The inaugural debate of the 2022 edition of the E-Purchasing Solutions exhibition focused on the place of people at the heart of the purchasing and procurement process, but also on the role of digital solutions in simplifying, accelerating and automating operations. These solutions give employees more time to focus on strategy and become "super buyers".
Today, Purchases have not only understood the interest of digital solutions to gain in performance, but they consider them essential! According to the "Revelations UX Achats 2022" survey conducted between April and August by the organizers of the E-Purchasing Solutions Exhibition, with the support of the NAC and Purchasing Decision, nine out of ten respondents again consider these solutions "absolutely" necessary for their job, after the temporary and relative lack of interest (82% of citations) observed last year. However, technology is not everything, and the inaugural debate of the last edition of the show, a few weeks ago, insisted on the role and place of humans in the process.
The digital solutions have enabled and still allow the function to become professional, to gain in performance and to create more added value, making its employees evolve towards e-buyer profiles. With the arrival of Latest technologies So-called disruptive, especially artificial intelligence, they have even become "augmented buyers", assisted by the machine to anticipate events and make the best decisions. But at the same time, "digitalization participates in a repositioning of the human at the center of the value chain," says the CEO of one of the main publishers in the market, supported in his analysis by all the participants in the debate.
Why this repositioning? First, because "by improving collaboration and information sharing, digital brings people together and improves interactions between stakeholders," says the commercial director of another publisher present at the round table. Above all, "digitalization, which makes it possible to do better and more easily, frees up time for teams," continued the Senior Vice President of Innovation of a third publisher in the digital purchasing market.
Thanks to the automation of an increasing number of operations and the time freed up, buyers can extend their scope of intervention, on more relational and strategic missions. They will also be able to better understand things, anticipate, etc. "As a result, and paradoxically, with digital, purchases become more human," says the representative of this third publisher. "While it will not replace the employees of the function, digital is participating in the transformation of the profession towards profiles of super-buyers whose role goes beyond historical missions and is more strategic," concluded one of the speakers. In this ongoing evolution, what will be the next step?