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The e-Procurement Guru team

Golden moment for Atinuke at Paralympics

Atinuke pictured here with Fatma Omar of Egypt, who won a gold medal and achieved a world record in the Women's 56kg Powerlifting

While millions of us enjoyed the London 2012 Paralympic Games on TV, a member of EGS's testing team, Atinuke Olatigbe, was one of the many volunteers playing a key role behind the scenes.

After spotting a poster on the Jubilee Line, sports fan Atinuke applied to help - and soon found herself at the ExCeL arena, as one of the data-entry team for the powerlifting competition.

"It was a fantastic experience," says Atinuke. " The athletes were wonderful - especially the Nigerian and Egyptian teams - and so were the crowd, who generated a terrific atmosphere.

"At school I enjoyed track events, but powerlifting was something new. It's highly technical. I worked with a great team that had to check weights, times and scores - but it all went really well, thanks to training and encouragement from our LOCOG colleagues."

So has Atinuke been inspired to take up powerlifting herself? "No way!" she says. "It requires amazing dedication and practice. I really admire the athletes. And I loved being involved. So if I get the opportunity to go to the next games in Rio, then I'll happily pack my bags tomorrow!"

Electronic invoicing: Good for the environment, good for business

Money doesn’t only make the world go round … it makes the big headlines too. The Libor rate scandal, involving the banks, dominated the news this week – following on from the last big money-related story … celebrities who avoid paying tax.  

It’s probably true to say that environmental issues don’t command the same news coverage since the world’s economic problems took centre stage. But there were two stories relevant to the green agenda that caught our eye this week.

Firstly, a group of people dressed as giant pandas invaded the London Underground to raise awareness about their plight. Great photos of course. (In those warm, furry suits, it was just as well we’re having some rotten summer weather. Also, good to avoid the Olympics when the tube will be even busier.)

The other story gleaned fewer column inches, as far as we can see. But it was significant.

A new report found that the number of single-use carrier bags handed out by UK supermarkets rose last year by 5.4% to almost eight billion. That’s an average of almost 11 a month for each person … and despite a whole stack of measures to encourage people to change habits. One theory is that more cash-strapped families are doing several small shops a week instead of one big trip – and using public transport too.

Whatever the reasons, it’s a blow for those focused on reducing waste and pollution to help the environment.

On a more positive note, there’s an ongoing environmental good news story about electronic invoicing that's heading firmly in the opposite direction.

Last year, Accountingweb reported the view that a complete conversion to e-invoicing across Europe would save 12 million trees a year. There’s some way to go in take-up of course, but more recent reports estimate the growth in electronic invoice (e-invoice) processing at 20-30% in the next few years, with over 4 billion e-invoices coming from Europe this year.

It’s not just the trees. There’s the energy saved on turning them into paper, the handling of waste paper at the other end – and the postage/travel costs of delivering invoices. (And that's without mentioning all the time-related, business efficiency savings, which are huge.)

So, despite not grabbing the headlines, e-invoicing is a big money story after all.

Putting the sizzle into summer

When it rains, the roof goes on at Wimbledon … but when EGS go on the roof … the rain stops!

That was the happy outcome when the E-Procurement Guru joined the EGS Group team for their summer barbecue on the roof terrace at 26 Bar, Smithfield.

We watched the sun go down over London … just as the capital prepares for possibly its largest-ever influx of visitors, bringing in billions of pounds of commerce linked to the Olympics.

But, on this occasion, the team took time out to relax – away from figures and day-to-day business. We enjoyed some great food, wonderful company and the opportunity to reflect on an excellent first half of the year – and another exciting six months to come.

Shopping trolley innovation never stops

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has prompted some understandable looking back over previous decades. The BBC has been involved too, with its series The New Elizabethans on Radio 4.

Here, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women that gave the second Elizabethan age its character. The episode on Alan Sainsbury is well worth a listen.

While we may look back with warm nostalgia at the high street full of independent stores, it was Alan Sainsbury who helped to pioneer a shopping evolution with supermarket chains. ‘Counter service’ was replaced by ‘self-service’. It cost less to staff the stores. And, as it turned out, many people didn’t mind shopping for themselves. It saved them time too.

