Digitalisation in Procurement and Supply

Following significant technological advances, digitalisation is an emerging front and centre in today’s hypercompetitive and intertwined global network, with many firms employing it to enhance connectivity and efficiency across their supply chains.

Businesses can no longer think of technology strategy as separate from business strategy. Not only must the choice of technology be pertinent to the business context of an organisation, but it is also crucial to have an overarching disruptive technology strategy rather than employing technology piecemeal.

CIPS and The University of Melbourne are pleased to have collaborated for a second time to undertake an independent global survey with procurement and supply professionals, to identify the types of disruptive technologies that organisations are investing in, the timelines to the investment, along with inhibitors and enablers that have come from such investment, supporting procurement and supply professionals building business cases for their organisations.

But What Does ‘Digitalisation’ Actually Mean?

We defined Digitalisation as ‘the practice of redefining models, functions, operations, processes and activities by leveraging technological advancements to build an efficient digital business environment – one where gains (operational and financial) are maximised, and costs and risks are minimised’.

We know technology can generate internal value by streamlining processes, functions, operations and activities. Yet it can also boost external value creation and delivery, by creating a seamless environment across the firm’s supply network, customers and consumers, regulators, government bodies and other stakeholders.

Highlights

Here are some key findings from the Digitalisation in Procurement and Supply 2020 report

Is Digitalisation as a Technology Set to Support Remote Working Practices?

Working culture has experienced seismic shifts in recent years – predominantly driven by the rise, availability and advances in key technologies. For example, cloud computing is enabling the upward trend in remote and flexible work practices, supporting workforces and workplaces to become increasingly mobile and spread out.

 Download the full 2020 Digitalisation in Procurement and Supply report
A useful tool when building a business case for new organisational technology investment

The aim of our second survey – distributed globally to executives, managers and practitioners working in the area of procurement and supply chain – was to better understand the uptake of specific technologies and enablers that pave the way to digitalised procurement and supply chain management. We wanted to identify digitalisation’s key value-generation motivations, inhibitors and benefits, and attempt to address the “why” question that managers should be asking.

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What Advantages Are There to Adopting Disruptive Technologies?

To realise the opportunities and derive real competitive advantages from digitalisation, firms need to adopt a more holistic view of their processes and systems. Taking a more strategic, long-term view will enable organisations to use technology to do far more than reduce costs; it could ultimately enable them to enhance the efficiency of existing processes and business models – and create stronger new ones.

Which Sector Is Leading the Way with Technology Investment?

To realise the opportunities and derive real competitive advantages from digitalisation, firms need to adopt a more holistic view of their processes and systems. Taking a more strategic, long-term view will enable organisations to use technology to do far more than reduce costs; it could ultimately enable them to enhance the efficiency of existing processes and business models – and create stronger new ones.

Podcast: What drives the need for digital transformation?

3 Key Organisations Share Their Technology Transformation Journeys

To complement this year’s survey of technology for procurement and supply, we interviewed three firms at different stages of their digitalisation journey, including an Australian-based printing and campaign service provider, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation, and a US-based technology provider. The findings collectively point to the importance of making sure technology adoption and implementation are aligned with the firm’s strategy and operations, its industry, and the level of its technology and digital maturity.

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View the Full 2019 Report

In 2018 CIPS and The University of Melbourne undertook our first independent global survey to identify the types of technology that are being invested in and utilised.

 Download the full 2019 Digitalisation in Procurement and Supply report
Gain insight into the types of technologies that organisations are investing in

Following a global survey in 2018 with CIPS members, the 2019 “Digitalisation in Procurement and supply” paper gives an overview on technology types and delivers findings on technologies that organisations are investing in now, the return on investment and competitive advantages being leveraged

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The Future of Procurement and Supply Management

During 2018 CIPS was pleased to partner with The University of Liverpool and Aston University to conduct a consultation with CIPS members and specialists to understand their vision of how organisations could be operating in 15 years. Digitalisation plays a key part in the scenarios of the emerging future for our organisational structures, the digitalisation papers offer an understanding to identify if we are on track to deliver one of the plausible scenarios and the skills that procurement and supply professionals will require supporting the transition.

A reflection on what the Procurement and Supply Management profession may look like fifteen years from now

Following extensive consultation with CIPS members and specialists in the field view the findings as we present two plausible scenarios.  Understand which direction your organisation is heading and how you can influence and shape the outcome with skills and technology

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Related Reports:

The Third Annual Data Quality and Governance Study

How is data accuracy within your operating systems impacting your supply chain performance, the 2019 "Supply Chain Data Quality and Governance Study" provides a guidepost on the journey to data as an enabler of digital transformation.

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The Second Annual Data Quality and Governance Survey

The results of the 2018 Annual Data Governance, Quality and Artificial Intelligence Survey by the SCRC at NC Stat University, with the support if IBM Watson Supply Chain, provides some important insights for organisations seeding to pursue digital transformation. These results are summarised within the report across the categories of Process, Technology and Data

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The Fourth Annual Data Quality Report (2020)

We define data literacy as the ability to derive meaningful information from data. It is the ability to read, understand, create, and communicate data as information. This is an important component of the supply chain digital transformation, as it gets to the heart of the matter: do individuals within an organization know how to work with data effectively and efficiently and do they trust the data?...Read the report to find out more”:

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