鈥淲ith one integrated platform that connects data from farmers through processing, warehouses, and retail, we are transforming the traditional food chain from supplier-driven to demand-driven,鈥� said Karthik Jayaraman, co-founder and managing director at WayCool. 鈥淲e selected because it is a flexible, cloud-based foundation for our growing business. provides a single source of truth company-wide and across our ecosystem, helping us produce and deliver the delicious food that consumers want on their table.鈥�  

The company has already reduced food wastage by up to 96% while improving the average income of farmers by over 13%.

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Data Insights Align Food Supply with Demand

Putting predictability and farming in the same sentence might seem like a stretch in a world rocked by disruptions like extreme weather and geopolitical conflicts. However, WayCool orchestrates a groundbreaking collaborative effort. It starts with farmers who produce the fruits, vegetables, and other staples that feed the Indian population and extends to partners, warehouse operations, distribution, and retailers.

鈥淪haring information with our partners in procurement who run processing and warehouse facilities, along with transportation logistics and retail, we can align supply with the right pricing for greater efficiencies and governance that produces the highest quality products,鈥� said Avinash Kasinathan, chief technology officer at WayCool. 鈥淒ata transparency also means that farmers can base field production on actual market demand and consumption.鈥�

Farmer Income Grows with Data-Driven Strategy

WayCool鈥檚 ability to trace products from farm to end consumer provides the company and its ecosystem with forecasting and planning insights based on real-time customer feedback and market demands. Using this connected data, WayCool makes recommendations to farmers on what fruits and vegetables to grow for the highest yields and uptake at the best prices.

Fourth-generation farmer Hari Prasad, located in a village called Karnataka on the outskirts of East Bangalore, is one of the over 200,000 farmers that WayCool provides with detailed cultivation plans.

鈥淯nlike traditional farming, WayCool recommends what to plant, when, and where, letting us know up front what they鈥檒l purchase at fair prices based on harvest time frames and factoring in staggered market demands,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to worry about whether or not we鈥檒l sell our yield, and we can calculate continuous earnings in a more predictable and consistent manner.鈥� 

Although farmers may have smaller yields, harvesting crops on a more consistent basis throughout the year levels out supply and demand spikes and downturns. If crop prices fall one week and rise the next, farmers can average out major risks with a steadier stream of income over time.

AI-Based Technologies Reduce Waste and Boost Crop Yields

WayCool has infused AI capabilities across its digitalized supply chain to increase quality yield and decrease waste. AI is built into the recommendation engine that tells retailers which products on their shelves will sell faster according to store location demographics. In the field, farmers use AI-based image recognition to quickly identify plant diseases and set up treatment plans. Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensors in the soil send farmers alerts on weather patterns to guide more cost-efficient and sustainable irrigation decisions. The company is exploring generative AI use cases as well.

Sustainable Agriculture Vision for the World

For WayCool and its partners, sustainable business encompasses the full range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Digitalization has an important role, for example, in regenerative farming practices. Farmers can use data-driven insights to produce stronger seeds for biodiversity, growing crops that are more climate-resilient and use less water and fertilizer in healthier soil.

Looking ahead, Jayaraman is eager to bring WayCool鈥檚 digitalized business model from India to other regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

鈥淭he food supply chain is a huge global market, yet agribusiness is one of the least digitized industries,鈥� said Jayaraman. 鈥淲e鈥檝e experienced how technology is revolutionizing food chains in India, and we鈥檙e excited about bringing people in other parts of the world greater access to affordable, quality food for the next generation of sustainable agriculture.鈥�

Following a series of issued during the past decade, the has now mandated e-invoicing for all B2G (business-to-government) procurements. The same requirements are expected to include B2B transactions in Europe as well. So far, over 100 countries including Italy, Germany, Poland, Greece, France, and Romania have enacted mandatory e-invoicing legislation, as have numerous others in Latin America and Asia.

Cloud-Based Platform Collaboration Supports E-Invoicing Compliance

There鈥檚 no big mystery behind the e-invoicing push. In-country regulators and policymakers see digitalization as crucial to improve fraud detection, simplify VAT reporting, and gain a measure of transparency. While e-invoicing mandates from governments add a layer of complexity for buyers and suppliers, cloud-based platforms have become the norm to automate and simplify collaboration.

One example is , where buyers and suppliers can manage procurement and invoicing activities with their trusted ecosystem.

鈥淎s governments add e-invoicing mandates, we鈥檙e committed to help organizations by providing capabilities for regulatory consistency,鈥� Lorraine Yao, director of Product Marketing for 麻豆原创 Business Network, said. 鈥淒igitalization automates the flow of accurate information from order placement, shipping confirmation, and delivery through e-invoicing that鈥檚 connected directly to the company鈥檚 ERP system. Organizations can replace manual verification with automation based on real-time updates that speed up accurate processing, order fulfillment, and timely payments.鈥�

Buyers and Suppliers Reap Benefits of Connected Network

Yao said that organizations transact US$5.3 trillion in annual commerce on 麻豆原创 Business Network, totaling 746 million B2B transactions each year. Business results to date have been impressive.

After centralizing automated supplier invoicing and collaboration on 麻豆原创 Business Network, the procurement team at a U.S.-based clothing and accessories retailer saved time with quick access to spend details and reporting analytics. With fresh insights, the strategic sourcing team can identify savings opportunities and expediently act on emerging trends.

A multinational infrastructure and renewable energy company based in Europe moved to 麻豆原创 Business Network as part of its company-wide procurement transformation. Replacing manual processes with automated machine-to-machine transactions has reduced errors, increased efficiencies, and provided the procurement team with real-time insights across the supply chain for more informed decisions.

Global Business Transformation from E-Invoicing

E-invoicing is yet another advancement slated to leave legacy tax collection behind. In an survey, 61% of tax professionals agreed that e-invoicing will have a significant impact on their tax management process in the next 24 months. Researchers expect e-invoicing 鈥渢o fuse compliance and invoice management into one extended process鈥s VAT and GST (goods and services tax) protocols grow鈥his essentially means that every company conducting business in the global market will have to interact with these e-invoicing protocols.鈥� It鈥檚 no wonder that e-invoicing mandates are spreading rapidly as countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore adopt the EU model, adapting requirements to their specific needs.聽

E-Invoicing Boosts Sustainability

Much more than surface automation measures, e-invoicing also contributes to what the calls the twin transition, meaning digital and green transformation. After all, when companies use less physical material such as paper, printing, and postage, along with fewer resources routing and archiving data, they can save energy.

鈥淏uyers can quickly process information and data contained in electronic invoices and feed them directly into a company’s payment and accounting systems,鈥� Yao said. 鈥淥ur 麻豆原创 Business Network customers find that procurement teams spend less time retrieving information and more time modeling strategic decisions. They can easily collaborate between internal groups and external suppliers, reducing inquiries and speeding up approvals while improving compliance.鈥�

Broadened Positive Impact of Digitalization

Although e-invoicing is a government mandate in a growing number of countries, leaders in many organizations have realized that digitalization has broader business benefits. analysts predict that by mid-2025, 70% of global businesses will use embedded financing to collect and make payments. This includes services like invoice transmissions.

