As organisations expand and evolve, so do their procurement processes. Properly following procurement guidelines and processes can be both time-consuming and complicated, however, it's still extremely important to ensure compliance with purchasing policies and procedures.  

In addition, procurement professionals can't always be available to guide users at every step in the purchasing process.  

In this blog post, we'll discuss how you can empower non-procurement employees to make buying decisions with confidence, while keeping the organisation's purchasing processes in check. 

1. Provide a User-friendly Procurement Platform 

One of the best ways to encourage non-procurement users to follow procurement processes is by providing a user-friendly procurement platform. A good procurement platform can guide users through purchasing decisions while making sure these decisions comply with organisational policies. The platform should be easy to use and understandable for all users, no matter their level of procurement experience. 

Our Ready Buy solution is designed specifically to help distributed procurement and commercial operations procure goods and services more efficiently, cost effectively, and at reduced risk, while reducing workload on centralised procurement. Intuitive system smarts lead users through the Ready Buy experience, ensuring that staff leverage existing quality agreements and follow correct procurement processes from start to finish.  To learn more, go to www.ReadyBuy.io.   

2. Create a Simple Five-step Buying Process 

Creating a simple five-step buying process can also help non-procurement employees follow purchasing processes with ease. Breaking buying decisions down into smaller steps makes it less daunting and makes it easier for users to understand the procedure. Incorporate order requests, approvals, and purchase order issuance, as well as post-purchase record-keeping, as a standard part of the process. 

Our Ready Buy solution can assist with this, by ensuring users follow appropriate processes and buy right every time, with a self-service experience that ‘front-ends’ and automates your procurement policy across the business. 

3. Define Rules and Conditions for Procurements 

It's always essential to outline guidelines and conditions for buying decisions. Non-procurement employees should know how much money they can spend, the number and type of offers they need to review, the documentation for the purchase, and the timeframes in which decisions must be made.  

Ensure to provide clear instructions on the criteria that must be met, as well as any contractual obligations that must be adhered to during purchases. This minimises the need for questions and assistance from the centralised procurement team. 

4. Provide Purchasing Decision-making Training 

To encourage non-procurement users to buy in-line with procurement processes, consider delivering comprehensive purchasing decision-making training. This will provide every non-procurement employee with basic knowledge of procurement terms, definitions, and processes, and give them a basic understanding of procurement laws and regulations. We always encourage you to bring your team members along on the journey with you. 

5. Automate Manual Processes 

Automation of the purchase process can significantly streamline procurement processes for non-procurement users, by reducing procurement time and helping non-procurement users to purchase products with ease.  

Ready Buy helps to shrink procurement lead times and reap the benefits of self-service procurement sooner, with an intuitive, user-friendly interface that leads users through a range of quick questions related to their desired purchase, before determining appropriate next steps. The system is set up to ensure that all purchases follow procurement procedures, authorisations approvals, and contract compliance policies, minimising the need for close monitoring. 

Following the correct procurement processes is essential to any organisation's procurement practice. By providing a user-friendly procurement platform, creating a simplified five-step buying process, defining rules and conditions for procurements, providing purchasing decision-making training and automating manual processes, non-procurement users can make informed purchasing decisions with confidence while keeping the organisation's purchasing processes in check. This functionality enables the organisation to focus on extracting the real value of procurement instead of micro-managing procurement processes.