Getting suppliers on board with e-procurement systems

More than half of buyers have experienced problems introducing suppliers to e-procurement systems, according to the latest SM100 poll.

The survey of 100 purchasers found 55 per cent had trouble "on-boarding" vendors to new procurement technology. This included any type of software associated with purchasing, from e-sourcing to spend management systems. The remaining 45 per cent said they had never experienced problems integrating new technology into their supply chain.

"Supplier adoption of e-procurement is fraught with issues," said Duncan Stirling, head of recruitment operations at BT. He argued suppliers complain about different technology formats and have to be "pulled" into systems rather than volunteering.

Stirling urged buyers to engage with the market in advance of introducing new technology and view e-procurement as a means to improve service delivery, rather than to simply reduce costs.

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