鈥淒igitalization gives both buyers and suppliers transparency to see e-invoice status, saving time and improving efficiencies,鈥� Yao said. 鈥淗aving immediate visibility to relevant procurement data in one dashboard, accounts payable teams can make the most of early-payment discounts and better manage working capital. This also improves cash flow for suppliers who receive timely payments. 麻豆原创 is committed to help companies manage procurement end-to-end, including e-invoicing to meet country-specific mandates, and build trading partner relationships for business growth.鈥�

Susan Galer is a communications director at 麻豆原创. Follow her @smgaler.

In this article, I explore how forward-thinking businesses can integrate guidance plans into their software strategies to advance the transformation of their digital supply chain in a fast-paced business environment.

Embracing the Digital Supply Chain Revolution

Traditional supply chain models have undergone a significant transformation through the integration of digital technology. Now, companies have access to real-time data, advanced analytics, and automation, facilitating informed decision-making processes. A digital supply chain boosts efficiency, cuts costs, and mitigates risks. However, a potent software solution is just part of the equation. Comprehensive innovation requires continuous upskilling of the workforce, a clear vision, and ongoing transformation.

Yet, businesses face challenges throughout the entire software lifecycle. Supply chain professionals juggle day-to-day tasks, envision the future, and manage critical steps. This demands strategic foresight and product expertise, a challenge many customers grapple with.

A reliable helping hand, like , can become invaluable. This advanced plan can aid in digitizing the supply chain, offering guidance for implementing and optimizing 麻豆原创 Best Practices. The goal? Helping businesses extract maximum value from technology investments.

Here are a few key aspects that the 麻豆原创 Preferred Success plan can offer customers in their digital supply chain journey.

A Personalized Plan

Imagine collaborating with your organization’s personal squad of 麻豆原创 wizards. They’re not just experts; they’re partners that can craft a tailor-made plan for your digital supply chain ambitions. It’s like having a strategic road map exclusively for you, helping to ensure every move aligns with your business objectives. Say goodbye to uncertainty headaches because the how, what, and when can be crystal clear. This clarity is crucial as your project partner wraps up and reliance shifts to your in-house supply chain and IT teams. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success helps eliminate any uncertainty by providing a guide to help navigate the digital landscape seamlessly.

Tailored Guidance

Your 麻豆原创 Preferred Success counterpart can step into the role of your personalized guide, helping to deliver tailored advice and best practices precisely when you need them. It can go beyond just implementing 麻豆原创 solutions; it’s about harmonizing them with tried-and-true best practices. What sets this apart is the proactive nature of the guidance. Think of it as a well-orchestrated symphony of checks and advisories by your customer success partner and delivered by our seasoned experts.

Accelerated Adoption and Continuous Improvement

The 麻豆原创 Preferred Success plan is meticulously designed to help fast-track the adoption of 麻豆原创 solutions and facilitate a quicker time-to-value. In the digital era where agility and speed reign supreme, there’s no room for guessing or waiting 鈥� it’s full speed ahead. And this isn’t a one-time sprint; it’s a commitment to continuous improvement, learning, and the refinement of your processes over time, well after your first go-live.

Technology evolves rapidly, and 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can become your compass to stay ahead of the curve. How often have you heard customers wondering, “Are we aware of the latest capabilities or features? Should we be doing more with our solution?” The guidance embedded in the plan strategically helps in answering those questions. It’s about thriving in an ever-evolving digital landscape, not just avoiding obsolescence.

Data-Driven Insights for Feature Adoption

麻豆原创 Preferred Success can take the lead in leveraging the robust data and analytics capabilities within 麻豆原创 solutions. This can give you actionable insights and helps guide you towards the most relevant features for your business.

Determining which features are truly relevant and whether they make sense for your business can be a puzzle. Add the frequent releases of new features in the cloud and staying in the loop and it becomes more challenging. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can act as your data-driven guide, helping to align features with business objectives so that you use only those enhancing effectiveness.

Access to Experts

There comes a point where the brilliance of your supply chain teams and IT experts might need a little extra support. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can provide access to 麻豆原创 experts that help navigate challenges effectively. With 麻豆原创 Preferred Success, you can get dedicated time with the precise subject-matter expert needed to help address your concerns and seek guidance.

Risk Mitigation

With 麻豆原创 Preferred Success, risk mitigation in digital transformation can take center stage. You can benefit from enhanced incident handling in service-level agreements, which can significantly reduce risks during implementation and post go-live. Consider it your proactive protection for a smooth journey through the complexities of digital evolution.

Seamless Transformation with 麻豆原创 Preferred Success

Digitalization is not just a choice but a necessity. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success emerges as a guiding light for businesses keen on transforming their supply chain operations. Its advanced assistance can enable seamless transformations, enhanced guidance, and expertise, all while helping to alleviate stress and empower your supply chain and IT teams.

And there鈥檚 a commercial model. Imagine 麻豆原创 Preferred Success is like a subscription to your favorite streaming service, with no hourly charges and no paperwork for guidance or ad-hoc questions. Your supply chain subscription covers everything, enabling a stress-free focus on the transformation journey without administrative complexities.

 or contact your local 麻豆原创 representative to learn more about 麻豆原创 Preferred Success for supply chain management solutions from 麻豆原创.

Kiron Satyavarapu is global solution owner for 麻豆原创 Preferred Success at 麻豆原创.

One example is Technologies, Canada鈥檚 leading life sciences research company that sees itself as a company of scientists helping scientists. Based in Vancouver, STEMCELL has a 30-year history of growth in developing and manufacturing products and services that help other industrial and academic scientists innovate in the areas of stem cell, immunology, cancer, regenerative medicine, and cellular therapy research. STEMCELL has staff in 20 countries and sells a constantly expanding portfolio of over 2,500 products, including cell culture media, cell separation technologies, instruments, and accessories, as well as education and services. Reducing the time to market for new products is crucial to the company鈥檚 mission of pursuing life sciences discoveries leading to the next generation of healthcare treatments.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for ways to accelerate time to market for new products and adapt our technology environment to meet the evolving needs of our internal stakeholders and external customers,鈥� said John Lilleyman, CIO at STEMCELL. 鈥淎dvanced discoveries in areas like precision medicine are bringing new hope to patients and their families. At the same time, we have to comply with increasingly stringent global mandates for sustainable packaging and product safety.鈥�

Faster Innovation with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA

Since STEMCELL went live with , the biotech leader has been intent on using the latest innovations from 麻豆原创 to help speed up product testing. Speaking during a session held at this year鈥檚 , Lilleyman shared the company鈥檚 strategy for effective and fully automated software with 麻豆原创.

鈥淲e鈥檙e particularly excited about the cloud-first innovations from , which will help us deliver a more sustainable solution, continuously meet security and compliance requirements, and set us up for success with future upgrades,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith a new test-automation strategy, we can make sure that testing is an accelerator and not a bottleneck to change.鈥�

Automation Expedites Rigorous Product Testing

STEMCELL doesn鈥檛 create end-user patient therapies. Rather, the company develops the products and solutions that help other life sciences researchers innovate for new therapeutic discoveries. To develop these solutions for other scientists, STEMCELL performs rigorous product quality testing to comply with the and other global regulatory frameworks and guidelines.

Replacing manual testing with a highly automated process has generated significant results for the company. To date, STEMCELL has reduced the time required to complete 麻豆原创 system validation for GxP 鈥済ood practice鈥� guidelines and regulations by 86%, test quote-to-cash scenarios by 97%, and execute a full regression cycle by 98%.

