What is the business issue that e-procurement seeks to address?
Organisational procurement has three distinct phases as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: The Components of Procurement Sourcing is about establishing the best possible arrangements for the supply of bought in goods and services. The primary objective of sourcing is to find items of the best quality, at the best price, from suppliers who consistently supply correctly (right time right place). Once that has been accomplished the people in the organisation that need these items can then buy off the supply contracts (on-contract) that have been negotiated. Finally, the organisation must pay for the items. Number of Transactions / Number of Suppliers Organisational spend will typically match the profile in Figure 3. Figure 3: Organisational Spend Profile Trade Wins Supply Chain Solutions (Pty) Ltd. Figure 4: Typical Organisational Buying Process Trade Wins Supply Chain Solutions (Pty) Ltd. Many organisations today have realised that approximately 80% of the procurement effort is committed to on
