An increasing number of large businesses are starting to rely on E-procurement from Endress+Hauser, due to the convenience, speed and lower transaction costs involved.
Whenever goods have to be procured on a regular basis - material for the maintenance, repair or operation of plants, E-procurement significantly outperforms more traditional methods of acquiring products and components, says Endress+Hauser sales director, Rudy Rudolph. "These areas are characterised by a large number of orders with low order values," he continues. "This is where clients that have integrated electronic solutions for procurement into their business processes are really seeing added value."
The company's online purchasing tools start with electronic catalogues which, once loaded onto a client's procurement system, provide a custom-made catalogue according to the client's needs for simple, error-free repeat ordering. Data can be obtained in a variety of formats, and catalogues can be structured according to industry, quality standards or customer specifications.
For more flexibility, companies can opt for shopping cart interfaces whereby a client specifies and configures certain devices, and this configuration is automatically checked against updated data every time an order is requested, based on these settings. As the 'shopping carts', once compiled, are transferred into the client's procurement system via a standard interface, future purchases are greatly simplified and safe-guarded against incorrect entries.
Originally planned as an asset management system based on the Internet, Endress+Hauser's W@M offering has since expanded into the planning phase to become a true lifecycle management aid. Today, W@M assists the instrumentation specialist's clients with a wide range of software applications covering the entire process of planning, procuring, installing, commissioning and operating of field measuring devices, including parts to be sourced from other instrumentation suppliers. It therefore gives round-the-clock access to all relevant information about every single field measuring device used at a plant, over the entire life cycle of the device.
"If, for example, you want to renew or redesign your plant, our Applicator selection software helps you to find the right product for the measuring task in question," Rudolph explains. "And to ensure that commissioning runs smoothly, there is FieldCare - our software for the configuration, diagnosis and maintenance of measuring devices.
"The complete integration of a procurement solution into your system offers today's highest degree of automation for the entire procurement process," he concludes. "Because all transaction data for quotations, orders, order confirmations and invoices is efficiently exchanged between ERP systems, this rules out the possibility of errors, reduces costs and prevents longer lead times."
For more information contact Tony Jacobsen, managing director, Endress+ Hauser, +27 (0) 11 262 8000, info@za.endress.com
| Tel: | +27 11 262 8000 |
| Email: | info.za.sc@endress.com |
| www: | www.endress.com |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Endress+Hauser South Africa |
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