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When does a purchase actually begin? A critical but often overlooked step in managing spend, enforcing policy, and gaining visibility across the procurement process, creating a purchase requisition is the first step in the process. Manual requisition workflows can lead to delays, unapproved spend, and poor visibility.
Choosing the right Source-to-Pay (S2P) tools can be overwhelming. It requires you to juggle multiple priorities: unifying systems, improving visibility, reducing risk, and proving ROI across every stage of the procurement process. Learn how Ivalua’s Source-to-Pay solution can streamline procurement and deliver enterprise-wide impact.
Procurement and purchasing are often used interchangeably, but they serve distinct roles within any successful organization.While both involve acquiring goods and services, their workflows, objectives, and impact on enterprise risk management differ significantly. Procurement vs. Purchasing: What’s the Difference? What is Purchasing?
We’ve seen AI take over everyday tools and search engines; AI in Sourcing and Procurement is becoming a strategic tool in our kit, At Ivalua, we are helping global procurement teams integrate AI across the Source-to-Pay process, bringing automation, insight, and agility to every step. Supplier risk adds even more complexity.
In this post, we’ll break down proven strategies to help you streamline processes, improve visibility, and take back control of your procurement stack. Modern procurement automation software helps companies to streamline repetitive tasks, improve cross-team collaboration, and improve visibility across every stage of the buying cycle.
You’ll learn how to review your current approach, pinpoint gaps, and start implementing improvements right away, focusing on automation, data visibility, and stakeholder alignment. Key Takeaways A modern procurement strategy must be tightly aligned with business objectives and supported by real-time data.
Procurement and supply chain management are often used interchangeably—but in practice, the lines between them can blur in ways that create real friction. Misaligned priorities, siloed systems, and unclear ownership can directly impact key performance indicators like cost savings percentage and procurement cycle time.
Unfortunately, outdated tools and fragmented processes make it difficult to maintain visibility across the supply chain and adapt at the pace of business. Drawing on real-world use cases and proven frameworks, we highlight what separates high-performing teams from the rest, and how to build a foundation for smarter, more agile procurement.
You’ll learn how to review your current approach, pinpoint gaps, and start implementing improvements right away, focusing on automation, data visibility, and stakeholder alignment. Key Takeaways A modern procurement strategy must be tightly aligned with business objectives and supported by real-time data.
This guide breaks down the key procurement technologies in use today and the trends reshaping the future, such as AI-driven sourcing, predictive risk management, and deeper integration across the supply chain.
You know there are opportunities hidden in the numbers; the challenge is surfacing them in time to act. This blog offers a clear, practical overview of what spend analysis is, how it supports strategic sourcing, and why it matters for both direct and indirect procurement.
If so, it’s costing you more than time, it’s impacting your working capital as well. Key Takeaways Paying the right Invoice, at the right time is the name of the game, AP should be focusing on automating the basics, not scanning or coding invoices. Still struggling under the weight of paper or PDF invoices? Find Out More.
In this blog post, we will explore the key differences and challenges between direct and indirect procurement, sourcing strategies that can be employed, and examine how technology can modernize these procurement processes. Find Out More What Is Procurement? What Is Direct Procurement and How Does It Work?
If your procurement team is juggling multiple ERP systems, you’re likely spending more time chasing data than driving strategy. Disconnected supplier records, inconsistent processes, and limited visibility can impair efficiency and open the door to shadow spend.
To ensure automation delivers maximum value, procurement teams must first streamline their processes, enforce governance and standardize purchasing behaviors. Approval workflow bottlenecks: Manual approvals cause delays, increasing cycle times and reducing procurement efficiency.
When applied thoughtfully, modern tools enable real-time control, streamline policy enforcement and embed financial accountability into everyday behavior. They: Provide visibility into pre-approved trips and expense requests. Flag or block out-of-policy categories in realtime (e.g., luxury travel, alcohol).
Introduction Gardner, (1954) and Huntzinger, (2007) define Purchase price variance (PPV) as a metric used to measure the effectiveness of cost-saving efforts by calculating the difference between the planned cost (standard pricing) allocated for purchasing activities and the actual cost incurred.
Ivalua commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study , offering key insights into how companies can unlock substantial financial benefits and operational improvements by adopting Ivalua’s unified Source-to-Pay (S2P) platform. 393% ROI from process automation, better visibility, and replacing old systems.
Approved spending does not show up in time for forecasting. And policy enforcement becomes reactive, happening after the purchase, not before. Still, more than 20% reimburse less frequently, either on a monthly basis (11%) or every two weeks (10%), which can delay spend visibility and make forecasting accuracy more difficult.
This is why a unified procurement platform —one that centralizes and standardizes data across the Source-to-Pay (S2P) lifecycle—remains indispensable and is core to making the case for Agentic AI in procurement. AI agents can then access real-time, high-fidelity information, boosting the reliability of their insights.
We believe these companies deserve greater visibility, especially in a market which is increasingly consolidating and diluting buyer choices. To potential buyers — True ValueHub can save category managers and buyers significant time and money by identifying new opportunities based on a deep analysis of costs and drivers.
