How can procurement contract innovation and automation enhance supplier relationships and performance?

2 Best practices of contract innovation and automation

To reap the benefits of contract innovation and automation, you should adhere to certain best practices that enable you to design, implement, and manage your contracts effectively. This includes aligning your contract strategy with your business objectives and stakeholder expectations, and defining measurable KPIs and SLAs. Additionally, you should leverage data and analytics to inform your decisions, identify opportunities and risks, and optimize your contract performance. A user-centric and agile approach to contract design is necessary, utilizing templates, clauses, and workflows that are tailored to your specific needs. Additionally, you need to choose the right tools and platforms that integrate with existing systems and processes, as well as provide the features and functionalities you need. To ensure successful use of the tools and platforms, engage and train your procurement team and suppliers on how to use them and follow the contract processes. Finally, review and update contracts regularly using feedback loops, audits, or reviews for continuous improvement and alignment.

3 Examples of contract innovation and automation tools and platforms

The market offers various contract innovation and automation tools and platforms, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, you can use contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools to create, manage, and monitor contracts throughout their lifecycle. Contract analytics tools can extract, analyze, and visualize your contract data and insights. Additionally, contract artificial intelligence (AI) tools can automate and optimize contract tasks and processes. Smart contracts tools can also help create and execute self-enforcing, self-executing, and self-verifying contracts with blockchain technology.

4 How to get started with contract innovation and automation

If you're interested in exploring the potential of contract innovation and automation for your procurement function and business, there are some steps you can take to get started. First, assess your current contract maturity level, gaps, and challenges. Then, research and evaluate the different contract innovation and automation tools and platforms that meet your needs, budget, and industry. Once you've selected and piloted one or more tools or platforms, test their functionality, usability, and compatibility. After that, scale up and roll out the tools or platforms across your procurement function and supplier base while monitoring their impact and value. Finally, continuously learn and improve your contract innovation and automation practices using feedback, data, and best practices. By embracing contract innovation and automation, you can turn your contracts into powerful drivers of supplier relationships and performance.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?