Purchasing at a Supply Chain Management Company
Company Overview
This logistics and supply chain management company specializes in warehousing, distribution, cross-docking, value-added packing, and fulfillment. It primarily serves the pharmaceutical, beverage, grocery retail, and industrial sectors.
Why PurchaseControl™
Prior to using PurchaseControl, this company suffered from inefficient purchasing processes. Managing budgets was nearly impossible—POs were tracked using Excel and there was no system in place to control purchases that didn’t have the proper approvals.
The company made the decision to use PurchaseControl when it underwent a company-wide supply chain optimization effort to reduce supply costs. The previous system offered no visibility into spending, so the Procurement Manager finally made the leap and hasn’t looked back since.
Key Challenges
- Overwhelmed procurement team
- Uncontrolled and unbudgeted spending across all departments and depots
- Manual, inefficient purchasing system comprised of Excel and paper documents
- No ability to correlate trends and patterns to ensure maximum efficiency with key vendors
Key Benefits
- Saved the procurement team hours of work each week
- Achieved smarter budgeting with greater visibility into purchasing across entire organization
- Automated and streamlined the entire purchasing process from POs to invoices
- Identified and implemented tighter cost controls with vendors
The Story
Customer
Logistics and supply chain management company
Key Client
Procurement Manager
Industry
Logistics and transportation
Company Size
200+ employees
“Office full of paperwork and a floor full of folders”
The Procurement Manager of this logistics and supply chain management company was overwhelmed, and rightly so. Paper copies of purchase orders were filed and tracked using spreadsheets. Employees were creating POs after invoices had already arrived. Accounts were incorrect month after month, and large, unapproved purchases went unnoticed. Budgeting was nearly impossible, and both internal and external auditors pointed out that he needed better financial control.
At no time were these inefficiencies more apparent than at the end of the month. The Procurement Manager would have to match POs to the appropriate invoices on paper and on a spreadsheet. POs often didn’t match invoices because of poor purchasing practices. He said, “I would have an office full of paperwork and a floor full of folders at the end of each month trying to sort out each issue.”
Making the leap
The company finally made the decision to adopt PurchaseControl during a company-wide supply chain optimization effort to reduce supply costs. The previous system offered no visibility into purchasing in the supply chain, so the Procurement Manager gave PurchaseControl’s online trial a try.
He said, “I realized quickly that they system was easy to use and suitable to our needs. Right away, I knew the benefits we’d experience almost instantly. PurchaseControl was a no-brainer for us.”
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PurchaseControl has improved purchasing control across all depots and departments. There is more accountability and traceability than ever before. In addition, the team can instantly see what they need to order which is vital in the logistics industry where speed is of the essence. The reporting allows the team to notice trends and take action to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
Improved compliance and cost controls
PurchaseControl has improved purchasing control across all depots and departments. There is more accountability and traceability than ever before. In addition, the team can instantly see what they need to order which is vital in the logistics industry where speed is of the essence. The reporting allows the team to notice trends and take action to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
The Procurement Manager, in particular, reaps the benefits of PurchaseControl. He no longer dreads the end of the month. When asked to describe how it has improved purchasing, he said, “It has saved me hours of work each week alone. I put tougher cost controls in place for our vendors with that extra time. It has even improved my personal life as I can now get out of the office hours earlier each evening.”