鈥淚nstead of taking the better part of a month or more, most of the testing is now completed in a handful of days or less,鈥� said Lilleyman. 鈥淭his is a tremendous accelerator for our business and our teams. We鈥檒l be able to take advantage of enhancements in 麻豆原创 solutions faster. It will continue to pay dividends every day, week, month, and year as we move forward, expanding our footprint in new product markets and locations.鈥�

Digital Helps Fast-Track Global Expansion

Averaging 20% annual growth, STEMCELL has made digitalization central to its strategy for bringing products to market faster and more sustainably. Lilleyman said that speeding up testing in compliance with global mandates will help the company as it expands worldwide.

鈥淐loud-based automation at all stages of testing helps move us towards continuous compliance in a continuously changing market,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s we continue to expand our inventory for testing, we鈥檒l be able to accelerate upcoming projects as we open up in different environments. We can have a library with a simple checklist to set up a new entity where we can test end-to-end. We can shift the testing burden away from business users to release innovations faster with completed testing.鈥�

He looked ahead to greater benefits from further automation, including on-demand validation reports for updated system testing and quality controls. Speedier testing from STEMCELL is making the lives of researchers easier by accelerating the release of the tools they need to in turn deliver advanced, patient-centric therapeutic discoveries for a healthier world.

Susan Galer is a communications director. Follow me @smgaler.

After a decade-long stretch of relative stability in procurement, the disruptions from the past several years have forced businesses to reevaluate their sourcing strategies. Disciplines that had fallen by the wayside during this quiet period became more important than ever in a newly chaotic environment. Category management is one of the strategies now resurfacing to help organizations address many of the challenges that have plagued supply chains across the globe.

We鈥檝e seen the overall procurement function having its moment as companies begin to realize how implementing a cohesive, efficient spend strategy can positively impact business goals. Category managers, specifically, can expect to see the breadth of their responsibilities widening soon 鈥� if they haven鈥檛 already. They will be expected to identify risks and assist with creating and maintaining supplier relationships to help meet sustainability and diversity goals as category management and supplier management come closer together.

Here at 麻豆原创, we鈥檝e already heard from business leaders that category management is an essential part of a modern spend strategy. by Economist Impact, sponsored by 麻豆原创, highlights category management as a key driver of digital transformation in procurement.

Businesses need to implement a scalable category management strategy to neutralize risks, increase cost savings, and deliver value to stakeholders. Digitizing category management is crucial to replace manual processes, which frees up procurement teams to focus on strategy creation and implementation.

On the Horizon: A New Way to Drive Category Management

In the coming months, 麻豆原创 plans to roll out a new category management solution that enables businesses to better manage categories, define strategic frameworks, and execute important initiatives that strengthen strategic impact and agility across the source-to-pay process. Our vision is to deliver the following:

One unified platform with in-depth insights
A unified platform that seamlessly integrates with sourcing, supplier, and risk management systems can provide intelligent insights about past spend and market activity to guide future outcomes. Currently, category managers do not have access to a single view of procurement activities. Access to one centralized space would allow for big-picture strategy development without the time sink of a largely manual workload.

Consistent, high-quality data
Consolidating category naming conventions and using uniform, company-wide classifications for goods and services will help provide high-quality data for analysis, eliminating confusing, varied naming schemes. Access to quality data, organized by subcategories, suppliers, and regions, can result in improved compliance and segmentation accuracy. Until now, mapping purchased goods and services to a category has historically been a manual process using data from multiple sources, often including internal and third-party solutions and databases.

Powerful frameworks for strategy development
Category managers will soon have access to several strategy development frameworks to help with everything from evaluating market dynamics for a chosen category to providing automatic suggestions of opportunities and consolidation for categories. Industry frameworks that assist with risk assessment and cost structure will provide actionable insights that identify risks and drive savings. The need for consistent frameworks to create and execute initiatives has gone unanswered, until now.

The ability to set goals and track initiatives quickly
A reliable way to track progress is essential to measuring the success of organizational goals and initiatives. Businesses will be able to reliably monitor the status of sustainability and supplier diversity metrics to measure the achievement of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals in a particular category. Currently, organizations that use multiple platforms are facing a disjointed view of progress towards measurable targets and cannot reliably track compliance to strategy, especially not category-specific compliance.

Resilience and flexibility
Organizations will soon have the necessary tools to map the supply chain, analyze industry-specific data, create 鈥渨hat-if鈥� models with sample strategies, and ultimately bridge the gap between procurement teams and business planning.聽Today鈥檚 global supply markets are chaotic, fluctuating spaces. Category managers are constrained by the time required to gather and analyze data, preventing them from influencing strategy and delivering value.

It鈥檚 Time to Take Category Management Digital

We know digitalization is the future of an unshakeable procurement strategy. Replacing disparate business processes with automated solutions and updated processes based on industry best practices can only lead to better time management and more strategic decisions. Today, we are seeing businesses addressing this need for digitization in category management one small fix at a time. However, as of now, there remains a need for one unified solution that can empower category managers to influence each element of their business goals, without spreading them too thin.

A category management solution will allow teams to automate category management, classify entries consistently, and analyze the valuable data without losing sight of critical outcomes. When software takes care of those requirements, managers can have more free time to provide guidance, lead, and execute initiatives that maximize value and minimize costs.

Stay Tuned for More

Stay tuned to learn more in the coming months about how 麻豆原创鈥檚 new solution, 麻豆原创 Category Management, can help organizations completely transform their category management strategy. about 麻豆原创 Category Management and learn how you can get started.

Salvatore Lombardo is senior vice president, chief product officer, and head of Engineering for 麻豆原创 Procurement.

In 2020, the EU identified green hydrogen as a cornerstone of a climate-neutral energy system to be in place by 2050. At that time, hydrogen accounted for consumption and was primarily used to produce chemical products, such as plastics and fertilizers. Ninety-six percent of this hydrogen was produced with natural gas, resulting in significant amounts of CO2 emissions.

The other aspect driving this strategy is the need to reduce the dependency on imported fossil fuels. Diversification and access to new forms of renewable energy such as hydrogen will make the region more resilient.

The European Commission resolved to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen and import 10 million tons by 2030. While green energy can be produced anywhere, countries with high availability of solar and wind energy such as Brazil offer more favorable conditions for efficient and affordable production. With its hydroelectric plants and policies favoring renewable energy as a substitute for fossil fuels, Brazil is a promising candidate for strategic green fuel trade partnerships with Europe.

However, Brazilian companies trading green hydrogen nationally and exporting it to regions such as the European Union must provide transparent proof of origin based on certification schemes.

The Public-Private Partnership between 麻豆原创 and GIZ

In order to validate the general requirements and develop concepts for a software to support the green hydrogen certification for Brazil and Germany, 麻豆原创 has formed a public-private partnership with the (GIZ). To help Brazilian suppliers prove their hydrogen is truly green, the project will evaluate and summarize certification rules and test digital solutions as well.

鈥淭his cooperation aims to promote sustainable hydrogen projects in developing and emerging countries,鈥� said Sabine Bendiek, chief people and operating officer and member of the Executive Board at 麻豆原创 SE, after signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) outlining the understanding between all parties. The LoI was later countersigned by GIZ Brazil at a delegation ceremony attended by the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck.

