needs to be redesigned. In the successful practices, this redesign focused on:
. reduction or elimination of authorization stages;
. regulation of exceptions to a limited degree at the beginning;
. elimination of paper;
. integration of suppliers in the entire process chain; and
. consideration of the complete process, from searching for
articles through to invoicing.
Many figures relating to the savings potentials in the procurement process have already been published (e.g. Intersearch Corp., 1998; Killen & Associates, 1997). The average process costs per order in the as-is situation at all benchmarking partners lay between US$70-150. The cost reductions in an e-procurement project are on average between 50 percent and 80 percent. This savings potential, averaging US$70 and more per order, forms the basis for most feasibility studies prior to e-procurement projects. The long-term e-procurement users among the benchmarking partners, namely Babcock Borsig and Cisco, confirm these savings potentials. Here, it is important to consider not only the savings in the actual purchasing operation itself but also on the part of users, authorizers, invoice verification and logistics. Cisco highlights the efficiency potential of e-procurement. In view of the company’s growth structures, processes in procurement also have to grow, or be readily adaptable. Purchasing volume has more than doubled within the last two years and is nevertheless still handled by the same number of staff but now using e-procurement.