The Procurement and Supply Manager's Desk Reference, + Website, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 15

Leveraging Computer Systems

The supply management landscape has changed rapidly over the past several years, largely as a result of computerization and Internet utilization. Procurement departments are becoming increasingly inclined to move routine transactional processes, such as placing purchase orders (POs), to computer-based platforms to gain efficiency and better utilization of employee time management. This reengineering process has paralleled, for the most part, the widespread acceptance of automated systems across the entire spectrum of our organizations and the increasing use of the Internet for business.

Today, organizations are increasingly turning to computerized tools to integrate all of the elements in the procure-to-pay process. By doing so, they are realizing the financial benefits of increased productivity and reduced cycle times generated through the automation of routine processes such as requisition and purchase order generation, quotation, bidding, order tracking, expediting, supplier payment, and procedural compliance. Today, tools are widely available to assist procurement departments to time their buying decisions based on market trends in pricing and availability. Indeed, the current trend to Web-based sourcing using tools that automate and speed up many of the more tedious procurement processes such as requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs) have enabled organizations to improve their supplier selection and reduce ...