provide the necessary insight into the company's spend profile and procure-to-pay activities...
Posted by StaffWriter at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)
Local procurement intelligence provider does global deal
New York based Information Builders (IB), a supplier of business intelligence solutions and Pretoria based Cutting Edge Commerce (CEC) have announced a worldwide partnership that will see CEC's pre-packaged procurement and supply chain reporting solution be made available globally for multiple ERP systems including SAP, Oracle, J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, Baan, Lawson, Sage Accpac and 1C. The solution is immediately available worldwide for SAP with other ERP systems to be released shortly.
Posted by bernievn at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
The current case for purchasing cards - Part 1
At a recent breakfast session hosted by IPSA (Institute of Procurement and Supply South Africa) Julian Curtiss, Manager of Commercial Marketing, Corporate Payment Solutions at ABSA Bank, said that Procurement Cards are now almost universally accepted as a procurement to pay solution for both the private and public sectors of economies across the globe.
Posted by bernievn at 5:06 PM | Comments (0)
Up to 50% of procurement spend "Under the Radar"
"The sheer amount of transactions, the lack of data integrity, multiple ERP systems and additional manual processes result in up to half of the procurement activity happening in organisations being misunderstood or misrepresented, " Proppie Fraser GM Supply Chain Management at CEC, a provider of analytical procurement tools, told Smart Procurement.
Posted by bernievn at 4:12 PM | Comments (0)
CEC acquires local World Class procurement training provider
Commerce Edge, a provider of World Class Procurement training solutions, has sold a majority stake in its South African business to CEC (Cutting Edge Commerce), a leading BEE supplier of Procurement information, analysis and consulting services...
Posted by bernievn at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
Spend management beyond the obvious: implementing best practice
“Organisations that want to get control of their spending need to move away from an accounting mindset to one that understands where spending starts: in the heads, and on the desks, of ordinary managers and employees,” Stanton Jandrell, CEO of Fraxion, told Smart Procurement.
Posted by bernievn at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
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 bernievn at 1:03 PM | Comments (0)
Lonmin Platinum uses Description-based Spend Analysis software to Support Strategic Sourcing
Lonmin Platinum's Procurement Centre of Excellence has moved away from manual spend analysis efforts, using spreadsheets, to an automated solution using CCI-Growthcon’s Description Based Spend Analysis (DBSA) software.Tony Davey (Head of the Lonmin Platinum, Procurement Centre of Excellence) explains that "we are being placed under increased pressure to obtain good quality products and services at the lowest possible price. We have recognised the need to have more “spend-under management”. In order to accomplish this, we need quicker and easier access to accurate spend data."
Posted by bernievn at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
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 bernievn at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