These gaps are not always visible, but they compound over time, distorting budgets, delaying insights and eroding trust in the data. Finance may lack visibility into pending approvals, and procurement may lack insight into policy exceptions and budget impacts. Neither team owns the end-to-end view of expense impact.
Technology is a powerful enabler of finance-procurement collaboration, bridging gaps in spend visibility, cost control and data integration. Without integration, finance teams struggle to track procurement-driven savings, while procurement lacks visibility into financial planning and liquidity management.
Can you reduce lead times without compromising quality? Innovation is exciting, but it often comes with long lead times. Effective lead time management is essential to avoid operational disruptions. Strategic sourcing, supplier collaboration, and bulk purchasing agreements can help optimize both cost efficiency and quality.
The way businesses handle purchasing is evolving. And at the heart of this transformation is the purchase order management system. Submitting purchase order documents the old-fashioned way isnt just inefficient. What is Purchase Order Management? How Does Purchase Order Management Work?
From raw materials for manufacturing to office supplies or software subscriptions, these purchases keep the business moving. But purchasing is more than just placing orders, it's a structured process that ensures the right items are bought, from the right sources, at the right price, and at the right time.
Let’s remember what AP is responsible for The promise of AI and agents is real. Capture and digitize invoices — from any source: Email, EDI, PDFs, portals, mobile scans — AP needs to ingest invoices from multiple channels. It’s about having the right information, in the right format, at the right time to make a payment decision.
Strategic Sourcing Success: Best Practices and Key Strategies Of course, there are many definition s of source-to-pay but put simply, strategic sourcing is a data-driven approach to securing the best value for your organization from its strategic suppliers. How Has Strategic Sourcing Evolved?
IoT devices enable real-time monitoring of operations to improve efficiency. With its decentralized structure, blockchain provides a transparent, tamper-proof ledger that ensures every step in the supply chain is visible to all stakeholders. Key Takeaways Supply chain management in the U.S.
While full-scale digital transformation certainly takes time, organisations can see rapid improvements in efficiency, collaboration, and data accuracy right from the outset. By automating routine tasks, streamlining communication, and centralising information in one single source of truth, you create tangible quick wins.
Manual processes and disconnected platforms limiting real-time budget tracking. This phase looks at how digital platforms can streamline expense capture, improve compliance and enhance visibility across employee-driven spend. Real-time integration of expense data with ERP and planning systems.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I have recently completed a preliminary analysis of Packaging & Container Companies’ challenges to enable greater supplier collaboration and automation around the purchase order process, including PO confirmations, shipment notices, and price/quantity changes.
Spend Matters has been speaking with procurement practitioners and solution providers to get a wide view of how procurement and digital transformation is happening in the real world. And in the real workplace, thats where those decisions come from rather than procurement itself. Her first piece of advice would be: Dont. Not yet anyway!
If youre in procurement or supply chain, chances are youve wondered: How can I rethink this process, make smarter decisions, and still save time? Automation within the source-to-pay (S2P) cycle from sourcing to payment is redefining how businesses handle suppliers, contracts, quotes, and payments. What is Source-to-Pay (S2P)?
Our coverage also explores the latest thought leadership topics about procurement and supply, the technology that serves it and comparative analyses based on demos and the scoring of 500+ RFI requirements across 12 source-to-pay (S2P) categories that create our Vendor Ranking data.
It offers a smarter, more integrated approach to managing the entire procurement lifecycle, bringing structure, visibility, and agility to every stage of the process. It connects people, processes, and systems to ensure all procurement activities happen in the right order, at the right time, with full visibility and control.
For many Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs), the real message was clear: Volatility is back, and this time, it demands faster, more coordinated and more data-driven responses. Evaluating mitigation options , including: Advanced purchasing or inventory building to front-run tariffs. That is where technology can help.
20152020: Procurement Gains Strategic Recognition Emergence of Strategic Sourcing : CFOs began to recognize procurement’s role in driving long-term value through strategic sourcing, supplier relationships, and risk management. Analytics and insights from procurement data were minimal.
Without an integrated process, organizations experience: Long invoice processing times, leading to unpredictable cash outflows. Inadequate cash flow visibility Finance teams often lack real-time insight into procurement expenditures, supplier contracts and upcoming financial obligations, making it difficult to forecast cash flow accurately.
Modern cloud solutions have democratized access, making what is vendor managed inventory a pressing question for businesses seeking competitive advantage. The vendor managed inventory process reverses traditional ordering dynamics by empowering suppliers with real-time data.
Solutions: Strategic Sourcing: Move beyond transactional purchasing and embrace strategic sourcing. Leveraging Technology: Implement procurement software and analytics tools to gain better visibility into spending patterns , identify areas of inefficiency, and automate processes.
Our coverage also explores the latest thought leadership topics about procurement and supply, the technology that serves it and comparative analyses based on demos and the scoring of 500+ RFI requirements across 12 source-to-pay (S2P) categories that create our Vendor Ranking data. But where should you begin?
By implementing the right digital tools and strategies , procurement leaders can dramatically reduce non-compliant purchasing, while also improving user experience and spend visibility. Off-Contract Purchases When employees buy outside existing contracts, costs are typically higher than pre-negotiated rates with approved suppliers.
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