“One of 麻豆原创鈥檚 first collaborative aspirations with GIZ is to develop a pilot project to digitize the hydrogen certification processes for Brazilian companies. We鈥檙e excited to work with GIZ on this project, which will eventually allow certification data to be exchanged and evaluated along the value chain in a tamperproof, cost-efficient, and traceable manner,鈥� said Bendiek.

The GreenToken by 麻豆原创 solution, for example, can provide supply chain transparency right back to the origin of any material using a blockchain based chain of custody for trust based on recognized standards such as ISCC PLUS, ISCC EU, and REDcert2. This unique digital twin on a blockchain approach can provide transparency into ESG (environmental, social, and governance) facts such as commodity origin, child labor, and recycled and/or sustainability status across company borders.

Building the Green Hydrogen Economy

鈥淏razil has the ideal conditions to become a global player in this area, including the infrastructure needed to create a relevant domestic market and become a major exporter of green hydrogen. This makes Brazil an excellent partner for countries like Germany that intend to import green hydrogen,鈥� said Dr. Markus Francke, GIZ vice country director in Brazil. 鈥淎s Brazilian hydrogen companies are looking to sell their products in domestic, European, and other markets, this project will help prepare them for the requirements of region-specific certification processes.鈥�

Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the results of the partnership are expected to benefit small and medium enterprises as well as large companies in Brazil.

While decarbonizing the economy, the development of a green hydrogen industry in parallel can boost economic growth and resilience, creating local jobs in countries that produce green hydrogen such as Brazil. The new partnership between 麻豆原创 and GIZ will contribute significantly to developing the hydrogen economy in Brazil by creating the necessary proof points through reliable certification for Brazil, Germany, and 鈥� and through its compliance to European directives 鈥� the European Union Member States.

鈥淲e want to make life better day in and day out. We create products with characteristics that make the final consumer product really special,鈥� said Thomas Meinel, senior vice president and head of Indirect Procurement at Evonik Industries. 鈥淲e鈥檙e farming salmons with a more sustainable feeding alternative for the climate and our environment. We supported the development and production of the first mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 by supplying the lipid nanoparticles that transport these gene-based vaccines to the right target site in the human body.鈥�

Digital Is Foundation of Business Resilience

After hearing Meinel speak at the recent in Madrid, Spain, I reached out to Dr. Marko Lange, product manager for 麻豆原创 Chemicals, for his thoughts on industry modernization.

In a disrupted world rocked by geopolitical conflicts and resultant soaring prices and shortages, he said that Evonik Industries stands out for its foresight in business modernization, bringing in and other 麻豆原创 solutions.

鈥淓RP is a hot topic again in the chemical industry because an ERP platform supports business resiliency across supply chains and operations in turbulent times like these,鈥� said Dr. Lange. 鈥淎 next-generation ERP system provides insights, simulations, and decision support to help you understand disruptive impacts on your business and effectively respond. It is a real companion to operating your business, detailing granular, real-time information about what鈥檚 happening and the consequences.鈥�

Procurement Is Strategic Business Partner

Digitalization has transformed how every department at Evonik Industries operates. At the conference, Meinel shared how procurement was the next step in his company鈥檚 digital journey.

鈥�In a rapidly changing world with new business models, procurement is increasingly part of make or buy decisions to take advantage of greater opportunities,鈥� said Meinel. 鈥淪ourcing managers still need classic procurement skills because they are responsible for a company鈥檚 global strategy. But they also need to work from anywhere, interacting effectively with teams on collaborative platforms with internal colleagues and external suppliers. Cloud-based platforms provide many more scouting possibilities to discover future suppliers.鈥�

Managing the procurement experience in a digitalized word requires different capabilities from people as they assume new responsibilities. Meinel said that sourcing managers at Evonik Industries were strategic relationship managers who continually innovated, not just on elements like pricing, but working as part of a team to negotiate and strengthen supplier relationships.

鈥淒igitalization will change what procurement does and how we do it,鈥� said Meinel. 鈥淲e are buying more digital products along with products that have been digitally enhanced. For example, the pumps we purchase use significantly more digital data, which changes how people work, what skill sets they need, their capabilities, and managerial expectations.鈥�

Connected Procurement Data Boosts Efficiencies

Similar to organizations in many industries that are deeply impacted by mergers and acquisitions, Evonik Industries needed real-time data visibility into contract management for daily activities, as well as accurate auditing.

鈥淓verything we do has to be connected, which is the objective of going digital, to make process efficiencies end-to-end,鈥� said Meinel. 鈥淲ith and , we can transform procurement, integrating data across systems as we create, sign, store, and manage contracts that often travel between departments and locations around the world.鈥�

People Are as Strong as Their Network

Meinel said that digitalization is profoundly changing how the company鈥檚 procurement professionals function on a daily basis. Robotics speed up purchase order creation and artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled algorithms produce forecasts, while people apply human judgment to handle exceptions and contribute to other higher value tasks. Instead of working in isolation, procurement teams are analyzing and using data to build a stronger global network of decision-making. After implementing 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, Meinel said that Evonik Industries gained significant employee productivity efficiencies and met objectives for cash flow savings. Automating tedious, repetitive tasks frees up procurement to stay on top of fast-changing market conditions, including finding new suppliers in case of unexpected disruptions.

鈥淚鈥檓 convinced the future of procurement will be one of constant change,鈥� said Meinel. 鈥淟ifelong learning needs to be part of the culture beyond designated trainings. People don鈥檛 care what system they use. They want efficient processes and to be seamlessly connected. What matters is the user experience. Our digital business core is 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, helping us become an agile, intelligent network able to manage constant change.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.

Empower Employees with the Technology They Want

Global challenges have made it clear mobile is the only way through and forward. The pressing need to help customers run at their best beyond geographical constraints, combined with the modern workforce鈥檚 growing dismay at outdated work tools, gave rise to a growing mobile adoption worldwide. But adopting mobile apps isn’t without challenges.

The 麻豆原创 team took a hard look at existing solutions. Florian Heretsch, vice president and head of Mobile Experience & Engineering at 麻豆原创, explained that the team鈥檚 goal is simple: to create native mobile apps that users love to use and require zero training time to master. 鈥淓very business app from 麻豆原创 also does what people expect of any social media or weather app. We have holistically looked into what people really need to get their work done: a simple and beautiful experience, the latest cross-device native features, and the fastest, most intuitive technology available,鈥� he said. The results are a new mobile app suite crafted with partners including Apple and Scandit.

Christian Floerkemeier, vice president of Product, CTO, and co-founder of Scandit, added to the importance of user experience: 鈥淲ith employee expectations increasing, user centricity is key. Smart data capture, such as automating the scanning of items, empowers workers by shifting tedious work to technology. This helps reduce errors, saves time, and increases job satisfaction while workers can also be upskilled by having the right data delivered to them in real time to make informed decisions.鈥�

Take Digitalization to New Heights

But good looks alone won鈥檛 do the trick. 鈥淎n enterprise mobile experience requires a thorough understanding of specific industry and business process requirements, deeply below what鈥檚 visible on the user interface. ,鈥� said Philipp Herzig, senior vice president and head of Intelligent Enterprise & Cross Architecture at 麻豆原创.

