Inefficient workflows have a significant effect on the bottom line of your business. One study by market research firm, IDC, suggests that organizations lose 20-30% of revenue every year due to inefficiencies.
Purchase order management workflows are one of the internal business systems that often grows from a manual, legacy process to an area that needs to keep up with technological improvements in other areas of the business.
By implementing four best practices within your purchase order management workflow, global distributors and purchases can increase their efficiency, and save time and revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Here are four best practices to improve purchase order management:
1) Assess existing workflow
Take the time to track, and understand, the existing process as designed and used on a day-to-day basis. Often, in a legacy or manual PO system, the intended flow varies significantly from the actual operations. A thorough understanding of existing workflows will help you to identify bottlenecks, and once defined, plan accordingly to address inefficiencies.
2) Establish a central supplier directory
A central supplier directory will improve the quality of information on different parts suppliers, as well as communication across the organization. Centralized, accessible information repositories allow departments to speak to one another from a common starting point, as well as reduce the level of effort required to retrieve and manage information throughout the organization.
A central supplier directory also provides better information for finance, reporting, and data analytics to visualize and implement strategic improvements.
3) Improve authorization processes
Inefficient authorization processes sometimes sabotage the best purchase order workflows. If too many signatures are required on a single PO, or if manual paper processes are in place, a disruption of the workflow is possible. Ensure that only those authorizations that are required are obtained and that all participants have training and education as to their part in the process.
5) Automate and streamline
Automating manual processes is one of the best available methods of improving efficiencies and streamlining workflows. With purchase order management automation, a company can:
- Improve efficiency
- Reduce errors
- Streamline document management and authorization processes
- Coordinate inventory availability
- Improve decision making throughout the organization
The Orbweaver Platform is the only RFQ and PO workflow management system created specifically for the electronic manufacturing industry. With Orbweaver Advance, you can automate PO sourcing and issuance, authorizations, and exception management while streamlining workflows, improving efficiency, and reducing costly errors. Employee time and energy can be directed to top-level strategic objectives by automating manual PO processes with Orbweaver.
To learn more about improving your purchase order management and workflows for the electronics industry, schedule a demo of the Orbweaver platform today.