It many ways, a similar thing is happening with electronic procurement at the corporate level. Self-service is the norm online of course – and always has been. But instead of hopping from one kind of web site to the next in a clunky fashion, today’s corporate shopper can use one basket for everything – from multiple suppliers.    

Back in the early days for Alan Sainsbury, putting frozen chickens, apples and bread in the same basket must have seemed incredible.

But with the right corporate e-procurement system, there’s much more you can buy at the same time from the screen. Not just day-to-day products but complex services too. One company is breaking new ground in this area. Watch the EGS web site for more details in due course.

Whisper it: “Come on England. You can do it!”

The national team’s Euro campaign doesn’t have the usual pizzazz this time around. There’s a dearth of new, young talent, while some of the classier, older players are sidelined with injuries.

That said, there are a couple of big pluses.

Firstly, there’s less hype and unreal expectations to weigh heavily on the players.

And, secondly, there’s Roy Hodgson, who’s got a decent track record at getting great value from less-than-stellar teams – and securing results against the odds. Remember Fulham’s own Euro adventure? He’s possibly the perfect candidate as manager, given the circumstances.

Hopefully we won’t be eating our words in a couple of weeks. But you wonder if a few strokes of technical genius throughout each game could make all the difference? We’ll wait and see. 
  
In the world of procurement, there’s a similar point to be made. Budgets may be under more pressure than ever before.  But there’s the opportunity to do something quite remarkable, thanks to some behind-the-scenes genius.

The best purchase-to-pay solutions will sharpen end-to-end performance and maximise agility.  They’ll be robust too – and won’t go to sleep at pivotal moments.

Meanwhile, the view from the dugout is clearer than ever, allowing real-time insights into spending levels. Managers can influence buying behaviour directly – and monitor every contract to get the best value.

Ultimately, it’s about results: You get to keep more of the silverware.

The forecast is ... cloudy

IT trends can be difficult to predict. But the business barometer is pointing with even greater certainty towards cloud computing. Two recent surveys have confirmed this.

A study by Dell and Intel discovered that an overwhelming majority of IT and business people plan to "significantly or moderately increase use of cloud" in the next year. For the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the figure was an emphatic 78%, according to reports.

Meanwhile, analysts IDC have released a new report that indicates public and private spending in cloud computing will increase exponentially over the next few years (which will lead to a massive jobs boost world-wide and in the UK). More details here.

Companies are clear about the business drivers too. Nearly two thirds of those in the Dell/Intel study wanted to reduce their infrastructure costs, while improving IT organisational agility came next.

In the view of this column, cost reduction and agility are especially relevant when it comes to cloud-based, purchase-to-pay (P2P) systems. But the two are wrapped up closely together and the emphasis is slightly different.

With agility, it’s not so much about the IT organisation itself – but a transformation that can be achieved very quickly within the business. Organisations can do something radical about spend control and back-office efficiency through automating processes - within weeks rather than months. Processes accelerate, become more transparent and cost less to run.

Continuing with the costs theme … the ideal, state-of-the-art P2P system doesn’t add to capital expenditure because it’s cloud based and available from a browser. Cost savings arrive from those back-office efficiencies we mentioned as well as greater control and oversight of approved contracts that offer best value.

The other great news is that the best P2P systems will pay for themselves extremely quickly – which makes cloud-based solutions even more attractive.

How to avoid unexpected consequences

Are you planning to watch the Olympic torch relay pass by – or have you done so already?

Over coming weeks, the 8,000-mile relay will travel to all corners of the UK as we near the opening ceremony of the Olympics on 27 July.

There’s been a fuss about the torches. For one thing, bearers have been asked to pay £295 if they want to keep them. But now a mini furore has ignited over what happens to the thousands of torches afterwards … particularly the ones that have been ending up on eBay.

Bids are reaching thousands of pounds. And, apparently, there’s no restriction on bearers selling them. Some sellers are reported to simply be ‘needing the money’ to pay for household bills while others are generously donating the proceeds to charity.