Indeed, modern enterprises require more than an elegant look and feel to fulfill their commitment to helping customers become efficient and sustainable. Beneath the fancy packaging, mobile devices and solutions bring digitalization to a whole new level. The Bechtle team 鈥� Christian Deppisch, Josephine Leschik, and Martin Ullrich 鈥� explain how system integration increases efficiency: 鈥淪ystem and process integration with mobile devices means the job becomes much simpler for employees and a great reduction in mistakes, which in turn improves the quality of deliverables and quickens business processes. As a result, operational efforts and costs can be greatly reduced.鈥�

Tackle Industry Challenges Head-On

For service and maintenance workers, following assigned tasks ensures both customer satisfaction and their own safety. In some environments, one mistake or a skipped step can be life-threatening.

Gregor Bender, managing director of Evora IT Solutions GmbH, shared how the 麻豆原创 Service and Asset Manager mobile app and other mobile solutions help Evora and its customers stay on top of their game. 鈥淩elevant information that supports technicians in their on-site decision-making is digitalized, stored in the 麻豆原创 system, and integrated into the maintenance processes. This means that technicians can get their job done easier, faster, and much safer, “Bender said. “By allowing remote collaboration, critical industry challenges like transferring knowledge to the next generation of technicians are furthermore supported.鈥�

鈥淭he right mobile solutions are crucial to enhancing both service quality and efficiency,鈥� said Stephan Niewoehner, head of Mobile Innovation, and Henning Pohlhausen, consultant for Mobile Applications at CLAAS. CLAAS provides its service technicians with one central app to guide their processes and tasks as well. 鈥淓specially for many of our colleagues who work in the field, a native, offline app is a tremendous help in their daily business, as they can quickly gather information required for their job, schedule them in an efficient manner, and single-handedly document details of each job,鈥� he added. Alongside the native mobile apps in the production and warehouse area, CLAAS鈥檚 Digital Service Manager app helps ensure accurate service delivery and contributes to building a sustainable supply chain by replacing traditional paper processes with an easy-to-use mobile one.

There鈥檚 still a lot to do to truly transform the modern enterprise, but with a network of like-minded customers and strong partnerships, 麻豆原创 is continuing its mobile innovations in optimism.

Cecilia Lo is part of Mobile Experience & Engineering at 麻豆原创.

Increasing regulations are also sparking digital innovation across life sciences. For example, organizations are required to share updated supply chain data with trusted partners for compliance with the final phased-in regulations of the . Initially passed in 2013, the latest batch of requirements from this act will require pharmacies, wholesalers, and manufacturers to track and report drug shipments for legitimacy between authorized trading partners. That鈥檚 where Spherity Credentialing Service CARO comes in, an app that provides updated information proving a dispenser鈥檚 trading partner status.

鈥淲hen a pharmacist in a tiny dispensary in North Dakota has suspicions about a received drug shipment, they send a verification request to a global pharmaceutical manufacturer that has numerous wholesalers in between them and the pharmacy,鈥� said Dr. Oliver Nuernberg, chief product owner of Life Sciences at 麻豆原创. 鈥淎utomating the credentialing process builds transparency and trust between indirect partners, immediately surfacing the pharmacy鈥檚 credentials as an authorized trading partner. This saves time and costs with greater information accuracy and fewer delays, strengthening an organization鈥檚 ability to meet DSCSA regulations.鈥�

Available on , Spherity Credentialing Service CARO is integrated with聽, a cloud-based network solution that helps organizations comply with other provisions of the U.S.聽DSCSA. For example, drug traceability is another U.S. DSCSA mandate. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can also use the information hub to help law enforcement trace drug shipments by serial numbers, supporting audits that help keep counterfeit medications out of the supply chain.

Intelligent Automation Strengthens Health of Drug Supply Chain

Spherity functions as a digitally encrypted wallet that captures and stores a dispenser鈥檚, or any other trading partner鈥檚, verified identity data, including address, notarized documents such as articles of incorporation, as well as updated U.S. state and DEA license information. By digitizing previously manual data collection and distribution tasks between systems, the app eliminates historical time lags that often resulted in outdated information.

鈥淚n the past, information about trading partner status was manually imported on a monthly basis from spreadsheets provided by third parties. An order might come from a wholesaler or dispenser whose license expired or was revoked weeks or even months ago,鈥� said Nuernberg. 鈥淓lectronic credentialing surfaces accurate information much faster, helping organizations automatically prove compliance with regulations, including license type as required to dispense various drugs.鈥�

Once a pharmacy鈥檚 identity is verified in their digital wallet, pharmaceutical companies would also be informed on an ongoing basis if the state or federal agency didn鈥檛 renew that license or revoked it for any reason.

Verified Partner Identity for Supply Chain Safety

Verifying a dispenser鈥檚 identity isn鈥檛 as easy as it sounds. Drug supply chains are complex, involving manufacturers, wholesale distributors, re-packagers, and logistics companies long before the goods reach pharmacies for dispensing. Having an app that automatically verifies a dispenser鈥檚 identity in real or near real time is designed to support regulatory compliance and help make drug supply chains more secure. Anticipating the 2023 regulations, some global pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers have been testing the app with measurable results.

鈥淯sing the app, organizations have told us that they can securely and more easily verify trading partners and generate audit-ready records,鈥� said Georg J眉rgens, manager of Industry Solutions at Spherity. 鈥淲ith electronic interactions, they can trust that a trading partner is legitimate because due diligence has been conducted that proves identity. The app is easy to get up and running and has already increased efficiencies.鈥�

J眉rgens added that the app鈥檚 interoperability with different systems is designed to help meet regulatory mandates around electronic data sharing, easing collaboration between trusted partners along the clinical supply chain.

Digitalized Business Innovation

Eliminating counterfeit drugs in the legitimate supply chain is just the beginning of what鈥檚 possible in a fully digitalized life sciences supply chain. Pharmaceutical companies will be able to bring in and ramp up new, trusted suppliers faster. Intelligence will only grow with greater automation for business and patient value.

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But rising to the challenge of today’s marketplace 鈥� especially increasing raw material and energy prices, margin pressure, supply chain complexity, and regulatory requirements 鈥� requires much more than Industry 4.0 initiatives focused on efficiency and price reduction. From operational performance to customer experience, companies must integrate data from across the enterprise into a single source to form sound decisions that make sustainability profitable and profitability sustainable.

Such a transformation is undoubtedly technology intensive, but the key enablers are also unassailably human. Understanding this reality, many chemical companies rely on the portfolio, provided by the Business Transformation Services group at 麻豆原创, to help transform their operations and gain a competitive edge amid fast global changes.

Turning Challenges into Great Opportunities

Competitively addressing turbulence depends on the ability to view transformation through the lens of six fundamental challenges:

R&D 麻豆原创ure across the Product Portfolio
The imperative to resist margin shrinkage, mitigate risks, increase ROI, and boost growth calls for innovative products and services that offer business value and foster close partnerships with customers. By pushing forward the adoption of advanced technologies to drive global R&D, supplier, and customer collaborations and joint ventures, businesses can prevent commoditization.

The Need for Vertical Integration
Evolving production facilities with a balance of high efficiency, global scale, flexibility, and intelligent responsiveness allows supply chains to weigh the synergistic benefits of integrated manufacturing plants or industrial parks against the flexibility of smaller plants. As a result, businesses can leverage new opportunities with disruptive business models, such as making raw materials instead of buying them and producing semi-finished or even finished goods.

