Dive Brief:

• In a move to both simplify and add efficiency to its procurement process, chocolatier Ferrero Rocher is instituting the SAP Ariba solution system, a company press release reported Tuesday.
• The company has previously worked with a range of systems and found the effort inefficient. The collaboration and flow available through SAP Ariba's total procurement offerings should enable a comprehensive and integrated process.
• The solutions chosen by Ferrero include: SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing Suite; SAP Ariba Supplier Risk; SAP Ariba Spend Analysis; SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing; SAP Ariba Commerce Automation, and SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration.

Dive Insight:

As the entire supply chain digitizes, adoption of procurement technology within the supply chain is becoming a necessity, and those without it risk being out in the cold.

SAP Ariba is making adoption easier by the addition of a bot which could ease the minds of users unfamiliar with procurement technology. The company has also added a global tax solution, helping to easily resolve international tax complexities from ever-evolving laws and regulations. Going forward, innovative tech solutions to procurement problems are likely to make the difference between success and failure.

In making the decision to convert to an allied system like SAP Ariba, Ferrero took a leap of coordinated effort in order to harmonize its processes.

According to Paul Devlin, general manager for SAP Ariba, "Ferrero will use SAP Ariba to source all of the direct and indirect goods and services needed to run its global business. Specifically, the company will use SAP Ariba Buying and the guided buying capabilities embedded within it alongside its SAP ERP system to create a contextual purchasing experience that automatically leads users to the goods and services they need to do their jobs, then guides them through buying them in compliance with company policies and processes."