Benefits of automation in the Source-to-Pay cycle

Automation in the Source-to-Pay (S2P) cycle is crucial for the control and visibility of your spend. It minimises the errors that come with manual processes to improve business efficiency. Some benefits of automation include:
 
1. Reducing business costs
An automated spend management process can help your business manage and reduce spend significantly. It ensures that all spending complies with your organisation’s budgets and policies. For example, through sourcing, you can easily ensure that you are paying the right price by comparing quotes and identifying the best overall value.
 
With an automated S2P solution, you don’t incur back office or even invoice processing costs. All activities are managed by the system, saving time and money.
 
2. Faster processes
End-to-end processing can be accomplished in a relatively short time frame, unlike manual ordering that takes up to several months. This ensures you don’t encounter shortages that might hurt critical operations in a competitive business.
 
Automation in the Source-to-Pay cycle reduces manual work and streamlines internal payment processes. If you need goods faster, your staff doesn’t have to spend hours in the office trying to pull things together.
 
3. Reduce human error
Complex procurement processes can be severely affected by human errors. Fatigued employees, for example, can make major errors and that hurt your business and lead to an increase in duplicated work. Automating the S2P process reduces the chances of errors as the need for manual entry is reduced, or even removed.
 
4. Real-time insights
In a digital world, you need to leverage data to make informed decisions. Automating your S2P provides access to real-time, actionable insights that help improve business outcomes. For instance, you can easily anticipate out-of-stock situations and adjust your inventory.
 
Note: If implementing automation is done in a step-by-step approach, you get a faster time to value. Normally a full S2P implementation may take up to 12 months but done in increments, implementation is significantly faster to realise the benefits as well as reduce the risks on business impact.
 
Why your business needs effective S2P automation
If you aren’t using an automated procurement solution, you are doing your business a great disservice. Automating Source-to-Pay processes solves many of your supply chain problems. It increases efficiencies, mitigates risks, and improves spend visibility.
 
At Proactis, we deliver full Source-to-Pay automation to enhance your supply chain process. Get in touch with us today to identify the right automation approach, whether a single part of the process or a full S2P automation solution roll-out
 
You can also read more about establishing the top 5 automation opportunities in the Source-to-Pay cycle