Procurement organizations often see challenges in the P2P (procure to pay) process that stem from unclear roles, an overly complex process, or uncertain service channels.

But the good news is that the steps, strategies, and tools outlined by ScottMadden come directly from successful procurement transformations across a wide range of organizations and industries.

Following these approaches enables a smoother and more seamless procurement transformation that delivers higher customer satisfaction and drives more value for the business, according to a recent paper, “Driving Effective Transformation in Procurement,”  from ScottMadden and APQC.

“Beginning in the mid-to-late-2000s, many procurement organizations evolved from a largely decentralized model to one that is more centralized and focused on strategic procurement activities. As a result, organizations today are looking for improvements through new areas of focus like automation, strategic sourcing, and category management. However, challenges including unclear roles, ineffective uses of technology, and poor customer service continue to plague procurement and the procure-to-pay (P2P) process in many organizations.”

In October 2021, APQC hosted Trey Robinson and John Francis (partners and supply chain co-leads) from ScottMadden for a webinar to discuss leading practices in procurement transformation. Robinson and Francis provided insights and guidance related to:

• Evolving governance and centralization in procurement,
• Identifying and addressing challenges in procure-to-pay, and
• Designing and implementing new service delivery models for procurement.

The key is “centralized governance” that coordinates process improvement activities such as standardization and to gain visibility over the value chain. As Francis explained, centralized governance “drives a stronger mandate toward standardization of policies and processes while still retaining a separate organization to execute the day-to-day operations.”

An important benefit of centralized governance is that it enables organizations to strike a better balance between important operational and strategic areas of procurement.

The webinar and the paper are worth a look.