Whether some of this goes against the Olympic spirit – or is simply a great way to ‘share the money around’ among everyday people – is another debate.

But what’s clear is that if you put people, money and commodities together, without clear rules, then unintended consequences sometimes occur!

In the world of procurement, this can happen with maverick spending. Without a single procurement system and a set of business rules, then the outcomes can be surprising and expensive if the wrong purchases are made at the wrong price from the wrong suppliers ... without people noticing until it’s too late.

However, with the right procurement solution, buyers are guided to authorised suppliers with agreed contracts. Their purchases are authorised by the right people in a clear and auditable way – and ultimately their organisation achieves best value, possibly saving substantial amounts along the way.

Fortunately, achieving this doesn’t have to be an Olympian struggle. Winning solutions are out there already.

Green light for automation – watch the video

And we’re off! This week the state of Nevada gave Google the go-ahead for its driverless car. The vehicle has already notched up 140,000 test miles but now it’s been granted a licence to travel on real roads.

Video cameras, lasers and radar help the car travel safely. But two people must always sit in at all times - to take control if its computer makes a blunder.

You can watch a video of the car here …



The news may thrill or alarm people in equal measure. BBC Top Gear’s analysis could be interesting - if and when it’s broadcast. And you wonder how the car could do against the Stig around the show’s test track?

But, either way, the breakthrough pushes the bounds of automation. And it makes you wonder what else is possible?

Where business processes are concerned, a lot is happening now with back-office automation – and has happened already. It won’t grab the same media attention as a robo-car. But it’s a quiet revolution paying a handsome return for those in-the-know.

If you take electronic invoicing, like the Google car, the process can become hands-free – and can work at lightning speed. But you don’t need massive upfront investment … or a government licence.

How many suppliers would give you their vote?

It’s May 3 – election day for 131 English local authorities, all 32 in Scotland and 21 in Wales, plus the London mayoral contest and two others in Liverpool and Salford.

Over the next few days, political pundits will pour over the results. What if it was actually the general election – who would win? How much were local issues at play? And what do the results mean for the future career of leader X?

Of course, it’s impossible to predict at this stage. But one thing’s for certain: The turnout among voters will be massively short of 100%. In fact, for local council elections it usually hovers around a paltry 30%. This is blamed on voter apathy and a stack of other reasons.

There are options for change. Firstly, the tyrannical one of forcing people to vote (usually for one candidate). Let’s forget that. But, in recent years, governments have used more subtle approaches such as introducing postal voting and pilot schemes for Internet voting. No big upturn in numbers just yet.

Of course, the politician that gets elected with just 30% turnout doesn’t complain.

But in areas of business, getting everyone’s buy-in is essential. Take the introduction of a purchase-to-pay (P2P) system for instance. If a buying organisation has 500 important suppliers, then ideally 100% of them should be on board with P2P.

The success of getting their ‘vote’ can make or break a P2P system – and will help decide whether buying organisations will achieve their hoped-for savings and return on investment. What good is flashy procurement interface and a slick invoice processing system if suppliers simply ignore them?

What’s vital is proper engagement with suppliers. Good communications, explaining how they gain too. And a range of easy-to-use, flexible ways for them to sell their items and submit invoices easily – regardless of their company’s size and IT know-how.

If you get that right, then your P2P system will be voted in - by a landslide.

Paying the price of expensive keyboard errors

We all make mistakes. We’re human. It happens. And that’s often how we learn.

Blunders occur when we’re behind a PC too. How many of us have sent an email to the wrong person – or failed to double-check something before we hit ‘Send’ … and then groaned afterwards. Hopefully any damage done is minimal.

But that wasn’t the case for major fashion retailer Supergroup (the company behind Superdry), according to reports in the past week. A ‘plus’ was entered in the accounts instead of ‘minus’.

The "arithmetic error" was worth £2.5m, noted the BBC. More bad news followed. Stocks plummeted by nearly 40% as shocked investors reacted to the news, say media reports.

