Seasoned P2P consultant Anders Lassen, joins Xelix Partnerships Lead Fred Leeming at the AP Arms this week to talk about getting the most out of your ERP.
Fred and Anders cover how businesses can optimise and scale their ERPs alongside P2P workflow tools and discuss procurement areas that can benefit most from AI.
The beauty of the pub’s virtual setting is that we can welcome visitors from all over the globe, and in Anders’ case, dials in from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anders has spent the past five years as a consultant helping companies digitise and optimise their P2P processes. Over a 17-year career in procurement, his work focuses on merging technology, data and people to drive digital transformation.
“I get to see both the exciting innovations and the challenges in implementing these technologies. The best part is seeing it all come together to create value in that intersection of people and technology.”
For many, ERPs are the hub of business operations. But when do you know it’s time to time to scale up?
“ERPs can cover most of [the procure-to-pay workflow], but companies usually end up simplifying how they use the ERP rather than utilising 100% of its capabilities.” Anders explains.
“I like to think of the ERP as the engine that you build on with other tools that provide specific features like user-friendly interfaces, dashboards and other functions that are easier to manage outside the ERP.”
However, for Anders, businesses should assess their maturity and internal structures before adding bolt-on tools for an independent function.
In P2P specifically, you should look at the quality of master vendor data, invoice processing, approval processes and vendor management before you start to scale.
Whether it’s S/4 Hana transformation or Oracle Fusion, these projects take up a lot of bandwidth and resources for IT departments. This can often offset the go-live on other valuable projects across the business. For Anders, it’s not worth the wait.
“I’ve seen a lot of S/4 upgrades recently, but I struggle with the way many of these large IT projects are managed. They’re often planned out over several years, and in my experience, that kind of lengthy timeline tends to set them up for failure,” he explains.
“If the plan is to implement over two or three years, it usually won’t hold up as things like technology, product portfolios and architecture shift over time.”
Upgrades are necessary, Anders recognises, but businesses need to consider scaling down ambitions and upgrading in parts rather than all at once.
“Start with the core engine, get that running smoothly and trim away what’s unnecessary. Then, look for bolt-on solutions that work well without adding unnecessary complexity or costs.”
“Without a clear focus on transformation and training, these projects can lose momentum fast.”
It’s no surprise that AI is the biggest priority for Anders, specifically moving past the generic AI hype and pointing it at very specific, useful problems.
Across procurement, Anders is excited by AI’s potential to analyse public data for patterns such as a change in a supplier’s behaviour and a subsequent alert to potential issues. He’s also excited for how AI can help teams proactively reach out to suppliers on issues and solve problems before they escalate.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to Anders for featuring in this episode of The AP Arms.
If you’d like to feature alongside some of the industry’s finest at The AP Arms, please get in touch – we’d love to share a tipple with you down the pub!