How to keep track of your supplier management

Purchasing is one of the most important tasks in companies. With the right supplier management, considerable savings potential can be realized. This works best when all relevant information is available in aggregated form and clearly presented on a common user interface. This enables buyers to quickly determine the performance and risks of their suppliers and to initiate targeted countermeasures if necessary.

If, on the other hand, there is no such central system for supplier-specific data, the purchasing department’s work becomes much more laborious. If employees have to gather the required data from different systems, this makes the processes complicated, intransparent, time-consuming, inefficient and prone to errors.

Data preparation from different sources

SAP Analytics Cloud offers the potential to put supplier management on a contemporary basis. As a front-end solution for BI self-services, it enables easy access to different data sources and the preparation of information in order to process even complex questions in a uniform interface. Almost all SAP and non-SAP systems can be connected via open interfaces.

Key figures for the purchasing department

SAP Analytics Cloud maps the specific requirements of purchasers with the help of configurable dashboards and visualizes the relevant key figures. For example, the supplier base can be displayed universally, giving purchasing decision-makers an overview of the suppliers and the most important KPIs, including a summary of the spend per buyer and product group. Suppliers can also be assigned to an ABCD classification. A classification according to strategic relevance is also conceivable here.

The spend area is one of the central elements when it comes to supplier management and negotiations. An evaluation of spend by commodity group, price trends, and history provide valuable information. Further insights can be gained by mouse-over information or by drilling down further into individual elements – for example from annual to quarterly or monthly level – by clicking on them.

In addition to the hard facts of a customer-supplier relationship, soft factors such as the quality of communication or coordination with the quality department also flow into the evaluation of cooperation with suppliers. Information of this kind, which is determined via questionnaires based on scores, can also be visualized with the help of SAP Analytics Cloud.

Simplifying the daily work of purchasers

Companies can use SAP Analytics Cloud specifically to simplify the work of the purchasing department. In this way, they create a uniform system that prepares all supplier-specific data. The purchasing department accesses exactly the information it needs for its supplier management. The result: companies keep track of all relevant facts and gain better insights from their supplier-related key figures.