Implementing a World Class Purchasing Organization

There are some companies that still use rolodexes, paper purchase requisitions and call in their purchase orders to vendors. Most have some kind of purchasing software, even if it an Excel spreadsheet, that tracks orders and overall spend. With the introduction of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, companies are able to integrate their purchasing departments into their supply chain to take advantage of real-time data. However, that is where many companies stop. World class purchasing strategies go further to reap the benefits offered to them by their ERP systems. Companies can adopt workflow techniques within their ERP systems to automate approvals and payments, thus reducing time that the purchasing staff has to intervene. Data that is produced by thousands of purchasing transactions can be used in data warehouses to help purchasing professionals with metrics in vendor evaluation and contract negotiation.