Of course, until the robots take over, human error will always be part of everyday life and business. But it’s good to keep errors to a minimum where it’s do-able.

Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) is a great example. Manual re-keying of paper invoices into the system (where errors naturally occur sometimes) can be replaced by a hands-free, highly-automated process that maximises accuracy. It’s faster, costs less and staff can be redeployed to tasks that add more value to the business.

And there’s a raft of follow-on benefits too …

• Decision-makers get a clearer picture of spending in near to real time – because financial data enters the system faster and with greater accuracy.
• Admin time resolving errors can be minimised, so there’s another saving.
• And suppliers get paid on time, rather than experiencing delays because of any re-keying mistakes.

Put simply, e-invoicing represents a big plus without a minus. 

Pushing all the right buttons

If there’s one thing certain to create a storm online among techies – it’s the launch of a new version of Windows. Version 8 is no different.

Rumoured for full release in October, Windows 8 is available already in a ‘consumer preview’ flavour that’s been sampled over the past six weeks. You can try it yourself by downloading it here.

One big difference is the introduction of a Metro-style interface designed for touchscreens, like you’d see on a phone or the Xbox 360 games console. But will it be intuitive?

Perhaps, ultimately, it will loved by millions. But problems may exist in the short term.

“The next Windows version looks to be a steep learning curve for most users,” warns The Inquirer, which added that "the change is likely to be a jarring experience."

And, underlining the point, The Guardian ran a feature where one tech journalist unleashed his father on the operating system – with a reaction of bafflement. You can see the video here, though it’s excruciating to watch.

But are enterprise applications any easier – or everyday business users somehow far quicker to grasp the plot?

Not so, according to research. Some months back, IDC published a white paper called Intuitive Enterprise Applications Improve Business Performance.

IDC surveyed 300 enterprise application buyers in Scandinavia and put some of the key findings in the public domain. The findings were revealing:

• Almost 40% of those asked found that enterprise applications were hard to use
  
  
• Respondents were looking for web-like usability and strong search capabilities
  
  
• They also said that time was primarily wasted transferring data between applications and looking for information.
  

These findings could prompt useful questions for anyone to ask when choosing a purchase-to-pay (P2P) solution. For example:

• Is the new system as easy to use as Tesco.com or Amazon? If it is, less time will be needed training users. And if users embrace the system quickly, then the business benefits will come through faster.
  
  
• How does it handle data? Can you find what you need quickly? Is it a total solution? And if there are necessary interfaces with other systems, are they seamless?
  

The best way to find reliable answers is to ask for reference sites and check with existing users what they think …

Good news makes a change for small companies

Britain’s latest stamp price hikes spell more doom for hard-pressed small businesses.

After weeks of rumours, the price increases were announced by the Royal Mail. A first-class stamp will rise in price from 46p to 60p from April 30, while a second-class stamp will go up from 36p to 50p, according to the BBC.

Many small firms continue to send their invoices by post. And even if they use the second-class service, the costs can be significant. For example, a small company sending 40 invoices a month, will now pay £240 in a year in stamps.

This isn’t a huge figure. But it’s significant when money is tight. And it comes at a time when small businesses are struggling to get bank funding despite government’s efforts and there are predictions that a quarter of small businesses will fold by 2014.

But buying organisations with best-in-class, purchase-to-pay (P2P) systems are able to share some good news with their smaller suppliers – if they offer them the chance to submit their invoices electronically.

The benefits can help ease some of the pain points experienced by small firms in these ways:

Saving them money: A good e-invoicing solution will be free, so there’s an immediate cost saving on those pricey stamps, plus paper and envelopes.

Saving them time: E-invoicing should be easy and intuitive for any small supplier, whether they submit invoices in a few clicks from their PC, or simply flip a purchase order into an invoice on a Blackberry. There’s no time wasted walking to the post box either.

Saving them stress: When cash is tight, anxiety mounts. But a good e-invoicing system can give suppliers a portal where they can make sure the invoice didn’t get lost – and track the progress of their payment.

