Looking for procurement trends of the year is a good way to keep yourself updated and find ways to be competitive. Recently, the activity has been changing a lot with the use of technology and the automation of the process.
In addition, there are new ways to deal with sourcing and repeated tasks, such as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. So, it’s important to predict the trends of the year to maintain your business active.
In this article we’ll look at the procurement trends for 2022. What are the main predictions? How can they impact procurement and supply chain?
Main procurement trends for 2022
As we said, the main addition to the procurement process is technology. The use of data science, statistics and machine learning is changing the profession and making it more strategic. Automating repetitive tasks free time and allows professionals to focus on what’s important.
But not only technologies that impact the supply chain, but also the ones that help bureaucratic functions and daily routine. So, with the context of the global market and expansion of the supply chain, what are the specific trends for the year?
Communication Technologies
One aspect of procurement that will change with the use of technologies is the way people communicate. Internal collaboration and external communication can increase and boost productivity and profitability.
So, using new tools that allow a more direct approach and partnerships is a good way to improve efficiency. For instance, keep your data available to the whole operation, center the communication in only one place and make relations with clients and suppliers more straightforward.
AI and Data-Analytics
AI-driven solutions are impacting directly the way procurement is done. Reducing problems and errors and making it easier for professionals to focus on strategic aspects and relationships with suppliers.
As the computer-controlled system can deal with most of the small tasks, it expands operations and free time for more negotiations. It also provides insight on how to improve processes and increase profit.
Cloud and Software as Service
Still on the technology side, cloud computing services are facilitating the access for entities involved in the acquisition and making it easier to negotiate and find better prices and costs. As it keeps everything together, it also facilitates finding new and better suppliers.
Cloud technology is a software as service and enhances real-time information sharing. It usually benefits companies with multiple solutions, making it easier to dwell in the digital world and improve finances.
Social Procurement
The pandemic context made companies aware of their social and environmental impact. So, one of the procurement trends is to rethink strategies to make a social impact and create new opportunities.
The idea is to incorporate social business into the value chain and value the social and environmental factor, shifting the process to more sustainable ways.
Risk management as priority
The crisis of the Covid-19 also made companies realize that operations are more fragile than expected. So, another shift is focus on risk management and how you can reduce waste and errors throughout the process.
A good investment, then, are professionals that can monitor risks and find opportunities on the supply chain. That can be enhanced by data science and statistics, predicting what can go wrong and how to minimize those problems.
Procurement Trends in Sum
The combination of the global market and the impacts of the covid-19 showed that technology is a key factor in avoiding problems and errors throughout the supply chain. As professions become more digital, the procurement team must adapt and find ways to be productive in that context.
