5 ways to
boost procurement efficiency
Building an efficient procurement function has an undeniably positive effect, not only on the function, itself, but for your business as a whole. It helps you create better business and financial strategies, run your business more effectively on a day-to-day basis, and plan more strategically for the future.
Given the work we do at Kronos Group, we are always striving to bring about complete business efficiency for our clients. Efficiency makes business goals and targets more achievable while leaving time and resources for you to meet other business priorities. These priorities may include maintaining sustainability, eco-consciousness, and environmentally friendly operations.
At Kronos Group, we are passionate about the development of the procurement field and have taken steps to ensure its continued success in Europe and around the world.
Our collaboration with the Louvain School of Management is one such step. The Chair in Strategic Sourcing and Procurement was launched in 2017 in a bid to promote the procurement function as a rich field of research and education for professionals in this field.
Over time and through research and strategic partnerships, we’ve built our expertise in the procurement field and have recognised highly effective methods of boosting procurement efficiency in any business or industry.
1. Implementing digital technologies that streamline procurement processes
Digitisation and digitalisation are often used interchangeably. The two, however, are distinct goals for any business. While digitisation is simply the process of converting information into digital forms for easier sharing and storage, digitalisation is the process of employing digital technologies and information to transform business operations.
Paper-based procurement heightens the risk of procurement fraud and lengthens the procurement process by making inefficiencies and inaccuracies more frequent, increasing the margin for human error.
Digitalisation, on the other hand, can help your business streamline its operations, cut costs, increase transparency, and improve accuracy and speed while maintaining high standards of quality.
2. Outsourcing lower value-added tasks to make room for higher value-addition
Higher value-addition ensures that businesses are making the best use of their resources and time by making sure that these factors increase the overall value of your business and its offerings.
Outsourcing lower value-added operational tasks frees up resources and time for higher value-added activity.
Kronos Group offers professional procurement outsourcing services in the following functions:
– Tail-spend management (powered by Ivalua)
– Sourcing and eAuction (powered by Ivalua)
– Spend analysis
– Compliance
– Transaction management
Ensuring that your operational tasks are handled by specialists can add even more value to your operations.
3. Consulting procurement professionals for strategic insights
An expert procurement consultant has the tools and insights you need to enhance your procurement function and achieve business objectives by utilising industry best practices and cutting-edge technology.
An external procurement consultant can help you enact business transformation regardless of your current corporate culture. They help you leverage and implement the right solutions for your business; those that aid your growth and development.
4. Forming stronger networks with your vendors
Procurement is bound to change, post-COVID-19, as the crisis revealed inherent flaws in procurement systems that existed. Personal relationships between businesses and their stakeholders, including external vendors and suppliers, helped businesses navigate the procurement challenges that arose during the global crisis.
Maintaining relationships, built on a solid foundation of communication, respect, openness, fairness, and clear terms, can stabilise your procurement function against crises and improve its resilience.
5. Investing heavily in employee training
Even if your business operates by leveraging the best industry practices and highly effective digital technology, if these aren’t supported with well-trained employees who understand the value of these processes and the best ways to leverage them, your business is unlikely to enjoy the full benefit of these advantages.
Employees are a great source of value for any business and by training them, you only succeed in adding to their value, helping them feel valued, improving their motivation, personal development, and growth.
At Kronos Group, we facilitate procurement training to help you build a workforce of trained procurement professionals through a comprehensive approach to theory, case studies, role play, and knowledge-sharing.
Transform your procurement efficiency with Kronos Group
At Kronos Group, we’re experts in business optimisation and understand the need to approach it as an integrated goal.
Our partnership with Ivalua has boosted our knowledge of procurement efficiency and has also allowed us to help our clients thrive with the support of industry-leading solutions.
We offer professional guidance in the procurement, finance, and project management industries and provide advisory, business transformation, spend optimisation, and operations consulting expertise for our clients.
To begin optimising your procurement function, get in touch with our skilled procurement consultants today.