Improving their cashflow: With e-invoicing, there’s no delay at the start. Suppliers’ bills are received instantly and entered into a highly-automated approval and payment process. The bottom line is that it’s easier to for buying organisations to pay their suppliers on time.

In the current economic climate, it’s understandable if small businesses dread change – because the news always seems to be bad. But e-invoicing is a genuinely good-news story.

Where do your best ideas come from?

How do you encourage and harness good ideas within your organisation?

Some businesses don’t see the point of involving all their employees. After all, don’t the best ideas come from the boardroom? And aren’t there consultants for that kind of thing anyway?

Sometimes. But mostly not.

Asking all employees to step outside their day-to-day roles – for a few hours a week at least – can reap major business benefits. And surprises.

That’s what EGS discovered with EGS Labs, a unique opportunity for teams from across our company to create and showcase their own innovative ideas for new products.

Although we’re a software solutions company, each four-person team had sprinkling of talent from across the business. So that’s everyone reception to accounts, operations to sales, development to support. Senior managers provided mentoring.

The big challenge was to find a new or complementary product that EGS could launch within the purchase-to-pay (P2P) marketplace. But the scope was wide open. And Friday afternoons were set aside for two months before the final, which we called Big Thursday.

“At first, people felt quite daunted. But then the challenge become enormously enjoyable and the room was buzzing,” says Paul Massey, our Director of Engineering.

“The difficulty wasn’t trying to find a product, but choosing which of the brilliant ideas to pursue. However, each team settled on a single innovation after applying tough criteria for development time and cost, weighted against benefits and commercial returns.”

Interestingly, each team recognised that more exciting possibilities existed for the vast quantities of data that swims around within P2P systems. Some even created software prototypes at our Big Thursday competition final.

The winning team was EGstra, led by Richard Nduka, with Ping Lam, Elena Toma and Michael McLintock, who shared the £1,000 prize.

Their idea was an exciting, radical, dynamic dashboard that …. erm … well, forgive us if we don’t say any more just yet. Suffice to say that it exceeded our hopes for Big Thursday – and it’s now being nurtured very carefully in the EGS room marked ‘Top Secret’. Watch this space.

The evening ended with the whole company enjoying some well-deserved downtime at a local bar.

Pictured: The winning team (left to right) Elena, Michael, Ping and Richard

“The EGstra team did some amazing work. And their colleagues likewise devised some truly ingenious ideas. Our company would never have thought of these in the normal course of things – which shows the value of this approach,” says Peter Whent, EGS Chief Executive.

“Not only did this give us a wealth of R&D possibilities, but it revealed many hidden talents across the business – from project management to presentation skills. It also strengthened teamwork and enriched the culture of innovation that has made EGS so successful. It’s something we all have – and we must all use.”

Secret ingredient in Apple juice

What’s the secret behind Apple’s success? Super-cool design perhaps? How about amazing customer loyalty? Sealing the right partnership deals? Or perhaps it’s simply having oodles of cash to put behind its products?

The Internet has been awash with various theories since the company achieved two financial milestones this month. Its stock traded above $500 a share for the first time and the company's market cap exceeded $500 billion … putting it into an elite club of corporations.

If only someone could tap the source of this success – and bottle it. Perhaps they’d call it Apple juice? (Sorry about that.)

Seriously though, analysis of the company’s astounding success has made interesting reading.

One story caught our eye – featuring Apple designer Sir Jonathan Ive (dubbed the ‘iMan’). In an interview with the Evening Standard, he was asked “What makes design different at Apple?”

He pointed to a company culture of innovation and fanatical attention to detail. Sir Jonathan talked about the birth of a new idea being fragile … and then becoming a conversation among the design team … and then being turned into a 3D model when ‘everything changes’

“There’s a sense of being inquisitive and optimistic, and you don’t see those in combination very often,” he explained.

“Most of our competitors are interesting in doing something different, or want to appear new - I think those are completely the wrong goals. A product has to be genuinely better,” he told the newspaper.

