Regulatory is for nerds.
“Purchasing does what it wants.”
“Sustainability… someone has to take care of it, right?”
“Quality blocks progress.”
Such statements are common in corporate everyday life and regularly lead to more or less serious conflicts. The reasons for this are obvious.
The successful and conscientious work of all departments is based on complete data of good quality. Processes that coordinate work within and between departments
are built on this foundation.
The fact is that all departments rely on the same data to a certain extent, the so-called master data. It is also a fact that companies often lack the expertise, time, and budget to manage data efficiently. This leads to silo solutions.
Cross-departmental coordination becomes difficult, and conflicts are inevitable.
Experience shows that with integrated data solutions, the efficiency of data management and especially the generation of added value from these data for the company increases exponentially.
In purchasing, documentation completeness is organized. This goes hand in hand with the realization of the importance of master data in purchasing. For purchasing to be able to hand over clean documentation packages to the departments for review, the master data must be meticulously maintained.
An efficient workflow for supplier and material approval, or approval of samples, can only function if all participants work with the same, well-maintained master data.
Data is also the basis for any type of sustainability project. This means that projects in purchasing also rely on the same master data. And even more: the risks required by such projects are only made visible by such data. Here, the next step opens up the possibility of data integration into a data model for supplier evaluation (see Supply Chain Act).
In the above practical example, the purchasing department drove data management forward. The benefits of this came to all departments. Processes are actually lived, and departments work constructively together.
Actually, all of this is not difficult and above all, it requires common sense. However, companies need the right employees for this. The decisive factors are the innovators in the company with ideas, motivation, expertise, and experience. The company's leadership can and must act as moderators and catalysts.
The foundation of these improvements is digitalization and automation, and this is where Relaticos SCM software becomes a game-changer, offering the digital tools and automated processes essential for businesses of all sizes to manage data effectively and foster cross-departmental harmony.
Bernd possesses extensive experience in strategic procurement, shaped by his tenure at Eckes-Granini, Symrise and DuPont de Nemours. Currently, he is focused on sustainable sourcing and supply chains, collaborating with the relatico team to develop practical software solutions. Additionally, Bernd runs his own agricultural business and is involved in supply chain projects globally.