There are many businesses that have made the choice to invest in the Coupa platform that ended up hiring a professional Coupa consultant to help them get everything dialed in the way it is supposed to be, simply because they wanted to automate their procurement department.
When it comes to the source-to-pay strategy of a company there is not a lot of room for error. If this strategy, in particular, has flaws the rest of the company will be flawed as well. For millions of companies all around the world, the way that they handle their spending is crucial for their survival.
Automating the Procurement Process
There is software available on the market that has the ability to automate many aspects of the procurement process. Depending on the size and needs of the company, whether or not investing in the software is a good or bad idea will depend on the dynamics of the situation.
As with any other technological endeavor, the platform will have to be told what to do, and in what order to do it, but once it is all squared away and dialed in, the process can be relatively easy.
Some of the perks of having an automated system are that:
- Automated management of contracts
- Automated source obtainment
- Automated payment solution
Instead of having a person, or group of people, deal with the aspects of management and sourcing, the software can use its connections to the internet and artificial intelligence to speed up the process and find the best sources available within minutes.
Although it may seem like an impossible feat, it is possible to automate your procurement department in a way that speeds up everything and keeps meticulous records of everything that happens.
Source Management Automation
One of the most valuable assets to any company is its sources and the way that they use those sources. If a company has sources that are less than high-quality, are prone to being unreliable, or are costly they are at risk of being more of a burden to the company than an asset.
One of the best features of some of the procurement software applications out there is the ability to implement source management automation. In most cases, when a company has to find sources it has to pilfer through tons of possible great matches until it finds a few that are worthy.
When it comes to automated souring all the company has to do is provide the software with a detailed outline of what the needs of the company are combined with budget details and types of services or goods or both are required. When the software has been properly programmed to find the best sources available, it will automatically search through trillions of possible matches until it finds the right ones.
Depending on the commands of the order, the software can automatically reach out to the sources and communicate with them in order to establish a connection. Many of the sources themselves use software that enables them to connect with businesses that have a need for what they offer. When both parties use automation software it is easy and simple to find and secure great sources without ever having to leave your chair or even talk on the phone.
Contracts and Sources
One of the most beneficial things a company can do is to acquire money-saving contracts through participating vendors, however, when the vendors fail to honor those prices, sometimes the company doesn’t even know about it until after it is too late to do anything about it.
Contract automation is a phenomenal way to keep up with the details of contracts while maintaining the integrity of the agreements within each one. If a contract is made outside of the software it will depend on human acknowledgment to keep it in check, however, if the human and the system both are aware of the details of the contracts it is much easier to maintain all of them and keep the agreements of the contracts in check.
Some of the issues that come into the picture with poor contract management are:
- Price and agreement enforcement
- Contract time management
- Expiration of terms
When the sources of a company agree to a time limit of the terms, and the term comes up, the company can be at risk for issues in regards to contractual agreements that could get them into trouble. Whenever the system is in charge of the contract management terms of all of the sources it can send reminders out to the administrator to renew the contracts or discharge them.
In addition to sending out reminders, the software can also be programmed to reach out to the source and request the renewal, or tell them that the contract is expired and that their services are no longer needed.
In any event, when the software is involved with the sources and the management of the sources and contracts it provides a more streamlined solution for the company and allows less room for error.
Automation vs. Manual
Some people are very afraid that the world is going to be taken over by artificial intelligence. What they don’t know is that it probably already has been for some time, and we are all still alive…so it may not be that big of a threat after all.
In any event, one of the issues with using software and AI to take care of business tasks is that it allows the mind to depend on something outside of itself to take care of tasks. For example, most people in today’s world do not know all of the phone numbers of their family members by heart.
In one way, technology is making people think less, but in others, it is revolutionizing the way that large companies do business. As we all may have already noticed, many of the mundane jobs that employers hired grunts for are being taken over by robots and artificial intelligence. For example, the self-checkout stations in grocery stores.
Some of the things that software can do that humans can’t are:
- Solve complex math problems at supersonic speed
- Correctly spell and punctuate large documents
- Keep track of times, dates, numbers, prices, and items
However, businesses can’t compete with the speed that artificial intelligence offers. Where regular people might end up suffering from job loss and other issues due to automated technology, the business world has the ability to save countless amounts of money by not hiring people and allowing AI to do all of the work.
The speed at which procurement software can decipher issues and provide solutions is much faster than any human could ever think, and with the high rates of procurement specialists, it is almost a no-brainer for companies to invest in automation software.
The good thing is that software, at this point in time, can only do what it is programmed to do. It can not learn and think on its own. Everything that artificial intelligence does is programmed in its code. Although the science world is looking to create a kind of software that can learn and think on its own, there is none available on the public market at this time.
Conclusion
The answer to the question about automated procurement being a solution is an absolute yes. Whether or not it is the right solution for any business, is another story.
