SMART business continues to expand its portfolio of in-house solutions for various business areas, addressing the needs of its clients and the international business community. Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of SMART Procurement, a comprehensive new tool designed to automate the procurement of goods and services within the company. This solution enhances the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP and plays a crucial role in the strategy of building a unified digital IT environment. It aims to accelerate and simplify key business processes, improving their efficiency and transparency.
Key Features of SMART Procurement and the Challenges It Solves
SMART Procurement optimizes complex procurement department processes and provides end-to-end control – from creating, collecting, and approving purchase requests to distributing them among managers, selecting vendors, generating transfer orders and issuance documents, and tracking the status of each request. The system offers convenient tools for monitoring request completion deadlines, tracking price deviations from initial values, and controlling procurement limits.
SMART Procurement covers all essential stages of a company’s procurement activities, offering the following features:
- Creation of Purchase Request Cards – The solution enables initiators to easily create purchase requests for goods or services, specifying essential details such as quantity, deadlines, vendors, and more.
- Actions on Purchase Requests – This feature allows users to edit and add information, cancel, or reassign requests, providing flexibility in handling procurement tasks.
- Tracking Request Status – Initiators can always view the status of their requests, such as “In Approval”, “Approved”, or “Rejected”, enhancing process transparency.
- Closure of Purchase Requests – Automatic closure of requests after all associated operations are completed reduces administrative workload and keeps the system well-organized.
- Purchase Request Archive – All completed and closed requests are stored in the system archive, enabling quick access to previous procurement information and maintaining a comprehensive procurement history.
- Approval of Purchase Requests – The solution automates the approval process by involving relevant stakeholders, ensuring quick and accurate approvals without losing critical information.
- Assigning and Reassigning Procurement Managers – The system includes tools for easily assigning a responsible manager to fulfill a request or changing the manager when necessary. This ensures workflow continuity and accelerates task distribution and reassignment.
- Processing Purchase Requests – Procurement managers can work directly within the system to coordinate details with vendors, create purchase orders, etc.
- Creation of Transfer/Write-Off Documents – The system automatically generates documents for transferring goods between warehouses or writing off unusable materials, ensuring transparency and control over these operations.
- Creation of Purchase Documents – The solution automatically generates purchasing documents, such as vendor purchase orders, minimizing the risk of human error.
- Partial or Combined Request Processing – Requests can be fulfilled partially or divided into multiple documents, allowing efficient management of large-scale purchases or combined deliveries.
- Analysis of Purchase Request Performance – The system provides insights into the effectiveness of purchase request execution, identifying delays, deviations from the plan, or overspending. This helps make informed management decisions, optimize procurement processes, and reduce operating costs.
Benefits of SMART Procurement and Its Target Audience
SMART Procurement is an essential tool for procurement department heads who aim to maintain end-to-end control over processes. It is also invaluable for procurement managers seeking to simplify their work and optimize costs, as well as chief accountants looking for a reliable solution for precise procurement accounting.
With SMART Procurement, companies gain the following advantages:
- Advanced Automation – The solution collects primary data on procurement needs from each department and organizes the processes of approval, coordination, and supply of requested goods and services. By automating key stages of the procurement process, it eliminates the need for manual approvals, minimizes errors in interactions between initiators and procurement executors, saves time, and enhances overall efficiency.
- Transparency and Control – Users have access to complete and, most importantly, up-to-date information on every operation, including statuses, prices, and quantities of goods.
- Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – SMART Procurement is implemented within the Business Central environment, enabling it to work seamlessly with other business processes and data in the ERP system. Thanks to its flexibility, the solution easily adapts to business scaling and integrates with other Microsoft-based solutions, unlocking even more opportunities for business growth.
- Time and Resource Savings – By automating key stages of the procurement process, the solution significantly reduces the time needed to process purchase requests. It enables the efficient use of available resources, minimizes the risk of overspending, and increases the company’s overall efficiency.
- Budget Control – Integration with SMART Budgeting, a system for automating budgeting processes, allows companies to effectively manage procurement budgets, ensuring spending transparency and consistent financial planning.
In conclusion, SMART Procurement addresses the challenges of modern business, where integrated digital solutions are essential for minimizing manual work and ensuring accuracy at every stage of procurement activities.
Request a consultation to learn more about how implementing SMART Procurement can transform your company’s procurement processes based on your business’s unique needs.
The solution is already available on AppSource: appsource.microsoft.com
