Jeremy Ferrer
Webinar :
Cross-border Purchases and VAT: Optimization Strategies
Tuesday Sept. 10, 2024 at 11 am (France)
The Lyon-based publisher Buy Made Easy (BME) is pleased to announce the launch of its solution for digitalization of purchases, Sourcing Force, with its first Swiss customer: LEM International, the number 1 for innovative and high-quality solutions in the measurement of electrical parameters. It also entrusts the management of its spot purchases to the company through its procurement outsourcing solution. In this article, discover the feedback from LEM International on the deployment of Sourcing Force, the tool for digitalization of purchasing processes from BME.
Based in Meriyn, Switzerland, LEM International is a leading company in the field of electrical measurement. It offers innovative and high quality solutions in the field of measurement of electrical parameters. Its flagship products are current and voltage transducers that are used for a wide range of applications ranging from industry to automotive, traction, renewable energies, high precision, etc.
The company is organized into two branches: the Industry branch, which develops, manufactures and markets transducers for measuring current and voltage in the industrial sector, and the Automotive branch, which designs and sells transducers for the automotive market.
Among the main applications of its transducers are variable speed drives for motors, AC/DC converters, uninterrupted power systems for computers, innovative energy applications such as micro-turbines, conventional car start/stop applications, and electric motor controls for green cars.
Since its creation in 1972, LEM International has always made innovation its priority. Its strategy to achieve this consists in exploiting the intrinsic technological potential of its core business while opening up to the opportunities of new markets. It is thanks to such a strategy that it has been able to become a world leader in solutions for measuring electrical parameters. It now has more than 1,500 employees and is present in more than 15 countries.
Building on its growth, LEM now has production plants in Geneva (Switzerland), Beijing (China), Machida (Japan) and Sofia (Bulgaria). In order to meet the new needs of businesses, it is also now focusing on sustainable technologies. As such, it established a center of technological expertise in Saint-Priest, near Lyon, in 2017. The company admits that it chose Lyon to set up its R&D center for the dynamism of its technological ecosystem.
It is also in Lyon that it found a new partner to boost its internal processes, in particular its purchasing processes: BME Consulting, specialized in outsourcing and digitalization of purchases through its Sourcing Force solution.
LEM deploys Sourcing Force's transactional modules and entrusts the management of its “Purchasing Spots” to BME. This guy procurement outsourcing is relatively new to the Helvetic Confederation. This reinforces the group's technological leadership.
Long reserved for multinationals, the outsourcing approach is tending to be developed with a certain number of local SMEs and ETIs (medium-sized companies), and not only because of a strong currency.
This is reflected in the implementation of the Sourcing Force e-Purchasing solution specifically adapted to the LEM group and the Swiss economy. BME will manage catalog and non-catalog purchases on behalf of catalog and non-catalog purchases, taking care of purchases both in Switzerland and outside Switzerland for all aspects relating to VAT, customs and currencies.
Several e-catalogs (including Farnell, RS Component, RS Component, Festo and Distrelec) are set up in “Punchout catalog” mode, available directly on the web. This process allows LEM to connect to a supplier's catalog, to fill a basket which, once validated, will be switched directly to Sourcing Force.
No further entries will be required. All data related to products, prices, delivery methods etc. are integrated into the e-Purchasing tool for complete internal management.
In summary, two advantages for LEM in using its e-procurement tool:
In the end, BME takes care of all transactions with suppliers and sends a single monthly invoice for all class C purchases and e-catalogs that have been generated.
Created in 2012, Sourcing Force is a cloud-based e-procurement software developed by BME. It is a complete S2P or Source-to-Pay suite powered by Amazon AWS and integrated on a cloud platform. For this purpose, it is accessible from anywhere and at any time. It is revolutionizing the S2P approach by replacing traditional desktop SRM software with a cloud-based solution.
Sourcing Force streamlines your procurement and procurement processes by organizing and simplifying all supplier-related processes, from sourcing suppliers to negotiating and concluding contracts, to final payment. It thus secures supplier relationships and promotes collaboration.
Sourcing Force includes solutions for spend analysis, sourcing, supplier and contract management, procurement, and invoice processing. It allows purchasing managers in large companies, SMEs and VSEs around the world to save time and money by digitizing their purchasing processes.
According to Franck.B, Purchasing Director at LEM International: “Collecting and managing our supplier data was a challenge for us before Sourcing Force. We have now gathered almost all the information from our service providers, including products and services offered, on the Sourcing Force supplier directory. The catalogs are directly connected to allow us to quickly place orders and to easily access our data.”
Sourcing Force is a procurement digitization solution for buyers who want to succeed and improve the performance of their services. This solution has many advantages:
While the digital transformation of businesses is in full swing, the procurement department is no exception. This service is more than ever involved in the digitalization race that is currently taking place within companies. Apart from LME International, a large number of purchasing departments have already started to digitize their purchasing processes. This is due to the observation of the numerous advantages that this brings, especially in terms of business performance:
Handling the procurement process manually, as is still the case in many companies, requires a lot of time and energy. However, these are generally tasks with low added value that can be automated. Digitizing procurement frees Purchasing teams from these repetitive and time-consuming tasks and allows them to focus on tasks with higher added value. Concretely, the use of a digital solution allows purchasing managers to increase the productivity of their teams and thus contribute to the increase in company performance.
One of the biggest advantages of digitizing procurement is to allow buyers to integrate procurement processes into business processes. By doing so, they gain operational efficiency thanks to better traceability of operations. A P2P tool, such as Sourcing Force, allows purchasing teams to automate the purchasing process while respecting the adopted purchasing policy. Thanks to this, the purchasing team becomes more autonomous, because you can delegate operations to them while maintaining control of them.
The buying cycle consists of several steps that are sometimes difficult to control. Between the selection of suppliers, the processing of invoices, the signing of contracts, the management of stocks... it is not always easy to know who is in charge of what. With the digitalization of purchasing processes, the exchange of documents and information between the various stakeholders in the purchasing cycle is becoming more fluid and simple.
Before signing a contract with a supplier, a business should identify the risks it faces when working with them. This means collecting as much information as possible about him by finding out about legal information sites. This step takes time. With e-procurement software, like Sourcing Force, businesses have a 360° view of suppliers. Indeed, it can be connected directly to legal information databases. The information collected is then automatically integrated into the provider's profile.
Not all employees within the company know the terms of a contract with a supplier. However, they must be clear to everyone if they are to be respected. By digitizing the purchasing process, everyone involved will be able to access all the data needed to comply with contracts.
The digitization of the purchasing process makes it possible to improve exchanges with suppliers. Thanks to purchasing software, it is possible for each supplier to follow the evolution of the processing of their invoices, to send their offers or to receive price requests directly. As exchanges are simplified and information is easy to access, supplier relationships are improved.
With the automation of low-value-added and repetitive tasks, procurement teams have free time to focus on high-value-added tasks. They can therefore focus on developing a relevant and effective procurement strategy. A complete Source-to-Pay software makes it possible to set up action plans and to ensure their follow-up according to the objectives set by the purchasing department and the company.
The digital transformation of procurement has a positive impact on the company's image. Like LEM International, the deployment of collaborative purchasing software testifies to the dynamism and the desire of the company to improve its image. It also ensures fair treatment between customers and suppliers and compliance with regulations. This point is very important in the perception of company values.
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