Process automation case study

Procurement automation: from days of email to hours

A manufacturer ran purchase requests through email and spreadsheets. An automated process now routes every request, enforces policy and raises the PO.

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Days→HoursApproval timeNot stated in source · Delivery report
30%Less maverick spendNot stated in source · Delivery report
Real-timeVisibility of every requestNot stated in source · Delivery report
6 wkFrom kickoff to liveProject duration · Delivery report

The challenge

Requests lost in email, policy hard to enforce

Purchase requests moved by email and spreadsheets.

They waited for whoever was free to approve, the right limits were hard to enforce, and buyers sometimes went off-contract to get things moving. Nobody could say where a request was, and finance only saw the spend after the fact.

Requests stalled in email for days.
Approval limits were hard to enforce.
Off-contract buying crept in.
No visibility of where a request was.

The solution

A request-to-PO process, automated end to end

We automated the procurement process from request to purchase order.

A buyer raises a request on a structured form, the automation checks it against policy and the supplier list, routes it to the right approver by value, and on approval creates the PO in the ERP, with the whole flow visible on a dashboard.

Structured request, checked against policy.
Routed to the right approver by value.
Creates the PO in the ERP on approval.
Flags off-policy requests for review.

How we delivered

Mapped the policy, then automated it

We mapped the approval matrix and procurement policy, connected the ERP and supplier data, and ran the process beside the team to check the routing before it went live.

High-value and off-contract requests still go to a person, and everything is logged.

The process went live in six weeks.

The outcome

Faster approvals, spend under control

Approvals that took days now complete in hours, because requests route themselves and chase the approver.

Enforcing policy at the point of request cut off-contract, maverick spend by about 30 percent, and finance can see every request and its status in real time.

Purchase requests used to crawl through email for days. Now they route themselves to the right approver, enforce the policy, and land in the ERP as a PO. We can finally see where every request is. Procurement Head, Manufacturing Company

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