Moving Procurement to the Supply Chain Cloud

Essential to supply chain, and the key to keeping an organization stocked with the supplies needed to operate is the procurement of goods and services. The importance of this process can’t be understated in the case of healthcare, where lives are literally on the line and depending on the right supplies when they are needed.

Traditionally, the procurement process has lagged behind other business processes in advancements relating to efficiency and automation, but that is changing. Cloud-based technology is enabling procurement to make progress along the lines of data interoperability, and visibility and agility in transactions.

In a recent article for Supply & Demand Chain Executive, Pete Nelson, general manager of Global Alliances for GHX, talked about moving procurement activity to the cloud. Allowing data interoperability and collaboration with trading partners are among the many benefits.

Additional benefits from moving procurement processes to the cloud:

• Greater visibility: When product information is stored in the cloud, authorized access can speed the process of replenishment and potentially provide for automated replenishment
• Enable informed decisions: Buyers can access recommendations on the best product’s availability through applied business intelligence
• Enhanced user experience: Sourcing for products by content is more like a traditional B2C experience, which can speed adoption of the process
• Manage spend: Buyers can have the ability to see all products without limitations but still within a formulary to drive contract purchasing

There are challenges — adoption and the natural resistance to change, along with data and security risks have to be addressed. However, the value gained by moving procurement into the cloud is now surpassing the challenges of moving forward.