Top strategies organisations use to boost procurement savings and drive efficiency gains

In today’s competitive business landscape, procurement teams face increasing pressure to reduce costs, improve efficiency and meet sustainability goals. Organisations of all sizes, from small firms to large international businesses, are finding innovative ways to revolutionise their procurement processes and create smarter business buying journeys.

 

By implementing advanced e-procurement tools and strategies, companies are streamlining processes, reducing repetition, and saving valuable time for employees. Procurement teams are gaining more accurate spending information, enabling them to consolidate suppliers, maximise economies of scale, and identify unnecessary purchases.

 

The following are some examples of organisations that have successfully transformed their procurement practices:

 

AECOM: Streamlining tail spend and reducing process steps

 

With 87,000 employees around the world, global engineering firm AECOM turned to Amazon Business to tackle its tail spend challenges.

 

Significant amounts were being spent on Amazon by large numbers of employees on items such as stationery and IT supplies, with over 80 employees buying four or five items a month through their personal Amazon accounts.

 

These purchases were being made on virtual cards, and each item would then have to be individually reconciled against an invoice from Amazon. In total, the buying process involved 16 actions across nine different steps, taking up a large amount of time for employees, managers and accounts staff.

 

AECOM decided it would bring all purchasing into its Coupa procurement platform, into which it would incorporate Amazon Business as a punchout option. This meant employees would still benefit from the familiar look and feel of Amazon, while buying items in line with company policy from approved suppliers, using the Guided Buying feature (a paid feature).

 

The new system has led to notable efficiency savings, with the number of actions required to buy items cut from nine to five, and the time taken to place orders and reconcile invoices reduced by over 70 per cent as a result of the Spend Visibility feature.

 

AECOM has also benefited from the free delivery associated with the Business Prime membership, which it estimates saves more than £20,000 a year.

 

Vision Multi Academy Trust: Simplifying invoice management and saving time

 

With more than 1,200 children from across the Greater Manchester region attending its schools, Vision Multi Academy Trust has a significant requirement for stationery and other essential items.

 

However, the administration effort associated with such low-value, but high-volume, purchases can be significant, and the finance team at Vision Multi Academy Trust needed to be operating as efficiently as possible.

 

The Trust turned to Amazon Business’s Pay by Invoice feature, which enables eligible customers to receive a monthly invoice. “If you’re buying a £4 pack of pens or stationery and receive a single invoice once per month as opposed to receiving an invoice every time you make that purchase, which can be hundreds of times, you really do save time,” says Darren Cosgrove, chief finance officer for Vision Multi Academy Trust. “And that’s something I value quite a lot.

 

“With Pay by Invoice, we easily save 30 minutes a day by eliminating the need to type out orders. Over the course of a year, that’s a huge amount of time saved, allowing the team to focus on other activities.”

 

Alongside this, the organisation worked with Amazon Business to identify preferred suppliers, establish approved workflows and centralise accounts, ensuring it could benefit from more effective pricing and quicker deliveries thanks to improved approval processes.

 

The Trust is now looking at the potential to achieve further cost savings through bulk purchasing, which can help organisations obtain better pricing when buying a larger number of higher-value items. “We’ve had a tablet rollout for our children,” says Cosgrove. “So the next step is to provide each child with a stylus. We’re interested in seeing how we can save time and money with bulk orders for those types of items.”

 

Nottingham Trent University: Boosting sustainability through local sourcing

 

As part of its goal to become net-zero by 2040, Nottingham Trent University uses Amazon Business to enhance its sustainability efforts. The system prioritises local suppliers in product searches, reducing carbon emissions from deliveries and supporting the local economy.

 

“Students are looking to go to universities that are taking sustainability seriously,” says Claire Davies, sustainable procurement manager at Nottingham Trent University. “We’ve selected East Midlands suppliers to come up first in the product search. That allows us to support the local economy and reduce carbon emissions by reducing the amount of mileage travelled.”

 

The university has also made use of sustainability certificates so people can see the benefits that come from this. “By turning on the sustainability certificates against the products, we’re going to see a lot more sustainable purchasing taking place as a result of Amazon Business,” says Davies.

 

Gordon Food Service: Enhancing control and supporting diversity initiatives

 

Controlling unauthorised purchases from unmanaged suppliers was the driving force for food service distributor Gordon Food Service. “We had many suppliers without agreements and Amazon Business was really able to help us identify those categories and put more controls in place,” says Jeff Howard, indirect procurement category manager at Gordon Food Service.

 

Working with Amazon Business also ensured employees were only able to buy from vetted suppliers which met its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) criteria. “The ability to flag certain items that meet our DEI criteria and make them visible to our users is huge,” says Howard.

 

The business has also benefited from better reporting capabilities, allowing it to delve deeper into its spend and identify further areas where this could be consolidated or eliminated.

 

Navigating challenges and future trends

 

While new procurement solutions offer numerous benefits, organisations should be prepared for potential challenges during implementation, such as change management and system integration. However, the long-term gains in efficiency, cost savings and strategic procurement often outweigh these initial hurdles.

Looking ahead, procurement trends indicate a growing focus on sustainability, supplier diversity and data-driven decision-making. Organisations that can effectively leverage these trends are likely to see continued improvements in their procurement processes and outcomes. 

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To learn more about how Amazon Business can help your business develop more efficient procurement processes, visit business.amazon.co.uk/