Three years back, we chanced upon an opportunity to collaborate with a leading FMCG company in India to fulfill their procurement mandate. However, there were a set of challenges, which could have given the next level of productivity to the business. 

1. It took 7 days for the procurement team to create the contract since buyers had to use a complex multi-screen application for doing the same 
2. When buyers logged onto the system, there were 100s of contracts waiting for their attention, with no intuitive way for them to prioritize. 
3. Buyers were required to fill values for which they had to refer to other systems or offline documents, making it very time-consuming 
4. Buyers were required to make certain decisions while creating the contract e.g., “mode of shipment”, but they didn’t have sufficient data points around costs and lead time to make the right choices. 
5. After submitting the contract, they had to wait for a validation report from another team. The team used to revert to them after 2-3 days with errors in their entries. 

While the above case is cited in a specific context, the same set of problems are hampering productivity across the procurement function. These problems can be addressed by using 3 simple concepts. 

1. Super-app Experience  
2. Procurement Control Tower 
3. Risk Watcher 

Bridging the Divide: Challenges at the doorstep of chemical procurement leaders 

The life of procurement officers is challenging and simultaneously demands innovation and efficiency.

Summary 

There is still significant room for improvement. And the road to such improvement passes through the office of the CIO. 

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