Global Supply Chain Complexity
Global supply chains must be secure enough to mitigate volatile market conditions, such as global health emergencies, rising prices for raw materials and energy, and other factors that impact economic conditions. Companies can gain this advantage by establishing commercial and logistical transparency to support optimization and global planning of demand, sales, and operations.

Hidden Advantages of Business Networks
Business cannot stay competitive in a complex ecosystem alone. They must also scale and optimize their supply chain globally with business networks, such as the Catena-X Automotive Network. Doing so empowers suppliers, contract and toll manufacturers, joint ventures, and customers to collaborate openly and create new prospects for co-innovating better products and services, improving value chain efficiency, and fueling long-term growth.

Compliance and Sustainability Urgency
A primary objective for any chemical business is ensuring compliance with industry regulations. Yet, B2B customers also favor suppliers that help meet their own environmental, social, and governance (ESG) mandates. Sustainable businesses and innovations provide balance between these two expectations, creating a highly sought-after competitive edge by gearing products and services towards a circular economy.

Business Agility
The industry鈥檚 dynamic and fast-changing environment of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures is creating tremendous complexity and pressure for permanent change and adaptation. Chemical companies need to balance industry-wide globalization and centralization while increasing business agility.

Chemical companies with a digital strategy encompassing all these topics can address industry challenges and seize on market trends in a disruptive manner. Through , businesses can gain new opportunities and capabilities never previously considered possible 鈥� including increased speed and efficiency, process automation, and data transparency.

Seizing the Moment with Advisory Expertise

From the perspective of 麻豆原创 Advisory Services, digitalization is not just another IT term but also a critical business priority. The more intelligent and sustainable a company becomes, the more agile, flexible, and integrated its value chain becomes.

Advisory experts from 麻豆原创 can enable chemical companies to turn their fundamental challenges into opportunities with a well-structured, business-driven design. This approach elaborates on the steps of the digital transformation journey 鈥� leading to a road map for future architecture design. Each phase of the road map follows an ideal sequence of digital innovation, technology adoption, and industry best practices and leverages the highest value for the company in the short term.

麻豆原创 Advisory Services help organizations evaluate and act on the sentiments of their customers, partners, and employees and improve their environmental impact. Chemical companies can then be well positioned to keep their workforce engaged, increase organizational agility, and deliver the products and services customers need and trust. Furthermore, they can control their varied sources and categories of spending with outstanding finance and operational efficiency and real-time enterprise insight.

Essentially, chemical companies that work with 麻豆原创 advisory experts can realize their potential as . They can make confident decisions and drive continuous innovation to adapt, innovate, and overcome challenges while making responsible choices that help reduce waste and emissions and drive long-term growth.

This business model is accomplished with intelligent technologies, including business networks, a business technology platform, cloud-based infrastructures, and solutions for business process management, experience management, industry cloud, and sustainability management. Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, data platforms, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, predictive analytics, and virtual as well as augmented realities (VR/AR) are embedded in the intelligent technologies to drive end-to-end business processes and decision-making across enterprise domains.

Bringing to Life an Intelligent and Sustainable Network

The pressures on the chemicals industry may be relentless, with shocks coming in from all directions. However, this doesn’t mean businesses cannot find great opportunities in this volatile environment. With the right approach to digitalization, they can transform, innovate, and collaborate across the value chain to build upward momentum and better serve customers as an intelligent and sustainable network.

Learn more about the and how 麻豆原创 can help guide the innovation needed to overcome them. Read the series 鈥� on 麻豆原创 Community.

Ornulf Rexin is chief business consultant of Chemicals and Life Sciences for Business Transformation Services at 麻豆原创.

These were among the innovations that Michael Schmidt, cofounder and executive board member of , shared when he spoke at a recent 麻豆原创-sponsored event with customers and other partners about the transformational opportunities facing the life sciences industry.

鈥淢oving manufacturing to the point-of-care will disrupt the traditional pharmaceutical supply chain with the patient on the first floor and the manufacturing facility in the basement,鈥� said Schmidt. 鈥淲ith production downstairs, you鈥檝e reduced your physical supply chain to an elevator, limiting costly risks from transportation delays or patient no-shows and disrupting packaging norms. Self-contained production facilities for vaccines are another innovation, supporting the fundamental right to people鈥檚 health in developing countries.鈥�

Headquartered in Switzerland, Tenthpin is a global management consulting firm focused on life sciences companies worldwide. Drawing from his firm鈥檚 experience working with pharmaceutical and biotech organizations, medical device manufacturers, clinical researchers, and other clients, Schmidt shared an intriguing look into what happens when life sciences ecosystems are driven by health outcomes and market demands shift from patient treatment to prevention, diagnostics, and cure.

Cloud-Based Collaboration Is Central to Outcome-Driven Healthcare

disruptions 鈥� with positive results 鈥� are a symptom of the transformational journey that every life sciences organization is undergoing. In an environment where health outcomes matter most, life sciences companies are moving business models towards value-based care, conducting research and evaluating drugs and treatments based on comparative effectiveness and risk-based pricing. In this context, California鈥檚 decision to make its own insulin shows the dramatic impact across healthcare value chains as power shifts to governments and payers intent on reducing costs.

Talking during the 麻豆原创 life sciences event, Schmidt saw cloud-based platforms as critical to bringing experts together for faster innovation and mentioned COVID-19 vaccine development as an example of competitors working together towards a shared objective to save lives.

鈥淟ife sciences organizations are collaborating to connect data across a patient-centric value chain for early engagement of partners in areas like research and manufacturing,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e believe there will be more opportunity-driven collaborations in the future. For example, the supply chain changes fundamentally with compressed timeframes between research, production, and delivery. You want to be set up from an organizational perspective to allow for more strategic ad hoc and cross-industry collaborations such as ramping up new facilities to adapt your manufacturing footprint in response to ongoing disruptions.鈥�

Data Sharing for Human-Centered Healthcare

As the healthcare industry explores advanced therapies, personalized treatments, and services, there鈥檚 a shift from traditional batch to continuous manufacturing. New technologies provide greater access to real-time patient data for developing more effective drugs with improvements in the patient experience and health results. However, these market ramp-ups stress existing business and treatment models.

鈥淧ersonalized treatments mean that organizations suddenly get much closer to patients,鈥� said Schmidt. 鈥淭he human health experience is all about connecting a tremendous amount data 鈥� which room of the house you were in when you took the medication and what you had for breakfast. Technology allows us to collect, analyze, and reuse detailed data.鈥�

Schmidt urged companies to consider the next evolution of systems, investing in data governance and data quality now for automation and other innovations built on cloud-based platforms.

鈥淭he life sciences value chain of tomorrow is data-driven and patient-centric, putting technology at the heart of industry transformation,鈥� said Schmidt. 鈥淥nce you have a stable system core, you鈥檒l be well-positioned for the future growth of markets such as cell and gene therapies for personalized treatment regimens.鈥�

The Next Treatment Innovation Is One Elevator Ride Away

Organizations in the life sciences industry face numerous other challenges such as imminent patent expirations and increasingly complex regulations, including waste reduction. But technology has a major role in all areas, for instance, speeding up the development of advanced treatments and regulatory approvals so innovations reach patients faster. Schmidt advised companies to connect digital transformation plans to high-end strategic innovations expected years down the road, as well as tomorrow.

