One area of focus is the purchase to pay (PTP) arena. A key indicator of a world-class procurement organisation is the use of a PTP value chain once a contract is signed.

“Best practices exist for how to operate and implement PTP, however, without a carefully chosen technology the most robust and efficient processes on paper will be ineffective and costly,” wrote Peter Alkema, Head: Purchase to pay at Absa Group, in an article for SmartProcurement.

Fortunately, several vendors offers a complete portfolio of solutions that help deliver fast, flexible and sustainable end-to-end sourcing and procurement processes.

Absa Group Sourcing selected SAP SRM, which offers full end-to-end process enablement for PTP. It plugs seamlessly into an organisation’s existing SAP R/3 or ECC installation. Every step in the PTP process is catered for by a specific document which effectively “mirrors” the paper documentation you would expect to process, said Alkema.

More importantly, these solutions offer organisations the visibility to find savings opportunities, conduct rapid and thorough sourcing projects, create and manage contracts, and to quickly promote the savings within operational procurement.

Succeed with new procurement strategies

In these (still) challenging economic times, Procurement executives are specifically tasked with finding the optimal route to identify and leverage every cost-savings opportunities. To do this effectively, they need full visibility into their organisations spending behaviour, and to realise savings through a closed-loop sourcing and procurement process. They also need to manage collaborative relationships with strategic suppliers to ensure bottom-line savings and minimize supplier risk.

To learn how other Procurement executives are meeting the challenges of this difficult business environment, SAP and the Procurement Leaders Network have prepared a timely report, available for download.

This must-read report analyses the responses of over 200 procurement executives to strategic questions and explores how they're meeting the challenges of today's difficult business environment.

This insightful white paper highlights the challenges Procurement executives face and their strategies for success. The report will help you:
• Renew your organisation's focus on spend management.
• Uncover procurement strategies to help achieve your goals.
• Learn how organisations are proactively managing supplier risk.
• Gain insight into the value of technology in the procurement process.

All Cape Town's Procurement and related IT executives have the opportunity to Join Peter Alkema and Paul McKane at a breakfast and three-hour workshop hosted by SmartProcurement on March 18. There you will learn about Absa’s operational procurement success story.

Decision makers and executives in your organisation will have the opportunity to engage with Absa on its SAP SRM journey to World-Class Operational Procurement excellence.

For more information, contact Erieka Santos on admin@smartprocurement.co.za or on 0861 334 326