And this is the crux of the matter. The best IT companies have a hunger to be better – and appreciate that the seed of an idea needs time and warmth to germinate. It’s something their employees understand too. And the company gives its people thinking space … real time … to see if a few flashes of inspiration can be turned into something truly market-leading.

It’s a question worth asking any IT partner: “When did you last provide serious amounts of time for your staff to see if they could come up with something good?”

If this is part of their company DNA, then you can expect good things from them down the line … whether you’re thinking about purchase-to-pay solutions or any other IT services.

Teamwork to overcome Olympic-sized procurement hurdles

With less than 150 days until the Olympic Games, some interesting procurement challenges have come to light.

We’re not talking about a shortage sand for the beach volleyball, chlorine for the swimming pools, chalk for the weightlifting or drug-testing kits.

It’s things like the number of security guards needed … by lots of organisations, all at once. Up to 20,000 more may be required when the Games start, according to reports. And this begs the question – will a sudden surge in demand of that magnitude have a knock-on affect on the market?

And (whisper it), elsewhere there’s also a rumour about a shortage of … portable toilets.

Only time will tell over whether there’s enough of everything to go round. But what’s really commendable is the approach being taken by key organisations affected by the games. As the Cross Programme Procurement Group (CPPG), they’ve teamed up to manage risk and get value for money.

Of course, the Olympic Games is a special case with unique pressures and immovable dates.

But in the wider economy, day-to-day collaboration among regional public bodies, special interest groups and business units can reap major benefits too.

Through joint marketplaces with the same purchase-to-pay (P2P) system, they can share and access larger open contracts that benefit from high-volume pricing – and make effective strategic decisions together. It’s happening across the UK already with great success.

Is there a Plan B?

How many of your suppliers will go under this year? And do you have too many eggs in one basket?

It’s a sobering thought. But information specialist Experian recently revealed that insolvency rates rose in 2011 – and issued a warning that organisations should address their exposure to any risks.

Over 21,000 businesses failed in the UK. Among the country’s largest sectors, the property industry saw a big increase in its insolvency rate, from 0.72 per cent in 2010 to 0.91 per cent in 2011, during which over 1,300 companies failed.

But firms with one or two employees saw the biggest increase in the insolvency rate during 2011 – from 0.63 per cent in 2010 to 0.71 per cent.

The news prompted a warning – of special interest to procurement chiefs. Max Firth, UK Managing Director for Experian’s Business Information Services division, advised businesses to “understand the risks they are exposed to and have strategies in place to protect themselves.”

The Spend Management Guru echoes this advice – and believes that having the right purchase-to-pay (P2P) system in place can help organisations to meet this challenge.

Firstly, prevention is better than cure. Often, buying organisations become aware that a supplier is experiencing financial difficulties. This may be through their own finance team doing credit checks. Alternatively, it could be through problems with service levels, word of mouth or via another channel.

Should this happen, then a P2P system worth its salt will allow a particular supplier to be ‘flagged’ and a workflow created that immediately indicates exactly what business is going in their direction – and a clear picture of the level of risk. Alternative suppliers can then be lined up as necessary during any ‘flagged’ period.

The right P2P should also allow for searches via an electronic marketplace for possible alternative suppliers. Public sector organisations may also have the added option of national contracts open to them.

Sealed with a loving … invoice

If your partner made you coffee and toast at breakfast-time – and presented you with a bill for £2.50, how would you feel?

Financial independence among couples isn’t so odd nowadays. Around 28% of couples prefer to keep totally separate financial arrangements, according to research.

But news came this week of one married couple in Australia who pushed things a little further.

Apparently, they got into the habit of billing each other for trifling amounts – as little as 50 cents. One invoice was for a $1.60 light-bulb during their 20-year marriage. (NB: We can only hope they used electronic invoicing to avoid a paper storm.)

But the couple’s curious relationship entered choppy water over a boat, according to reports. In fact, magistrates are now being asked to decide whether the wife should contribute to the custom-made $600,000 yacht the husband had built to sail around Europe. It’s claimed that the wife had no interest in sailing whatsoever.

