The wake-up call of the economic shutdown and its impact on supply chains has been enormous.  Many organisations who thought they were agile enough to adapt quickly have found that their plans may well have been misdirected. Not much could have prepared them for the need to react to the unforeseen chaos created by enforced supply chain interruptions driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As the first wave of response appeared in the form of preservation, cost-cutting and cashflow protection have been the order of the day. However, a light of hope glimmers on the horizon for a new commercial awakening. It is critical that organisations can innovate and respond to meet the changing customer needs and behaviours.  

Some of the key questions facing executives and risk officers are:  

How do we manage the risks and intricacies of an empty supply chain?  

Can our procurement processes help accelerate our fulfillment ability? 

How flexible can we be in a fluid lockdown, within a highly regulated environment?  

What can we do to cut delays and be faster to market, save time on production processes, and most of all ensure that every cent spent on human capital is on critical tasks that require human input and cannot be automated or digitised.   

The degree of success or failure hinge on how quickly these challenges can be addressed. 

Effective procurement and supply chain planning will see organisations bounce back more quickly and more convincingly. Their ability to ensure that procurement processes and red tape do not impede the supply chain. It allows them to fulfill orders without obstruction or hindrance will be critical to recovery. And, this recovery will springboard the best to long-term growth, success, and resilience in the ‘new normal’. 

Choosing a digital procurement solution should not only automate costly manual processes. It should help achieve business objectives through accelerated cycles for spend, performance and fulfilment.  Analysis, reporting, and rich data needs to be constantly available to underpin a more fluid, agile process, driven by customer requirements and business objectives. And it should not make a massive dent in your budget! 

With eProcurement we cover all facets of digitising and automating the procurement process. We believe that a holistic system that meets both internal and external compliance and requirements is critical for success.