Digital Procurement

We will look at how e-procurement originally aimed to move procurement from an operational function to a strategic function, and how digital procurement and data analytics can potentially revolutionise and transform procurement’s contribution.
In this we shall
• Explore the changes in Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 and consider how these change procurement
• Reflect on the critical role of data and its potential for both innovation and disruption
On completion of this Week, you will be able to
• Outline the strategic and operational impacts of e-procurement
• Explain how digitalisation is changing the role of procurement
• Assess the importance and potential of data analytics in procurement
Lecturecast
In this lecturecast, we will outline the strategic and operational impacts of e-procurement, explain how digitalisation is changing the role of procurement and assess the importance and potential of data analytics in procurement.
Reading
This week there is a short video outlining how data analytics can be used in procurement, and a short non-academic article that takes a critical look at the role of data. This week’s academic reading contains two studies from South Africa of Procurement 4.0 and the circular economy and a paper that explores the potential of Artificial Intelligence in procurement
Reading
Bag, S. et al. (2020) ‘Procurement 4.0 and its implications on business process performance in a circular economy’, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 152. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104502.
Vail, 2021, SURPRISE, SURPRISE: PROCUREMENT HAS YET TO SOLVE ITS DATA CHALLENGES, Future of Sourcing, 26th March
Sievo (2019), Procurement Analytics Simply Explained – video
Discussion Forum
After completing this week’s lecturecast and the additional learning resources, identify how procurement data analytics could be used to provide insights for your organization. You can apply this to either procured goods and services for your organization in general, or for a project you have experience with. Post replies to other learners’ posts. To develop your critical analysis, aim to provide one of each of the following:
• Identify an example similar to your own
• Ask probing questions to learn more about other learners’ views
• Answer questions posed