Is it possible for educational institutions to reduce their procurement spending through the use of e-procurement? The US government allocates at least 2.6% of GDP to funding educational institutions. This is a significant increase over the OECD average rate of 1.4%.
Not only is the government trying to save expenses, but schools are as well. How can they reduce operating costs without compromising the quality of education offered? The adoption of contemporary electronic procurement (e-procurement) systems comes to mind as a crucial best practice. E-procurement solutions provide the best cost-saving effective procurement and ensure they get the best quality.
E-Procurement: What is it?
Electronic systems supporting the various stages of the procurement cycle, from contract award to asset management, are what the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) identifies as e-procurement.
This essentially indicates that e-procurement is a business function that mostly depends on technology in order to accomplish its purchasing goals. Strong ties between buyers and suppliers, particularly in the context of supply chain sourcing, are made feasible by e-procurement for customers like educational institutions. This is a step that could result in the schools saving a lot of money.
With e-procurement, inefficient purchasing can be improved, requisitions can be managed more transparently, and invoices can be tracked and paid on time.
Benefits of e-Procurement for Academic Institutions
We are aware that improving supplier connections is generally one of the main advantages e-procurement offers schools. We also know that institutional internal procedures are usually strengthened. However, the following are some other benefits that you might not be aware of:
E-procurement speeds up processing by automating purchase orders, e-invoicing, and requisitions, thereby removing bottlenecks in the procurement process.
Offers a decentralized procurement workflow system; no more following up with departments to find out what they require.
Real-time, direct communication with vendors lowers the likelihood of misunderstandings.
Greater visibility into what is being requisitioned and by whom is made possible by e-procurement, which promotes strategic expenditure management.
Schools and educational institutions use innovative business strategies to reduce operational costs and allocate more funds to providing our students with top-notch academic programs. With the use of contemporary eProcurement solutions that include expenditure reporting, inefficient business processes will be eliminated, enabling educators to purchase from approved suppliers and obtain preapproval for costs, leading to significant cost savings.
We’ve outlined the top actions that educational institutions can take with an e-procurement solution to help you get started on enhancing your school’s purchasing procedure.
Step 1: Examine and Remove the Procurement Process’s Current Inefficiencies
Into the new and out with the old! It is imperative that schools conduct a thorough evaluation of their present procurement process to identify any outdated procedures, such as complicated approval pathways, before introducing any new solutions.
Step 2: Use Automated Workflows For Approval
It’s time to implement the updates your school made to the approval and purchase procedure now that they have been described and updated. Business software solutions can automatically approve purchase requests by routing them to the right approver according to project, department, dollar amount, and purchase type. The timely processing of invoice exceptions and approvals is another benefit of switching from a manual to an electronic purchasing system.
Step 3: Put Vendor Catalogs into Practice and Finish Up Vendor Websites
Instructors, administrators, and IT personnel can quickly discover products with the appropriate contract pricing for their purchasing requests by utilizing vendor catalogs and vendor websites in conjunction with an eProcurement solution. Employee self-service solutions enable staff members to place orders for the goods they require independently of the procurement team.
Step 4: Make Use of Visibility for Documents, Budgets, and Purchase Requests
It can be challenging for a school’s superintendent to decide what to buy that month based just on a manually updated budget spreadsheet. The procure-to-pay process can be greatly simplified with a requisition and purchase order system that includes budgeting features. Using this software, the superintendent can examine purchase requests and their estimated financial impact on each school before approving them in full or choosing to postpone purchasing until the next month.
Step 5: Employ Strategic Sourcing to Find and Keep the Best Suppliers
Consider strategic sourcing as the solid base around which you will develop your employee purchasing processes. Essentially, your procurement team will evaluate the vendors to whom you award contracts based on their past performance and purchase activities.
Step 6: Choose an Integrated Contract Management Solution
It’s time to make that deal matter after the top seller has been chosen via reverse auction to receive the contract. Your procurement team may submit a contract for annual technology services to the principal, the IT team, and other stakeholders for approval by using an e-procurement solution that integrates contract management.
Step 7: Utilize Reports and Analytics for Vendors and Contracts
The majority of purchase-to-pay solutions will shorten the purchasing cycle time, but some of them offer more comprehensive reporting and analytics than others. Schools who are concerned about their spending will want to know where they are each month regarding department, vendor contracts, or CAPEX project budgets. They will probably also want to compare the amount of money they spend with various vendors year over year in order to identify their favored vendors.
In Summary
Today, most industry procurement is tech-based. It is imperative and demanding in current times that educational establishments adapt to the current circumstances.