Interestingly, over the years, the wife's assets increased to nearly $4 million while the husband's assets shrank to $315,000, say reports. Perhaps one of them was better at invoicing? We can only speculate.

But however amusing the story, you’ve got to admire their attention to detail. Perhaps they could tell you how many light-bulbs were purchased over their 20 years? And, armed with that information, perhaps they could have bought in bulk from a single supplier and got a better deal for themselves?

The point is this: Potential savings are often locked away in the detail.

In the wider world, finance systems that simply use budget codes for purchasing are often unable to drill down into the detail – and separate items into clearly-defined categories. They cannot see how much is actually spent on product type A or B because the boundaries are blurred.

This contrasts with organisations with purchase-to-pay (P2P) systems that use the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). Armed with specific spend information linked to codes, these organisations can target particular categories and negotiate contracts with suppliers, often saving a fortune in the process.

The benefits of UNSPSC magnify when others are involved. This may be through collaboration and shared services in the public sector – or through affiliated companies and business divisions in the private sector. Each financial unit may have its own unique budget code system, but UNSPSC brings uniformity so everyone can see the big picture on spending – and make even greater savings.

High-fives for Kazakhstan

Borat, the creation of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, did little to endear himself to the Republic of Kazakhstan or do much to project the image of a forward-looking country.

But the Kazakhstan government is making a name for itself – for all the right reasons.

The country’s tax bosses have announced that Kazakhstan is to switch to electronic invoicing from July 2012, say reports. National companies will begin the switch-over - with others following from next January.

And the change will be radical. It’s estimated that Kazakh companies issue 56 million invoices annually. But, apparently, these are all on paper. Not only will the move electronic invoicing save money but it’ll make documents easier to trace.

How green do you want your supply chain to be?

Today’s tougher economic conditions, cost reduction and ways to enhance productivity may be dominating the boardroom agenda. But environmental issues are still in sharp focus.

Take car maker Honda for instance.

According to news reports, the company has faced numerous procurement challenges, from last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan to flooding in Thailand. Now Honda is powering ahead to make its procurement operations greener and improving the sustainability of its supply chain.

There’s momentum behind environmental issues here in the UK too. Around 90 business organisations are backing next month’s Climate Week, Councils, charities and cultural groups are involved too.

Meanwhile, small businesses are being warned that they could lose out on profitable contracts if they cannot fit into a green supply chain.

But would your organisation be more attracted to suppliers because their green credentials … rather than price alone? And do you have any way of making it happen easily – for instance, by comparing two identically-priced products but knowing which is greener?

If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities, then contact EGS.

How important is it … that your suppliers are local?

When procuring goods and services, price comparison is essential. But it may not be everything – to every buying organisation.

Take the Indian government for instance. According to web site Purcon, the furniture giant IKEA is holding off on plans to enter India’s burgeoning retail market because of the country’s procurement policy.

The site says that when India recently allowed foreign companies to have full ownership of stores selling a single brand – there was a condition. Single-brand stores must source 30% of their materials from local firms.

There’s an obvious logic at work. The Indian government wants local businesses to share in the success of overseas-based firms. A potential win/win.

Back in the UK, local/regional public sector organisations may feel a desire to support their local economies at one level or another.

Businesses may also be more inclined to ‘think local’. On one hand, they need to cut costs in the current economic climate but, on the other, there’s the company brand and reputation to think about. Should ‘social responsibility’ extend beyond global environmental concerns to supporting local businesses? After all, many companies already support local schools, hospitals and other good causes.

But favouritism with contracts can equal unfair competition – and fall foul of legislation.

So perhaps the onus is on local suppliers?

They need to prove why being local is of value. When responding to tenders, perhaps their close proximity or local knowledge may result in a better service? They may also team up with national organisations, adding value by being local. Points like these could make a more compelling submission.

That way, buying organisations could be justified in choosing a local submission over any other – but only if strong business reasons make this possible.

NB: If buying organisations have the right e-procurement system, then local, regional and national suppliers of all shapes and sizes can offer their goods and services on a level playing field.