Most businesses today have an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system in place. These popular platforms surfaced in the 90s with the aim of enabling businesses to optimize operations, achieve new efficiencies, and gain a competitive edge. ERPs market the ability to address a breadth of business functions. In reality, they’re truly sufficient for a limited…
A siloed approach to business functions just won’t cut it anymore; those legacy systems are a nightmare to navigate and integrate, and you feel there are so many missed opportunities for better productivity, cost-effectiveness and information sharing. This is even more the case when it comes to vendor data management. A well-compiled, accessible and thorough…
The Problem With Today’s Purchasing Processes When it comes to purchasing, vendor management and other complicated, often paper-driven and manual processes, there’s a whole host of inefficiency. Even worse – all of that inefficiency can easily snowball the faster an organization grows, and the higher the number of stakeholders involved. After all, the bigger the…
It’s not uncommon for CEOs, CFOs or COOs to find themselves debating the question of whether their company is in need of a procurement manager. Companies can sometimes manage without a procurement manager. But having a person in charge of this role can make a tremendous difference in terms of keeping business processes running smoothly,…
For medium and large enterprises in particular, onboarding a new vendor tends to be especially inefficient. Comprising numerous players and moving parts, the process is often characterized by delays and frustration. In this two-part series, we’ll look at the three central challenges to vendor onboarding, examine who these challenges impact, and how to overcome them….
Traditionally, different departments within an organization are structured around their own unique functions, objectives and operations. This is often the case for the procurement and finance departments, despite the fact that the relationship between the two is so heavily intertwined. Is procurement a part of finance? While at their core, procurement and finance functions differ,…
Discovering that procurement and purchasing actually relate to two different business activities comes as a major surprise to many. Sure, procurement involves the act of purchasing something. But procurement and purchasing are two separate and unique processes, and it’s important to understand the differences between them. Let’s begin with a couple simple definitions: Procurement involves…
