Procurement digitalization in business. Concept, Problems and Opportunities for Improvement - abstract of paper

My paper entitled " Procurement digitalization in business. Concept, Problems and Opportunities for Improvement" is an attempt to introduce the reader to procurement processes, as part of the supply chain process in an organization, and to present opportunities for their digitization.

The work addresses the history of the origins of the procurement and transformations that procurement processes have undergone, along with the ongoing global industrial changes from the so-called Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0 over the past 250 years.

With the support of articles from consulting companies, there is discussed the applicability of new technologies used in today's smart supply chain, with a particular focus on their usability for the purchasing department. My work covers also the aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in management perceptions regarding the evaluation of current purchasing processes and strategic decisions regarding undertaking Sourcing transformation in this context.

The following part of the thesis outlines the reasons and goals that executives usually hope to achieve when deciding to digitize specific purchasing areas. The paper presents opportunities for digitizing each of the elements of the purchasing process, both using modern technologies that work effectively and identifying points in the cycle where there is an opportunity for automation.

It also mentions modern technologies that represent great potential, but with partially undiscovered possibilities primarily due to the current computational capabilities of the tools, and the costs involved, such as AI and Machine Learning.

The last part is primarily my own observations and conclusions on digital transformations in procurement based on my own experience as an employee and manager in a consulting firm and a global FMCG company. It starts by discussing the commonly digitized elements of the Procurement E2E cycle and provides recommended prioritization according to the experts.

Further, I present a case study of a partially successful transformation using the digital bidding cloud platform, I identify areas for improvement in this transformation and refer to the best practices in change management.

I followingly analyze the second transformation carried out using guidelines for effective change management along with ongoing observations and comparisons against the Golden Standard of the process. I noted employees' impressions of the digital transformation align with those of surveyed employees in other Polish companies.