Procurement is essential for every company, as it improves profit margins by securing the best price for the greatest quality of goods and services.
However, our article ‘What’s Happening in the Procurement Recruitment Market’ states that we are entering volatile and uncertain times – affecting the ease with which companies can recruit the best procurement professionals.
In times like these, it’s crucial to turn to the latest technologies, which facilitate greater ease of operations to reduce strain on current employees and attract the top talent and supplies to your business.
Almost all modern industries today are increasing efficiency and reducing the cost and risk of errors in their operations in this manner.
The same is true for procurement professionals, who now have access to better digital tools and resources to streamline their operations. Here’s how digital transformation is elevating procurement.
Automation with emerging technologies
Procurement software is the primary way professionals integrate automation into their workflows. Market Research Future reports that the procurement software market is projected to reach $14.10 billion (£11.8 billion) by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 10.1%.
This is because this software assists in the automation and integration of the complete procurement cycle in an organisation. It takes over the repetitive and redundant tasks so employees can focus on more strategic assignments.
Certain technologies, like cloud-based procurement automation software, allow companies to cultivate transparency and build trust with suppliers through real-time information sharing.
On the other hand, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning provide more timely analytics and data-driven insights to help professionals make better-informed sourcing decisions. As AI accesses external data, it can also alert procurement teams to opportunities, like new suppliers or markets, that could benefit their businesses.
More efficient vendor selection with advanced search engine techniques
Search engine optimisation (SEO) are practices being leveraged by almost all entities online today. SEO better ensures that certain websites appear at the top of search engine results when users enter the relevant keywords.
It’s also a technology that allows procurement teams to more accurately and efficiently compile a list of suppliers.
Ayima Kickstart explains that content SEO and technical SEO are essential aspects that B2B companies are using to attract traffic to their websites, which may turn into sales.
Technical SEO refers to improving elements that can enhance indexing or site performance in a website, while content SEO focuses on producing valuable content that detail the strengths and reliability of a company’s services.
Procurement professionals and teams benefit from these techniques since the most reliable companies appear first in their searches.
As such, SEO can streamline the time it takes procurement professionals to curate a list of suppliers. The information they would need can also be readily available, reducing the time required to orient themselves to the contents of vendors’ products or services.
Better fortification against cybersecurity concerns
Data security is a growing concern for most industries today, with many expanding their digitisation efforts. Procurement involves transactions made digitally, which require the exchange of sensitive information.
This includes contact information, contracts, intellectual property, and financial details. With this data being valuable to hackers, procurement professionals now face a greater risk of having their security compromised.
Computer Weekly reports that in the UK, although 94% of business leaders believed cyber security threats posed high risks, 17% declared that their organisations do not actively manage cyber risks in their supply chain.
To mitigate these risks, procurement professionals should collaborate with cybersecurity experts to safeguard their digital operations. This way, they can develop cybersecurity strategies that protect their data from unauthorised access and use.
Procurement is an integral part of every company. By understanding how to stay competitive and protected in a digitised workplace environment, procurement professionals can streamline their operations.
To continue being in the know about everything in the procurement industry, feel free to browse more of our content here on Procurement Heads.
This article was specially written by guest writer Anna Bell.