鈥淭he life sciences industry is at a crossroads, and we need to reimagine its future,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he next disruptors are companies that may have a portfolio of investments, or are partnering with different networks, using external manufacturing and other innovations, creating competitive IP in new ways. There鈥檚 a significant opportunity for established and startup entrants that are collaborating with connected data to better understand how human body works and prevent and cure disease.鈥�

California鈥檚 trailblazing efforts to manufacture a drug is just one way that the life sciences industry is getting a healthy makeover. Let鈥檚 hope industry leaders heed the call to collaborate in new ways for more life-saving innovations.

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Delivering sugar to the table has its own challenges. One company that has been hitting the mark decade after decade is U.S. Sugar, a family business located in the center of Florida. One of the largest agricultural operations in the state, the company owns 230,000 acres of land where sugarcane farming and refining operations run 24/7.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been growing sugarcane for 90 years, and we鈥檝e been innovative from the start,鈥� says Carl Stringer, a company executive who has a dual task as vice president of IT and Employee Benefits at U.S. Sugar. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been an early adopter of high-tech in our operations, thanks to our 270-square-mile area of a privately owned Wi-Fi network.”

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Technology

U.S. Sugar is operating in a volatile market. The company supplies about 10% of the of sugar produced in the United States annually 鈥� a commodity whose price can vary depending on weather conditions, agricultural supply cycles, government policies, and currency rates.

Today, all commodity businesses are facing numerous challenges, from climate change and carbon emissions to COVID-19 lockdowns, along with operational risks in their supply chains. That鈥檚 why digitalizing, automating, and increasing efficiencies across the business are crucial to their success. Soft commodities like sugar, meaning that it is grown rather than mined, face additional challenges that are specific to agricultural businesses. Climate is one of them.

鈥淲e aim to process the freshest cane in the world, so we must always harvest at the optimal time. That requires complete flexibility,鈥� explains Stringer. 鈥淥ur growing season can include hurricanes, unexpected frosts, and flooding.鈥�

The company relies on technology to maintain agility in every aspect of their business. U.S. Sugar is a longtime member of the 麻豆原创 Agribusiness Industry Advisory Council. Stringer is deeply appreciative of the collaborative engagement. 鈥溌槎乖� knows that agriculture is underserved by technology,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had to develop many apps simply because there鈥檚 a lack of digital farming tools. Being part of the council allows us to shape the technology based on our needs and our expertise in agriculture.鈥�

Together with 麻豆原创, U.S. Sugar and other members of the council are integrating key agricultural processes such as planting, fertilizing, irrigating, and harvesting with the enterprise resource planning (ERP) elements of their supply chain such as automatic ordering through direct links to suppliers.

Digitalization is an enabler for efficient and sustainable farming processes. 鈥淔arming is still far behind when it comes to digital capabilities,鈥� says Stringer, whose goal is to increase efficiency in all areas to balance the huge costs of fuel, labor, and soil amendments that are typical for the industry. That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创 technology is a key enabler when it comes to automation, quality management, and the management of assets including the company鈥檚 800 vehicles.

Environment

One of company鈥檚 main challenges is educating the public about the sustainability of their operations. Conservationists around the world are concerned about sugarcane farming because, in some countries, sugar mills produce wastewater, emissions, and solid waste that impact the environment. Also, there are questions as to whether the energy needed to produce sugarcane is high in comparison to other crops such as potatoes or wheat.

Fortunately, the U.S. Sugar mill and refinery in Clewiston, Florida, is a zero-discharge facility with no water or waste leaving the property. Florida鈥檚 sugar industry has been a trailblazer in sustainable best practices as it relates to environmental restoration. U.S. Sugar often stands as a model for its sustainable practices, with a proven track record of more than 90 years farming the land around Lake Okeechobee.

鈥淲e are keenly committed to preserving the natural beauty of the Everglades,鈥� says Stringer. 鈥淐lean water is fundamental to this ecosystem and to our farming business. Every drop of water flowing off our land is measured and regulated and cleaned. In fact, we go beyond meeting regulations, ensuring that our environment is the cleanest it鈥檚 been in our lifetimes. The water today is as clean as rainwater.鈥�

The best way to counter misperception is to educate and inform. The company regularly conducts tours of its operations, inviting schools, local community residents, and other interested parties to visit and see for themselves. Thousands of Floridians tour U.S. Sugar鈥檚 farming operations each year.

U.S. Sugar is also self-sufficient when it comes to energy. Cane stalk waste is repurposed to generate steam and electricity, replacing the need for purchased electricity or fossil fuels to power its sugar processing facilities. The company has even rebuilt a historic steam-powered locomotive to transport cane and visitors around its operations. All farming and factory operations run on sophisticated machinery that is 100% integrated into the business. This enables U.S. Sugar to manage water, crop, and postharvest logistics more holistically, which in turn allows the company to compete more effectively in the face of volatile worldwide commodities prices.

鈥淭echnology is a key enabler because it delivers deep insights into all business and operational areas,鈥� says the head of IT. 鈥淲e can respond in real time thanks to the intelligent integration of sensors, control systems, and dashboards.鈥�

Philanthropy

Besides caring for the environment, Stringer points out that the way to remain relevant in the future is to build the necessary skill set today. The company employs around 2,000 people who have their own special stake in the company: they own it along with two other primary stakeholders, the and the Mott Children鈥檚 Health Center.

Charles Stewart Mott, the industrialist and philanthropist, established his foundation in 1926 to support non-profit educational organizations around the country. Today, the foundation funds numerous educational and environmental efforts to promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society.

The good work does not stop there. U.S. Sugar is currently exploring ways to become even more efficient through circular production models. One is to make better use of bagasse, the dry, pulpy, fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane stalks to extract their juice, and the soil matter that is extracted from the cane during the clarification process, commonly known as mill mud. These two elements are comingled in a proprietary method and then returned to the cane fields as an efficient and eco-friendly compost. Bagasse can also be聽burned as fuel in the sugarcane mill or used as a source of cellulose for manufacturing animal feeds.

As someone responsible for people and IT, Stringer sees beyond the monetary value of digitalization. It increases user satisfaction and engagement, decreases resistance to change, and strengthens the relationship between IT and the business. Connecting people and technology and caring for the environment is what enables U.S. Sugar to remain faithful to its tradition of innovating for a sustainable future.

Royal Greenland is one of the world鈥檚 leading groups in the seafood market and a long-standing partner of Greenland鈥檚 fishing community. The government-owned company employs more than 2,500 people, has a fleet of deep-sea and coastal trawlers, and operates 37 fish processing plants and ship bases around the world鈥檚 largest island. It runs around 50 production facilities in Greenland, Canada, and Germany, conducting sales activities on all continents. Royal Greenland is committed to bringing wild-caught, high-quality seafood from the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean to consumers. As a member of the聽, Royal Greenland has a strong focus on driving sustainable practices for fisheries.

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Video by Angela Klose

Starting Point: High Sustainability Standards, Paper Forms, and Manual Effort

Deeply rooted in its Nordic island, Royal Greenland knows the importance of offering sustainably sourced seafood so consumers can be sure they are not supporting excessive or illegal fishing that threatens fragile marine ecosystems. What鈥檚 more, the company is committed to making it as simple as possible for fishermen to sell their catch for the best possible price. Earning Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for sustainable fishing is critical to both of these ambitions, but to get it requires extensive documentation that wild-capture fish were caught following strict sustainability guidelines.

