Deutsche Version
In: October issue of the journal "Beschaffung aktuell" ("Procurement Today")
In the fast lane to the right service
Service procurement always represents a major challenge for purchasing departments. By upgrading to the latest version (Version 7.0) of SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM), Infraserv Höchst has moved into the fast lane to achieving transparent and cost-effective procurement of construction and other services.
As an industrial service provider and site operator of the "Industriepark Höchst" industrial park, Infraserv Höchst offers customers from the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and related industries a range of services in the areas of energy, logistics, environmental protection, safety, security, waste management, IT services, training, and facility management. The company provides some 2,800 suppliers the length and breadth of Europe with materials, as well as construction and other services. Before now, Infraserv Höchst, together with its strategic suppliers, operated largely on the basis of manual contract release orders for the procurement of construction and other services, even though this area in particular requires active supplier and contract management. A lack of transparency in relation to the market and expenditure, complex processes for the provision of services, and little potential for standardization are just some of the factors that can make it so difficult for companies to achieve effective, cost-efficient service procurement if these systems are not in place. With the upgrade to SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0, manual contract release orders will be relegated to the pages of history at Infraserv Höchst.
Greater price reliability and process transparency
Infraserv also anticipates greater transparency from its new contract management system, in which all supplier contracts will be entered, tracked, and monitored. In the future, these contracts will be available to consumers as catalogs from which items can be selected.
Cost reduction through strategic procurement
Transparency enables cost reduction, as the appropriate number of suppliers can be defined and the ideal suppliers can be selected in each case. Costs are also reduced through strategic negotiation, execution, and control of supplier contracts. In addition, time is saved with operational purchasing based on the newly integrated SRM processes, and these time-savings can be translated into hard cash.
SAP SRM 7.0 provides the foundation for new procurement processes for services management. The following SAP SRM components were implemented in this case:
- SAP SRM Supplier Management
- SAP SRM Contract Management
- SAP SRM Bidding / Sourcing
- SAP SRM Self Service Procurement
- SAP SRM Supplier Self Services
You can read the article in full here. We would be happy to personally answer any questions you may have about this topic. Simply get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you, so please mail us at: info(at)ap-solut.com.
Your apsolut team: Thomas Herbst, Tim Kollmeier and colleagues
Thomas Herbst Tim Kollmeier
Managing Director Managing Director
apsolut GmbH - advanced processes & solutions
focussed on SRM innovation
