What are the top five pain points facing procurement teams? We share some of the most common pain points and how direct procurement software can help. 

As a leading provider of procurement software solutions, at Atamis, we make it our business to know the prominent sticking points our clients are facing in their day-to-day operations. From supplier relationships to digital transformation, we like to understand the challenges faced by our clients so we can measure our product by its ability to overcome these obstacles.  

So, with this in mind, here are five of the most frequent pain points facing procurement teams – and what to do about it. 

Top 5 Procurement Team Pain Points 

1. Supplier Relationship Management 

Firstly, supplier relationship management. This is one point we hear time and again from our clients. Things can get tricky if a client is frustrated with the quality of goods and services provided by their suppliers. As well as issues linked to supplier communication and delivery times, finding reliable and trustworthy suppliers is high up on the to-do list for procurement teams. 

Poor SRM can have a negative impact on procurement teams and on the business overall in many different ways. For starters, a poor relationship between you and your suppliers can sap creativity from your supply chain and lead to lost opportunities to drive value. Moreover, if your suppliers don’t feel valued or respected, they are less likely to devise creative solutions that may lead to time savings and added value. 

Without robust SRM practices in place, teams may struggle to hold suppliers accountable when there are delays or errors that fail to measure up to your core KPIs. You may also find that there could be reputational risk for your organisation; suppliers who feel undervalued or disrespected may spread the word to other suppliers in your space. 

However, direct procurement software can help you to overcome supplier management challenges. At Atamis, our Contract & Supplier App puts you in firm control of your supplier relationships so you can drive value, increase efficiencies, successfully manage key supplier relationships.  

2. Cost Control 

Another significant pain point for procurement teams is cost control with increased lead times for delivery across supply chains and difficulties in negotiating favourable prices with suppliers. Globalisation has opened procurement teams up to a whole world of potential suppliers, which has put immense pressure on procurement professionals to find and negotiate beneficial deals with suppliers. 

Equally, volatile market conditions such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit or the War in Ukraine can have a significant impact on cost of goods and services as suppliers react to unforeseen occurrences. Changes in inflation rates also need to be monitored carefully to preempt any fluctuations in the cost of goods and services. 

When it comes to cost control for procurement departments, visibility is crucial. After all, if you can’t see plainly when fluctuations occur, how can you preempt them? How can you accurately forecast or measure their impact? 

That’s where procurement software comes in, giving you complete visibility of your suppliers and contracts so you can centralise, collaborate and drive value with ease. 

3. Digital Transformation 

In today’s world, digital transformation and incorporating digital solutions is on the agenda no matter what industry you work in. For procurement professionals, this conversation usually centres around which procurement software partner to work with. 

Customers have reported encountering a variety of challenges when it comes to adopting new technologies and transitioning to digital procurement processes. Some procurement software systems are overly complex in many ways, or there may be obstacles with integrating existing workflows. A main driver for procurement teams is creating a single view of the supply chain so you can monitor performance, mitigate risk, and drive value from actionable insights. 

Fundamentally, although there may be hiccups when integrating a direct procurement software system, the alternative – usually multiple excel spreadsheets – tends to be clunky and difficult to accurately maintain for procurement teams past a certain point. 

4. Sustainability 

At Atamis, we love discussing incorporating sustainability into procurement KPIs with our clients. In fact, we’re seeing more and more clients becoming increasingly concerned with sustainability and environmental issues. 

For procurement departments, one of the main challenges is finding sustainable suppliers. To do this you need a software partner that gives you power over your own data and can make it work for you. You need to be able to judge prospective suppliers by your own unique criteria – which will be determined by the overall goals of your organisation. 

Equally, balancing sustainability with cost is pivotal. Unfortunately, across the globe there is a tendency to turn to the cheapest option and this option usually brings with it a negative environmental impact. Overcoming these obstacles will likely be a challenge procurement departments will face for many years to come as the global perspective on sustainability changes.  

However, fostering strong relationships with key suppliers to encourage creativity and innovation and ensuring you have a robust set of sustainability KPIs are both crucial for success (and of course a software partner that allows you to scrutinise your data to measure performance against these goals). 

5. Talent Acquisition 

In the UK, many industries are experiencing a skills shortage, making recruiting top talent and retaining those key personnel a real challenge. For procurement professionals, lack of resources in the team can increase the workload for individuals, something which particularly impacts your more experienced team members as they will likely need to take on more responsibility. 

This effects the team in a number of ways. When people are busy it’s hard to train junior team members to enable delegation, plus if your senior team members are treading water, it’ll be difficult for them to be creative with their solutions. Your team then ends up working reactively rather than proactively due to working at capacity. 

This particular pain point is complex in terms of identifying a solution. However, offering hybrid working, although it can be a double-edged sword, opens you up to a much larger talent pool. Ensuring your team has diary time dedicated to training to ensure any junior team members can also provide the support necessary to try and stop senior team becoming overwhelmed.  

Equally, taking the pressure off when it comes to manual data entry and spreadsheet management by implementing a direct procurement software solution will also give your team access to crucial management information and ensure they have the tools they need readily available to them. 

Looking For Direct Procurement Software? 

Procurement teams have a complicated job ahead of them, and there’s no denying that the solutions to these pain points are likely to be multi-faceted. However, getting on top of your supplier relationship management is paramount, as is ensuring you are able to fully use the data available to you to track and visualise your progress towards key KPIs. 

At Atamis, our procurement software is designed to help you do just that. From pipeline planning and tender management to contract and supplier management, our direct procurement software can help you save valuable time and money, whilst also managing your supplier relationships to ensure you drive the most value. 

If you’re ready to talk about your procurement software needs, get in touch today at info@atamis.co.uk or alternatively request a demo to learn more about how Atamis can help you overcome the key challenges faced by procurement teams so you can revolutionise your procurement process.