If you want to be able to compete in the fast-paced business landscape of today’s modern world, where supply chain operations play a pivotal role in success, ensuring the efficient management of purchase orders (POs) is critical. Many businesses are turning to technology to streamline their supply ordering processes, and one essential tool in their arsenal is purchase order tracking software. In this article, we’ll explore why keeping track of POs is vital for supply chain efficiency and how innovative solutions like SourceDay can transform your operations.
The Importance of Purchase Order Tracking
Managing purchase orders is a complex task that involves numerous stakeholders, from buyers to suppliers. The traditional manual approach often leads to missed or delayed shipments, data errors, and collaboration challenges. Purchase order tracking software revolutionizes this process by offering a centralized platform that integrates seamlessly with your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
Purchase Order Automation and Management Just Makes Sense
Your ERP system is only as good as the data it receives. PO software that integrates with your existing ERP can make your ordering process and procedures more efficient, eliminating the need for manual adjustments. With purchase order automation, you can easily keep track of the status of every single purchase order seamlessly.
Optimize Operations with ERP Integration
When all your POs are managed through one platform, users gain access to real-time pricing changes, delivery dates, and other critical data. You know what that means: You can say goodbye to tedious spreadsheets, email juggling, and toggling between multiple platforms.
Unlock the Power of Data and Insights
The right PO software provides users with valuable data and insights to inform their future buying decisions. Within these systems, you can access a comprehensive history of order details, including item names, quantities ordered, and prices. Suppliers and buyers can also share and view Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) data, including lot numbers, tracking numbers, and more. Buyers can then easily track shipments and access accurate delivery date projections.
See the Difference Document Sharing Can Make
Efficient purchase order software can automate document sharing between users, allowing buyers and suppliers to share documents bi-directionally. These documents can be attached to the PO as a whole or a specific line item within the selected PO. Among the numerous benefits of document sharing include preventing supplier disagreements, reducing material waste from incorrect revisions, and decreasing costs associated with returns.
Stay On Top of Things With a Supplier Performance Scorecard
Creating and maintaining supplier scorecards streamlines the buying process. These scorecards provide metrics on the vendor’s performance, including delivery timeliness, responsiveness, price variance, and product quality. A good PO software includes scorecards and ensures that the data is always up to date, enabling you to make better decisions and save valuable time.
The Benefits of Adopting an Automated PO Process
Automating your processes with PO software offers several key benefits:
1. Increased Productivity: Purchase order automation organizes all POs on one easy-to-use platform, eliminating the need for spreadsheets and sticky notes. Thanks to this, human errors caused by forgetting to update or input order data are greatly reduced.
2. Supplier Improvement: Enhanced communication between buyers and suppliers leads to improved supplier performance. SourceDay’s platform, for instance, helps suppliers address issues stemming from miscommunication and delivery delays.
3. Increased Company-Wide Performance: Improved productivity and efficient supplier relationships positively impact other areas of your business. Preventing errors caused by PO data issues not only accelerates your supply chain, but also reduces inventory issues and boosts customer satisfaction.
SourceDay: Your Solution for Streamlined Purchase Order Tracking
If you’re ready to streamline your PO process and reap the benefits that entails, SourceDay’s purchase order software is the right pick for you. SourceDay´s solution empowers your business to track open supplier orders, match invoices to corresponding POs, monitor supplier performance, and more. With SourceDay, you can say goodbye to manual and error-prone processes and hello to a more efficient supply chain.
The Need for Purchase Order Automation in 2024 and Beyond
Supply chain challenges can arise at various stages, but our research shows that roughly 70% of these issues originate before parts are ever even shipped from the supplier. This should not really come as a surprise, as many companies still rely on long email exchanges for even basic tasks like processing purchase orders, resulting in a tedious and error-prone PO process.
As we enter 2024 and beyond, forward-thinking manufacturers, retailers, and distributors are turning to purchase order automation software to simplify their daily work, provide visibility to all stakeholders, and reduce operational inefficiencies.
The Challenges of Manual Purchase Order Processing
Under normal circumstances, about half of all PO lines change during their lifecycle. These changes require buyers to act quickly to adjust forecasts and allocate resources, preventing bottlenecks. Suppliers may encounter various issues, such as losing the PO, forgetting to ship, or missing important emails. Managing these challenges through manual reminders and email exchanges is neither efficient nor sustainable in today’s business landscape.
The Benefits of Purchase Order Automation
Digitizing and automating your purchase order processes offers numerous benefits, among which include:
- Immediate response to PO changes
- Increased accountability for both buyers and suppliers
- Virtually eliminated data errors
- Significantly reduced clerical workloads
- Ability for more strategic thinking and supplier performance improvement
Don’t Be Left Behind: The Future is Automated
Automation of purchase orders brings scalability, time and cost savings, error reduction, and risk mitigation. To ensure your business’s growth in the coming years, it’s crucial to free your purchasing teams from clerical work and transition to more streamlined and efficient processes. Purchase order automation software is a necessary component as you propel your teams into the future.
A Case Study: Global Interconnect’s Success Story with SourceDay
We have discussed what purchase order tracking is and how purchase order tracking software can benefit your business, but how about seeing an example of the huge difference both can make in a real business’s day-to-day operations? Let’s take a closer look at how SourceDay´s solution helped Global Interconnect.
The Customer: Global Interconnect (Gii)
Global Interconnect is a business based in Cape Cod with operations in Hong Kong and China. They supply custom-engineered connectors, cables, and electromechanical assemblies to leading medical device manufacturers worldwide.
The Situation
Troy Mauk, Gii’s Director of Global Procurement, managed a team of two buyers who all used SourceDay. They faced lengthy follow-up times with suppliers, waiting days for confirmed ship dates. The team performed daily reports, updated hot lists, and manually entered data into the ERP, resulting in hours of clerical work.
The Change
Troy discovered SourceDay through a social media post and realized it could eliminate manual data entry and communication delays. SourceDay became a platform that everyone could use, saving 25% of three key staff members’ time.
The Results Speak for Themselves
- 25% reduction in clerical workload
- Reduced stress and increased job satisfaction
- Improved price negotiations and accurate forecasts
- More time for strategic initiatives
- Enhanced supplier relationships and customer satisfaction
SourceDay has become invaluable to Gii and many other companies, seamlessly integrated into their core operations. It has eliminated manual updates, sharpened their competitive edge, and transformed their operations.
The Lesson? Embrace Automation for a More Efficient Future
SourceDay and its purchase order tracking software solution automates the entire purchase order process, providing a central portal for buyers and suppliers to collaborate efficiently. If you’re ready to free up hundreds of hours for your purchasing team, reach out to us for a demo today.