To document and duly report on all fishery supply chain processes requires an ongoing dialogue with local suppliers and individual fishermen. At the same time, the company has to ensure that all fishing activities are registered and carried out in full compliance and communicated to the appropriate authorities. Only a few years ago, the company had about 70,000 purchase orders filled out on paper and signed by fishermen in frosty weather 鈥� only to be digitalized later manually.

So,聽Royal Greenland aimed to holistically digitalize the process of bringing fish into factories and tie聽this together with a full quality control and registration process.

Joint Digital Journey Strengthens Partnerships with Local Fishermen

For this complex digitalization endeavor, Royal Greenland worked with 听尘别尘产别谤 . Together, they created聽user-friendly iOS-based apps on聽 (麻豆原创 BTP) to help simplify聽the company鈥檚聽supplier relationship with local fishermen, streamline the procurement process, and contribute to global sustainability goals. These apps聽enable fishermen to submit their catch data in a fast and聽simple way.

“We try to digitize the process of bringing the fish into the factories and tie this together with the entire quality control and registration process,” said Lars Bo Hassinggaard, corporate IT manager, Royal Greenland A/S. “We have developed apps for all these scenarios, and we use this platform strategically to build a close partnership with the local catchers.”

Holistic Solution from Three iOS-Based Apps and 麻豆原创 BTP

Even for people with limited smartphone experience, the intuitive solution requires no onboarding. It enables local fishermen to register their catches and secure documentation, which can then also be used by municipalities to secure transparent and sustainable fishery. Empowered through mobile devices with seamless access to 麻豆原创 data and processes, 2,200 fishermen now have access to the technology and can register relevant data on the go. The more than 70,000 purchase orders per year could be converted to digital documentation. Today, three iOS-based apps help the fishing community and Royal Greenland staff alike:

1. Intuitive native iPhone app for the fishing community: This app allows the fishing community to enter catch information in a simple way and digitally submit legally required signatures right from the dock. It also validates relevant licenses for specific species when reporting data from catch fields.
2. iPad app for the landing staff: To support the continuous flow of data between fishermen and Royal Greenland, a second iOS-based native iPad app lets landing staff register information on catch texture, quality, temperature, and weight, which is automatically delivered to back-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
3. Web-based app for the procurement staff: Back-office procurement staff have a Web-based app in which they can approve the procurements based on data from the first two apps. With this information, they create purchase orders, which are automatically shared with the relevant fishermen.

Continuing the Innovation Journey

The enterprise continues to explore new ways to support local fishermen and their families while growing the business. Tools could also be added to help give fishermen and women a total view of their finances, help them set budgets, and build up savings. Royal Greenland is also looking to establish an information portal for fishermen to connect with the company as well as an e-commerce platform for buying and selling fishing equipment. In any case, the openness and extensibility of 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform can offer many opportunities for further growth.

At the end of the day, prosperity for fishermen means prosperity for Royal Greenland. 鈥淩oyal Greenland鈥檚 success is based on supporting people, planet, and profit鈥�, said Hassinggaard. 鈥淭hese groundbreaking apps are strengthening supplier loyalty, optimizing internal processes, and helping boost fishermen income as well as our bottom line.鈥�

To find out more about how Royal Greenland is using mobile technology and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, check out this .

In a wide-ranging study sponsored by 麻豆原创, Economist Impact looked at this ongoing transformation, interviewing 430 C-level executives between January and February 2022. The interviews went beyond conversations with procurement leaders. The team also spoke with their peers across functions and reporting lines, offering a more nuanced perspective on the future of procurement and where leaders should focus their efforts.

The resulting report, 鈥�,鈥� reveals how events in recent years have elevated expectations for the role of procurement within the business.

鈥淭he importance of procurement in supporting changing business strategies, managing risks and costs, and ensuring continued access to key resources and inputs has magnified given the disruptions that have roiled the globe over the last two years,鈥� the report states. It cites , geopolitical developments, and shifts in consumer behavior as key catalysts for the disruption.

Reimagining Procurement as a Value Center

Given current global economic conditions, it鈥檚 not surprising that business leaders consider cost control an imperative. In fact, according to the Economist Impact survey, more companies will focus on maximizing cost savings (39.8%) to bring value to their businesses 鈥� the strategy of choice for chief procurement officers (45.1%).

The second-most-selected strategy in the top three to deliver increased value to procurement is reducing risk (37.9%), an issue that has grown in importance due to the dependence of the U.S. and Western Europe on Asian manufacturing.

Additionally, the Economist Impact survey offers hints about other directions procurement leaders are taking as they look to increase business value. These include a shift away from just-in-time inventories, an evolving focus on category management, and movement toward decentralized or hybrid operating models.

Just-In-Time Gives Ground to Inventory Management

In the Economist Impact report, the third-most-selected strategy for driving value through procurement was inventory management (19.3%). It points out that this mostly applies to developed economies like Japan, the U.S., and Western Europe.

鈥淪upply chain disruptions in the wake of COVID-19 have helped puncture the glittering promise of the existing 鈥榡ust-in-time鈥� philosophy that allowed companies to reduce waste by minimizing or eliminating superfluous inventory,鈥� the report offers.

In its analysis, Economist Impact observes that managing inventory through long-term strategies like nearshoring or backup supply chains enables companies to protect their operations from future supply shocks. That said, it finds that nearshoring has not yet taken off as a strategy because of high expenses, limited access to labor, and significant lead times to relocate factories.

In terms of building up inventory to hedge against disruptions, the report finds industries that depend on reliable and available supplies 鈥� like healthcare (30.8%) and manufacturing (26.2%) 鈥� are more likely to have an increased focus on inventory management.

An Evolving Focus on Category Management

According to the Economist Impact report, category management has emerged as the second-biggest driver of digital transformation and the fourth focus area for procurement value (18.6%). The report attributes this to the 鈥渋ncreased use of digital technologies like smart contracting platforms that leverage sophisticated indices for identifying risks and opportunities.鈥�

鈥淐ategory management is undergoing a subtle evolution thanks to the increased use of digital technologies like smart contracting platforms that leverage sophisticated indices for identifying risks and opportunities,鈥� the report observes.

Procurement Takes Center Stage as Operating Models Change

In an interesting turn of events, the Economist Impact survey reveals a two-way trend in how businesses are choosing to operate their procurement functions. 鈥淲hile four in ten companies are seeing procurement move towards increased centralization or a center-led model, half are going the other way, seeing increased decentralization or a move towards a hybrid model.鈥�

This is having an impact on staffing, including staff increases and the use of the external workforce. And changes in the operating model are expected to continue. According to the Economist Impact survey, three in ten (31.2%) companies list it as a priority item on their agenda, just below supply chain risk (34.4%). It concludes, 鈥減rocurement is going to be central to changes in organizational models over the next one to two years, given its centrality in all business operations.鈥�

Procurement Powered by Digitalization

Through interviews and extensive research, the Economist Impact report provides a forward-looking snapshot of procurement and the impact of digitalization on this key business function. and .

Baber Farooq is head of Market Strategy, Procurement and External Workforce, for Marketing and Solutions at 麻豆原创.