Procurement Automation in Sage 100

December 7th 2022 07:31:44 AM

Introduction

Goals and key performance indicators for distributors and manufacturers haven’t changed much over the years. Walking the tightrope of avoiding stockouts while minimizing carrying costs, increasing purchasing power by consolidating orders, and adapting to fluctuating supply and demand are still the never-ending quest for distributors and manufacturers alike.

Just because your goals don’t change from year to year doesn’t mean your company and the technology you use to meet those goals can’t change. At Scanco, we believe there is a strong case to be made for adapting new technology to empower your Sage 100 users. That’s why we’ve developed Scanco Procurement Automation. If you are looking to streamline your procurement processes, keep reading to see how Scanco Procurement Automation (SPA) uses modern technology to provide an immediate upgrade for companies using other Sage 100 procurement software or none at all.

Benefits of Procurement Automation

For those who may be unfamiliar with procurement software, it is basically a program that allows a business to automate the processes behind purchasing and production. To do so, it needs to be able to analyze current inventory levels, evaluate them against supply and demand, and assist in generating necessary purchase or production orders. Ideally, the program would be able to help automate payment as well.

Historically, there have been a few procurement software programs designed for Sage 100 that could achieve some or most of these features. Only SPA offers these features and many more that are unavailable from its competitors. Below are just a few of the features available in SPA that separate it from other procurement software.

Key Differentiators of Scanco Procurement Automation

• Web Native

Although it is fully integrated with Sage 100, SPA is a web-native solution. Information from Sage like inventory levels and open orders are synced directly into the solution through an embedded link. Being able to perform essential operations from the cloud offers tremendous benefits and flexibility. In fast moving industries like manufacturing and distribution, it’s important that decision makers are able to access their data and act on it from wherever they are. Unlike other demand planning software available for Sage 100, SPA is not limited to being accessed by on-premises users. As we have seen from the rapid rise of remote work, migrating to the cloud is a must for resilient businesses.

• Approval Processing

For businesses who are haven’t had much experience in working out of web-based platforms, process control is often a concern. Nobody would want to sacrifice control in the pursuit of automation. SPA addresses those concerns by allowing for a purchase order approval process. Leveraging an approval process allows purchasers to continue doing their job in a timely manner while allowing key decision makers to review their work before any critical POs are sent. In other words, the approval processes available in SPA can increase transparency and trust in your organization without compromising productivity.

• Reporting and Inquiries

The sage-embedded link within SPA allows for detailed reporting and inquiries for your team to leverage. Although you will be able to query the data on your own to see what needs to be made or bought, SPA can provide critical item alerts for when an item needs immediate attention. Crucially, these critical items can be defined based on your settings or user profile. That way, you won’t be bombarded by alerts that are irrelevant to you.

Another way you will be able to personalize your experience with SPA is through savable queries. Queries in SPA have multiple editable selections such as item and product line or production start date so that you can view your data in as concise a way as possible. While that functionality is nice, having to repeatedly edit that same query would quickly make it lose its appeal. Instead of building the same query repeatedly, simply save it for future use and easy access.

• Vendor Payments

A final key differentiator for SPA vs other procurement software available for Sage 100 is its vendor payment automation. As part of SPA, you will be able to take advantage of built-in electronic payment processing. Our payment automation is web based just like the rest of our procurement automation and allows for multiple types of digital payments depending on the vendor’s preference. Payment automation is a premier value add that offers another way to get more of your Sage users into the cloud.

Conclusion

Scanco Procurement Automation offers unmatched value to Sage 100 users looking to improve their purchasing and manufacturing operations. Whether you are exploring procurement software for the first time or looking to upgrade from your current software, SPA is able to meet your business needs. For more information or to schedule a demo, visit us at scanco.com.